Karl Ballmer (23 February 1891 – 7 September 1958) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, anthroposophical philosopher, and writer.

Life

In 1918, he met

Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (; 27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century ...

. In 1922 he settled in Hamburg. After studying

anthroposophy Anthroposophy is a spiritual new religious movementSources for 'new religious movement': which was founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensibl ...

as autodidact for seven years, he tried to bring Rudolf Steiner into the discussions of the scientific world. In 1928, he published the Rudolf Steiner-Blätter for those who wanted to comprehend the so-called Rudolf Steiner Event. In 1935, an exhibition was organized for him by

Hildebrand Gurlitt Hildebrand Gurlitt (15 September 1895 – 9 November 1956) was a German art historian and art gallery director who dealt in Nazi-looted art as one of Hitler's and Goering's four authorized dealers for " degenerate art". A Nazi-associated art dea ...

, who would later be tasked with selling degenerate art on the international market. In 1936, he was prohibited from painting by the

Nazi Government The government of Nazi Germany was a totalitarian dictatorship governed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party according to the . Nazi Germany was established in January 1933 with the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, followed ...

. In 1938, together with his friend, Edith van Cleef, he leaves Hamburg, Germany and moves back to Switzerland. In Lamone near Lugano he lives painting and writing for the remaining 20 years in almost total solitude. He writes about physics, philosophy, and theology – as anthroposophy. In his writings he targets fundamentals without compromises; he possesses huge natural scientific and spiritual scientific knowledge, thus the level of his publications was mostly very high. His acquaintance with Gurlitt later enabled him to facilitate the sale of several paintings of degenerate art to the

Kunstmuseum Basel The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. Its lineage extends ba ...

. In studying his works readers can experience sensitive self-encounters, (sadly) often without further consequences (in their own development). Ballmer, similar to Steiner, could be himself seen as an "Event" in development of mankind – as confrontation with the world process, of which he takes part. Karl Ballmer's research in

cognitive science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...

and the evolution of the human

self-awareness In philosophy of self, philosophy, self-awareness is the awareness and reflection of one's own personality or individuality, including traits, feelings, and behaviors. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While ...

was influenced mainly by two books, 1) Rudolf Steiner'
"Occult Science"
(1909) and 2) Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin'
"Irrthümer und Wahrheit, oder Rückweiß für die Menschen auf das allgemeine Principium aller Erkenntniß"
(1782). (See quote from Karl Ballmer'
"Deutsche Physik — von einem Schweizer"
in the latter.)

Works

*''Rudolf Steiner und die jüngste Philosophie'', Hamburg 1928 *''

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; ; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, natural history, naturalist, eugenics, eugenicist, Philosophy, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biology, marine biologist and artist ...

und Rudolf Steiner'', Hamburg 1929 *''Das Goetheanum Rudolf Steiners'', in: ''Bau-Rundschau'', Hamburg 1930 *''Aber Herr Heidegger! Zur Freiburger Rektoratsrede Martin Heideggers''. Foreword by Fritz Eymann, Basel 1933 *''Der Macher bin ich, den Schöpfer empfange ich'', 1933 *''Rembrandt oder die Tragödie des Lichtes'', 1933 *'' A. E. Biedermann heute! Zur theologischen Aufrüstung'', Bern 1941 *''Das Christentum der Berner Universität'', Aarau 1941 *''Ein Schweizerischer Staatsrechtler:

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Decl ...

'', Melide 1941 *''Elf Briefe über Wiederverkörperung'', Besazio 1953 *
Briefwechsel über die motorischen Nerven
', Besazio 1953 *''Editorin Marie Steiner'', Besazio 1954 *''Philologin Marie Steiner'', Besazio 1954 *''Die erste Mitteilung über soziale Dreigliederung'', Besazio 1957 Posthumous: *''Die Rolle der Persönlichkeit im Weltgeschehen'', Besazio 1964 *''Deutschtum und Christentum in der Theosophie des Goetheanismus'', Besazio 1966 *'' Troxlers Auferstehung'', Besazio 1966 *''Die Judenfrage'', Besazio 1975 *''Die Zukunft des deutschen Idealismus'', Besazio 1975 *''„Wissenschaft“'', Besazio 1976 *''Erlösung der Tiere durch Eurythmie. Zu Rudolf Steiners „Eurythmie“'', Besazio 1976 *''Die Aktie, Symbol der Schande'', Besazio 1976 *''Rudolf Steiners Philosophie der Freiheit als Analyse des Christusbewusstseins'', Besazio 1979 *''Von der Natur zur Schöpfung. Thomismus und Goetheanismus'', Besazio 1979 *''Anthroposophie und Christengemeinschaft'', Besazio 1980 **Siegen 1995, *''Abschied vom „Leib-Seele-Problem“'', Siegen 1994, *''Die moderne Physik, ein philosophischer Wert?'', Siegen 1994, *''Synchronizität. Gleichzeitigkeit, Akausalität und „Schöpfung aus dem Nichts“ bei C. G. Jung und Rudolf Steiner'', Siegen 1995, *''Das Ereignis Rudolf Steiner'', Siegen 1995, *''

Max Stirner Johann Kaspar Schmidt (; 25 October 1806 – 26 June 1856), known professionally as Max Stirner (; ), was a German post-Hegelian philosopher, dealing mainly with the Hegelian notion of social alienation and self-consciousness. Stirner is oft ...

und Rudolf Steiner''. Vier Aufsätze, Siegen 1995, *''Deutsche Physik – von einem Schweizer'', Siegen 1995, *''Anknüpfend an eine Bemerkung über

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

'', Siegen 1996, *''Die Überwindung des Theismus als Gegenwartsaufgabe'', Siegen 1996, *''Umrisse einer Christologie der Geisteswissenschaft''. Texte und Briefe, hg. v. Karen Swassjan. Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach 1999, *''Ehrung – des Philosophen Herman Schmalenbach'', Siegen 2006, *
Briefwechsel über die motorischen Nerven — Erweiterte Neuausgabe
'
www.edition-lgc.de
2013

External links

Summary of Ballmer's world view in his own words
(in German and English)
Max Stirner and Rudolf Steiner: Four Essays
(Read the first few pages of the book in German and English)
Ballmer's explanation of the nature of numbers
(in German and English)
Comparison
of

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

' and Rudolf Steiner's epistemology (in German and English) from Ballmer's book "Anthroposophische Methodik" * Comprehensiv
Bibliography
* Johannes Grebe
Kurze Übersicht: Vita Karl Ballmer (Entwurf)
* Peter Wyssling
The resurrection of Europe
(English translation of Wyssling'
"Die Auferstehung Europas"
contains several quotes by and references to Karl Ballmer * Peter Wyssling
Rudolf Steiners Kampf gegen die motorischen Nerven — Das Schicksal einer Weltanschauungsentscheidung in Karl Ballmer und Gerhard Kienlewww.edition-lgc.de
2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballmer, Karl 1891 births 1958 deaths People from Aarau 20th-century Swiss painters 20th-century Swiss male artists Swiss male painters Anthroposophists