It feels like yesterday, but it was two years ago in June 2022 that I first went to Steiner House in London. It is situated just west of Regent’s Park.
The visit reminded me of my drop-in to Cecil Sharp House way back in 2007. That, on the north side of Regent’s Park, is another building-as-ideological-portal. However, in that case the agenda was English Folk Arts, and in this it is the Anthroposophical ideas of Rudolf Steiner.
I chose that Saturday because there was going to be a market stall open selling biodynamic produce from a variety of growers. This is where I bought this delicious apple juice.
On the ground floor there is a bookshop. It stocks many of Steiner’s own titles, largely lectures he gave which were dutifully transcribed and published, but also books by a wide range of authors on subjects, many not directly relating to Steiner thought. It’s a very interesting shop and has a more diverse offering than for instance than that at Swedenborg House.
The exterior of the building, as you can see from the opening photo, has this wonderfully eccentric art-deco styling. And this is carried on into the building’s interior.
In the stairwell cavity, there is what looks like a glass flowform. These are Steiner’s ritualistic sculptures, which are designed to energise water. It would be great one day to visit the Goetheanum in Switzerland and see more of this quirky architecture.
On the ground floor, the cafĂ© and bookshop are open to the public. On the first floor, one is able to access the library. Here you can discover the full complement of Steiner’s hundreds of publications.
This shelf of art books caught my eye. I do like it that Anthroposophy covers the full range of human experience in the cosmos; from the most “spiritual” and etheric to the most “grounded” and integrated.
These boxes contain back issues of The Golden Blade, the Anthroposophical journal.
Steiner 101
Steiner 102
As I was making my way out, I asked the librarian which of Steiner’s own books that he would recommend for a neophyte. He selected the following for me How To Know Higher Worlds, Theosophy, and Occult Sceince. I’ve subsequently read these three, and they are certainly interesting, the first being the most indispensable.
In fact, my own recommendation to a beginner would be Steiner’s Autobiography The Story of my Life, which I think gives one a better idea of where he was coming from. The librarian also recommended the two books on the right as good supplementary reading. I haven’t read them…yet. If you get the opportunity, it’s definitely worth visiting Steiner House.
[Update: I had the great fortune to present a talk with Charles Dowding in the Steiner building theatre in 2025.]
