Reflective sketches: the biodynamic impulse (Dr Rudolf Steiner) in central Europe

The year 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the historic lecture entitled the ‘Agriculture Course’ given by Dr Rudolf Steiner in Koberwitz. This was the beginning of the biodynamic agriculture movement and was the inspiration for the development of organic farming. The concept was a negation of the theory of Justus von Liebig, the ‘father of fertilisers’, which developed rapidly after the First World War. In this way, Steiner strongly opposed the use of an industrial path in agriculture, standing against it to a natural path, a biological path using the phenomenon of biodiversity in the agricultural environment for salutogenesis, and a dynamic path based on the rhythms of nature and the calendar describing natural phenomena in nature. On Polish soil, Senator Stanisław Karłowski made a great contribution to the field of biodynamics. An economist and banker by education, he was also an excellent practising farmer, who implemented and successfully applied the principles of biodynamic farming on his estate in Szelejewo covering over 1700 ha. He developed this idea further, let it grow for the future, and it is therefore consistent with what Dr Rudolf Steiner assumed. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Second World War put a tragic end to his activities. However, the concept of the organic farm initiated at the Szelejewo estate has been reborn today within the Stanislaw Karłowski Foundation as the ‘Juchowo Rural Project’. Today, the Foundation promotes agricultural culture based on the principles of biodynamic agriculture and the teachings of Dr Rudolf Steiner throughout Central and Eastern Europe.