Ehrenfried Pfeiffer
Encyclopedia
Ehrenfried Pfeiffer was a German scientist, soil scientist, anthroposophist and disciple of Rudolf Steiner
.
in 1920 to develop and install special diffuse stage lighting for eurythmy
performances on the stage of the first Goetheanum. After Steiner's death in 1925, Pfeiffer worked in the private research laboratory at the Goetheanum
in Dornach
, (Switzerland
). He became manager and director of an 800 acres (3.2 km²) experimental biodynamic
farm at Loverendale, Holland. This farm was set up to carry out some of the agricultural studies of the Goetheanum laboratory. Pfeiffer’s most influential book 'Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening' was published in 1938 simultaneously in at least five languages, English, German, Dutch, French, and Italian. The following year, and just months before the outbreak of WWII, Pfeiffer ran Britain's first biodynamics conference, the Betteshanger
Summer School and Conference, at Lord Northbourne
's farm in Kent
.
Pfeiffer first visited the U.S. in 1933 to lecture to a group of anthroposophists
at the Threefold Farm in Spring Valley
, New York
on biodynamic farming. His consulting was essential to the development of biodynamic agriculture
in the U.S.
Pfeiffer developed an analytical method using copper chloride crystallization and used this technique as a blood test for detecting cancer. As a result, Pfeiffer was invited to the U.S. in 1937 to work at the Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia While in the U.S., he continued to consult with those interested in biodynamic farming and helped to form the Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association in 1938. in 1940 he immigrated to the U.S. from Switzerland
with his wife Adelheid, escaping the advance of German troops into France. They brought with them their son Christoph and daughter Wiltraud.
With the advent of World War II in Europe, Pfeiffer took his family to Kimberton, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia), where Alaric Myrin offered Pfeiffer the opportunity to create a model biodynamic farm and training program. Starting in the late 1930s he taught biodynamic farming and gardening at the Kimberton Farm School. One of his students, Paul Keene, who worked and studied with Pfeiffer there for two years and shortly thereafter co-founded Walnut Acres, recalls: "... he helped bring all of life together for us in a definite coherent pattern"
While at Kimberton, Pfeiffer led the initiative to found the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, and to start its journal. While at Kimberton, Pfeiffer also met J.I. Rodale, founder of Organic Gardening and Farming magazine, and of the organic movement in the USA. This relationship gave biodynamics a little-known place in the history of the American organic movement. Interpersonal difficulties - a motif of Pfeiffer's life - brought to a close the Kimberton Farms chapter.
Aiming to continue his work training biodynamic farmers, Pfeiffer bought a farm in Chester, New York, where a small colony arose focused on farming, education, and the administration of the Biodynamic Association.
His copper chloride sensitive crystallization theory brought him an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine from Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital in Philadelphia in 1939. He studied chemistry
and became a professor of nutrition
in 1956.
In 1961, at his home in Spring Valley, N.Y., he suffered from a series of heart attacks, lingering for several days, but ultimately was not given the proper medical care and died. His wife subsequently took over the operation of their farm in Chester, New York.
in America. He is most widely known for his innovative work in composting. He conducted extensive research on the preparation and use of biodynamic compost and was is the inventor of BD Compost Starter, a compost inoculant. For many years Pfeiffer served as a compost consultant to municipal compost facilities, most notably Oakland, California
, as well as countries in the Caribbean, Europe, and the Far East. A technical difficulty with the resulting compost, that it would not spread readily with the commonly used fertilizer spreader, could not be overcome and the project ultimately failed.
Pfeiffer invented two anthroposophic Image forming methods, a method using a round filter chromatography (circular chromatography or chroma test) and the copper chloride crystallization method, developed together with Erika Sabarth. In the latter method, a solution of copper chloride and the test solution is allowed to evaporate. The pattern of the copper chloride crystals can be "read" based on the patterns of known samples. Similarly, the patterns of the circular chromatographs can be "read" based on known samples. Both methods require much practice to "read" and interpret the images.
Pfeiffer and Dr. George Miley of the Hahnemann Medical College claimed that in about a thousand tests of known cancer cases, the copper chloride crystallization of blood samples was about 83% accurate in detecting the presence of cancer, through a characteristic crystal pattern, and about 91% accurate for the absence of cancer.
Pfeiffer felt that these two imaging methods showed the presence of life-forces or etheric
formative forces and could be used to gauge the quality or vitality in food, such as would be shown in biodynamically
grown food. Some proponents, as well as critics, recognize that these methods are very much dependent on the interpretive ability of the researcher. Other biodynamic practitioners have found the methods useful in testing the results of their work such as in improving soil health.
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
.
Life
Ehrenfried Pfeiffer began work with Rudolf SteinerRudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
in 1920 to develop and install special diffuse stage lighting for eurythmy
Eurythmy
Eurythmy is an expressive movement art originated by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Marie von Sivers in the early 20th century. Primarily a performance art, it is also used in education — especially in Waldorf schools - and as a movement therapy....
performances on the stage of the first Goetheanum. After Steiner's death in 1925, Pfeiffer worked in the private research laboratory at the Goetheanum
Goetheanum
The Goetheanum, located in Dornach , Switzerland, is the world center for the anthroposophical movement. Named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the center includes two performance halls , gallery and lecture spaces, a library, a bookstore, and administrative spaces for the Anthroposophical...
in Dornach
Dornach
Dornach is a municipality in the district of Dorneck in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.-History:Dornach is first mentioned in 1223 as de Tornacho. In 1307 it was mentioned as zu Dornach...
, (Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
). He became manager and director of an 800 acres (3.2 km²) experimental biodynamic
Biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts...
farm at Loverendale, Holland. This farm was set up to carry out some of the agricultural studies of the Goetheanum laboratory. Pfeiffer’s most influential book 'Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening' was published in 1938 simultaneously in at least five languages, English, German, Dutch, French, and Italian. The following year, and just months before the outbreak of WWII, Pfeiffer ran Britain's first biodynamics conference, the Betteshanger
Betteshanger
Betteshanger is a village near Deal in East Kent, England. It gave its name to the largest of the four chief collieries of the Kent coalfield.-Before the coal mine:...
Summer School and Conference, at Lord Northbourne
Northbourne
Northbourne is a village near Deal in Kent, England. It has a public house, The Hare and Hounds, a primary school and is the home of the current Baron Northbourne. It should not be confused with an area in Bournemouth of the same name....
's farm in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
.
Pfeiffer first visited the U.S. in 1933 to lecture to a group of anthroposophists
Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
at the Threefold Farm in Spring Valley
Spring Valley
-Places:In the United States of America:*Spring Valley, Arizona*Spring Valley, San Diego County, California*Spring Valley, Colusa County, California*Spring Valley, El Dorado County, California*Spring Valley, Lake County, California...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on biodynamic farming. His consulting was essential to the development of biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts...
in the U.S.
Pfeiffer developed an analytical method using copper chloride crystallization and used this technique as a blood test for detecting cancer. As a result, Pfeiffer was invited to the U.S. in 1937 to work at the Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia While in the U.S., he continued to consult with those interested in biodynamic farming and helped to form the Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association in 1938. in 1940 he immigrated to the U.S. from Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
with his wife Adelheid, escaping the advance of German troops into France. They brought with them their son Christoph and daughter Wiltraud.
With the advent of World War II in Europe, Pfeiffer took his family to Kimberton, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia), where Alaric Myrin offered Pfeiffer the opportunity to create a model biodynamic farm and training program. Starting in the late 1930s he taught biodynamic farming and gardening at the Kimberton Farm School. One of his students, Paul Keene, who worked and studied with Pfeiffer there for two years and shortly thereafter co-founded Walnut Acres, recalls: "... he helped bring all of life together for us in a definite coherent pattern"
While at Kimberton, Pfeiffer led the initiative to found the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, and to start its journal. While at Kimberton, Pfeiffer also met J.I. Rodale, founder of Organic Gardening and Farming magazine, and of the organic movement in the USA. This relationship gave biodynamics a little-known place in the history of the American organic movement. Interpersonal difficulties - a motif of Pfeiffer's life - brought to a close the Kimberton Farms chapter.
Aiming to continue his work training biodynamic farmers, Pfeiffer bought a farm in Chester, New York, where a small colony arose focused on farming, education, and the administration of the Biodynamic Association.
His copper chloride sensitive crystallization theory brought him an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine from Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital in Philadelphia in 1939. He studied chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and became a professor of nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
in 1956.
In 1961, at his home in Spring Valley, N.Y., he suffered from a series of heart attacks, lingering for several days, but ultimately was not given the proper medical care and died. His wife subsequently took over the operation of their farm in Chester, New York.
Work
Pfeiffer was a pioneer of biodynamic agricultureBiodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts...
in America. He is most widely known for his innovative work in composting. He conducted extensive research on the preparation and use of biodynamic compost and was is the inventor of BD Compost Starter, a compost inoculant. For many years Pfeiffer served as a compost consultant to municipal compost facilities, most notably Oakland, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, as well as countries in the Caribbean, Europe, and the Far East. A technical difficulty with the resulting compost, that it would not spread readily with the commonly used fertilizer spreader, could not be overcome and the project ultimately failed.
Pfeiffer invented two anthroposophic Image forming methods, a method using a round filter chromatography (circular chromatography or chroma test) and the copper chloride crystallization method, developed together with Erika Sabarth. In the latter method, a solution of copper chloride and the test solution is allowed to evaporate. The pattern of the copper chloride crystals can be "read" based on the patterns of known samples. Similarly, the patterns of the circular chromatographs can be "read" based on known samples. Both methods require much practice to "read" and interpret the images.
Pfeiffer and Dr. George Miley of the Hahnemann Medical College claimed that in about a thousand tests of known cancer cases, the copper chloride crystallization of blood samples was about 83% accurate in detecting the presence of cancer, through a characteristic crystal pattern, and about 91% accurate for the absence of cancer.
Pfeiffer felt that these two imaging methods showed the presence of life-forces or etheric
Etheric body
The etheric body, ether-body, æther body, a name given by neo-Theosophy to a supposed vital body or subtle body propounded in esoteric philosophies as the first or lowest layer in the "human energy field" or aura...
formative forces and could be used to gauge the quality or vitality in food, such as would be shown in biodynamically
Biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts...
grown food. Some proponents, as well as critics, recognize that these methods are very much dependent on the interpretive ability of the researcher. Other biodynamic practitioners have found the methods useful in testing the results of their work such as in improving soil health.
Honorary Degree
Pfeiffer's work at Hahnemann earned him an honorary Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree from Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital of Philadelphia on June 8, 1939 at the 91st Commencement ceremonySee also
- List of Biodynamic Farms
- Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association
- Biodynamic AgricultureBiodynamic agricultureBiodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts...
- Demeter InternationalDemeter InternationalDemeter International is the largest certification organization for biodynamic agriculture, and is one of three predominant organic certifiers. Its name is a reference to Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain and fertility. Demeter Biodynamic Certification is used in over 50 countries to verify that...
Biographical resources
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Ein Leben fur den Geist: Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899-1961): Pfeiffers autobiographische Erinnerungen, Aufzeichnungen zur Atherforschung und Ernahrung, zur ... Briefe und Aufzeichnungen aus dem Nachlass, Perseus-Verlag, 2000. ISBN 3907564316. (German)
- Henry Barnes, Into the Heart's Land: A century of Rudolf Steiner's work in North America, SteinerBooks, 2005. ISBN 0-88010-554-2, Chapter 19.
- Kevin T. Dann, Across the Great Border Fault: The naturalist myth in America, Rutgers University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-81352-790-2.
- Alla Selawry, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Pioneer of spiritual research and practice: A contribution to his biography, Mercury Press, 1992.
- Alla Selawry, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Pionier spiritueller Forschung und Praxis: Begegnung und Briefwechsel: ein Beitrag zu seiner Biographie (Pioniere der Anthroposophie), Philosophisch-Anthroposophischer Verlag am Goetheanum, 1987. ISBN 3-72350-449-3. (German)
Biodynamics in farming and gardening
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Soil Fertility, Renewal and Preservation: Bio-dynamic farming and gardening, Asiatic Publishing House, 2006. ISBN 8-18706-773-X.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Bio-Dynamic Gardening and Farming: Articles, Mercury Press, 1983-1984. ISBN 0-93613-267-1.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Using the Bio-Dynamic Compost Preparations & Sprays in Garden, Orchard & Farm, Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, 1984. ISBN 0-93825-026-4.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and Erika Riese, Grow a Garden and Be Self-Sufficient, Mercury Press, 1981. ISBN 0-93613-237-X.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Bio-Dynamics: Three Introductory Articles, Charter, 1999. ASIN B000PIZ250.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, The biodynamic treatment of fruit trees, berries and shrubs, Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, 1976.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Weeds and What They Tell, Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, 1981. ASIN B00071HRSU.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, The Earth's Face: Landscape and its relation to the health of the soil, Faber and Faber, 1947. ASIN B0007IXST0.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Practical guide to the use of the bio-dynamic preparations, Rudolf Steiner Publishing, 1945. ASIN B0007K8FAU.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, The fair garden plot: Concise guidance for growing one's own vegetables, Rudolf Steiner Publishing, 1945. ASIN B0007KD2GC.
Chromatography
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Chromatography applied to quality testing, Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, 1984.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Sensitive crystallization processes: A demonstration of formative forces in the blood, Anthroposophic Press, 1975. ASIN B00073467S.
Composting
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, The art and science of composting: Observations and testing methods: the chromatographic method, Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, 1959. ASIN B0007HK7MC.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, The compost manufacturers manual: The practice of large scale composting, Pfeiffer Foundation, 1956. ASIN B0007G1MWC.
Other topics
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Heart lectures: Three lectures, Mercury Press, 1982. ISBN 0-93613-249-3.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz: A commentary, Mercury Press, 1984. ISBN 0-93613-216-7.
- Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Zarathustrian Way, St. George Book Service, 1982. ISBN 0-93613-245-0.
External links
- The Pfeiffer Center, Chestnut Ridge, NY
- Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association (U.S.)
- Reprint of Collier's Magazine May 31, 1952 article on Pfeiffer's composting work with the city of Oakland, CA.
- Threefold Educational Center, Chestnut Ridge, NY