Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz: A European

Thomas Meyer’s major biography of Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz (1869-1945) offers a panoramic view of an exceptional life. One of Rudolf Steiner’s most valued and independent-minded colleagues, Polzer-Hoditz was born in Prague (then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire) to an aristocratic family with royal connections. Leaving behind his background traditions, he would become a key player in Steiner’s regenerative threefold social impulses, working tirelessly for a genuinely unified, free Europe. He also fought to protect Rudolf Steiner’s esoteric legacy and the integrity of the Anthroposophical Society. Meyer’s book is a pioneering work in biographical literature, structured in four main sections that reflect the stages of an individual’s personal development. In the concluding section he studies world events up to the present day, practicing a method referred to as a "symptomatological observation of history," which Polzer-Hoditz himself sought to develop. Much more than a standard biography, Ludwig Polzer-Hoditz presents a vibrantly living picture of how a spiritual individuality can work in human culture and history―past, present, and future.