This school, whose early days were particularly glamorous due to the good cooperation between the teachers and parents and the children, was banned for the first time with the advent of National Socialism after four years of existence. It is thanks to the special efforts of Dr. Klein that the school was able to continue to exist through negotiations. When the Stuttgart mother school was closed in 1938, she courageously managed to secure the continued existence of the Dresden school, whose number of pupils had grown to around 800.
Dr. Klein was encouraged by the Swiss poet and chairman of the Anthroposophical Society, Albert Steffen, whom she asked: "After closing the Waldorf School in Stuttgart, shouldn't we now close all Waldorf Schools?" "History must remember that National Socialism closed the Waldorf schools." Dr. Klein: "But then we'll all end up in prison." Albert Steffen: "That doesn't matter. There will still be angels to lead you out of the prisons today."
(October 1945 - August 1949)
In a preserved wing of the former Pestalozzi Foundation in Jägerstraße, space was created in which those who had been fatefully reassembled could come together for busy educational preparatory work. The school building was painstakingly restored to its former glory. Reports from former pupils and memories from teachers at the time provide a good insight into this period of new beginnings after the Second World War. They clearly show the hardship of the new beginning, but also the teachers' motivation to awaken new goals, ideals and hopes in the often traumatized pupils: "We dug usable benches out of pieces of rubble, hammered bricks, formed human chains for transportation. We framed pictures at home to use glass for broken windows. That first winter, we didn't have enough heating and not enough school desks. I remember how we had lessons standing in the classrooms, wearing coats, hats and gloves - and how we warmed ourselves with the lessons that our teacher presented so enthusiastically that we forgot about the cold outside." (Charlotte Stiehm, pupil)
"Our class loved our teacher more than anything. She recited the Odyssey from Greece to us so vividly that I can still see images in my mind, such as the room where Penelope was waiting for Odysseus. We could hardly wait for the next school day, we were looking forward to it so much! Through her enthusiasm, she had introduced us to true ideals of humanity; we didn't need a cheap substitute. Unfortunately, we had to give up this beloved teacher; illness, which led to her death, took her from us. She said goodbye to each of us from her sickbed a few days before her death, fully conscious, and strengthened us in our trust in a higher world even after her death. She gave us war-damaged children back our trust in the good, the true and the beautiful in people through her shining example." (Veronika Ott, pupil)
"Parents and their children flocked from the surrounding area, from Alaunplatz, from Prießnitz; in addition to former parents, it was now the simple working-class families who supported this school. Each individual was asked how much they wanted to contribute to the costs of artistic instruction, music, painting and eurythmy, despite the fact that the school was tuition-free - and they did so to the best of their ability. The children came to class with great eagerness to learn; mothers and fathers followed their children's often unfamiliar activities with great interest. Public monthly celebrations and performances, for example in the gloomy community hall on the Priessnitz, were eagerly attended. Teachers also came from all sides, some of them former pupils, including artists from the destroyed opera house. It is difficult to convey the impression that prevailed among the ever-growing teaching staff: a force for a new school life developed out of the best forces of spiritual will." (Hans Jakobi, teacher)
The orientation of the school system towards purely Marxist-Leninist principles was now an absolute requirement and the school had failed in this respect. The low number of "Young Pioneers", 50 in total, clearly showed that the school had not fulfilled its task in the political field. Compared to these facts, the undoubtedly commendable educational achievements were no longer significant. Gerhard Ott was not allowed to say goodbye to his pupils or enter the school again. Attacks were also launched against the outraged parents concerned. The parents' representative, Professor Bockemühl, designer of the "Hechwagen" and director of the Dresden tramway, was accused of saying that "children should not be brought up to hate war, but to love peace". This love of peace was rejected as pacifism and contrary to the class struggle. Bockemühl was to be forced to explicitly confirm the correctness of the SED view at an upcoming parents' meeting. Professor Bockemühl, Gerhard Ott and several committed teachers were thus forced to emigrate and leave Dresden. A parents' meeting was called for September 19, 1949 with the aim of informing the parents of the school's regrouping.
The following, abridged report shows how power structures gagged a free school system:
"Whereas in the past any political tendency was avoided, today the reorganization was already evident in the fact that there was a long table on the podium, untidily covered with a red flag. If the red flag already gave the meeting a provocative atmosphere, this was further emphasized when the chair of the meeting took its seat and consisted only of members of the SED. [...] The course of the meeting that now took place was so theatrical that it is difficult to fully grasp and portray it objectively. What Councillor Schlotterbeck said, the arguments that would have led to the school being regrouped, provoked such spontaneous shouts of protest from the parents that it was doubtful whether the meeting had been conducted properly. The accusations made against the old school were so one-sided and so distorted and distorted in their basic attitude that they were intended to intimidate and wear down the parents from the outset. [...] In the course of the meeting, outraged parents wanted to leave the room. Mr. Schlotterbeck had the greatest difficulty keeping the meeting together. At this moment of great tension, there was a new surprise. A young man who used to be a pupil at the school rushed excitedly through the middle of the hall towards the podium and reported how he had been confronted by a plainclothes policeman at the exit and had to hand over his identity papers. This incident revealed that the meeting was under police surveillance, which was extremely embarrassing for the participants. [...] Other faces appeared in the niches behind the grandstand, so that the remarks of the district leader of the SED were given a special underpinning. " (Transcript by Fritz Steudtner, member of the parents' council)
In 1949, the school was banned under similar circumstances as in 1941 due to a lack of conformity with the ruling dictatorial system. There are parallels to the Nazi education policy in the exclusivity and uniform orientation from kindergarten to university, as well as the examination of the safety of leading personalities for the ruling system, among other things. It was to take 41 years before the possibility of free, alternative school concepts was restored and Waldorf school life in Dresden could begin again.
Here are two essays from our anniversary brochure on the refounding of the school in 1990
