Ita Wegman and the Clinical-therapeutic Institute: A Photographic Documentation

This photo, far from the dour ones we are accustomed to, is Dr. med. Ita Wegman at the age of 16. Two years later she was engaged to marry a military officer but he suffered an illness and passed away. She never did marry.

The above is just one of over three hundred personal photos and historical documents related to Wegman with text written and edited by Peter Selg and Mirela Faldey to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Clinical-therapeutic Institute, which began its work in June of 1921.

You are no doubt familiar with the prolific anthroposophic author Peter Selig but less so of Faldey whom Selg lauds: “I extend my thanks for Mirela Faldey, who cultivated the initiative for this book and tended to the photographs with utmost professionalism, collected them both accurately and lovingly, and assembled them for this documentation.”–Foreword (p. 13).

This work consists of 8 chapters (250 pages) each covering a period of her life before ending with three appendices, 45 pages in length.

The end of the final segment (1941–1943) contains several obituaries and, the one below cited, provides a better summation of her life than I could offer. From “Obituary,” Basler Nachrichten aus der Schweiz and fur die Schweiz (Basler News from Switzerland and for Switzerland), 6/7 March 1943:

“Dr. Ita Wegman

“On Thursday in Arlesheim, Dr. med. Ita Wegman died in the Clinical-therapeutic Institute she founded and led.

“The deceased was widely known as a pioneer of anthroposophically inspired medicine. She was born in 1878 [sic -should read 1876] in Java, the child of Dutch parents. At the age of 18, she left for Europe. Her youth was characterized by diverse studies and travels. In 1904 she met Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy, and thus discovered the decisive influence for her further destiny and work. She accompanied Steiner on many of his lecture trips until she decided to create her own area of activity in medicine.

“She studied and graduated in 1916 in Zurich and established a practice there in collaboration with other doctors in a private clinic. In 1920, she moved to Basel in order to be in closer contact with what was happening in Dornach.

“In June 1921 the Clinical-therapeutic Institute in Arlesheim was founded; it remained under Dr. Wegman's leadership until her death. In 1923, when the General Anthroposophical Society was founded, she became the leader of the Medical Section of the School for Spiritual Science, which was created at the same time. She was for many years a member of the Executive Council of the Anthroposophical Society until she left her position in order to concentrate fully on her medical activities and the deepening of her spiritual scientific studies. Institutes in various countries like the one in Arlesheim were brought into being through the impulse of Dr. Wegman. She also played a decisive role in the founding of Weleda A.-G., the manufacturer of pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations according to anthroposophical principles, and she became its first president. The deceased developed a special interest in pedagogical work that benefits children with soul and spirit abnormalities. The center for this was also in Arlesheim with the “Sonnenhof,” a care home for children, along with institutes founded on similar principles in many countries. During the last year of her life, Dr. Wegman stayed in the dependency of the Arlesheim clinic that was founded in Ascona in 1936, especially after her health situation grew weaker as the result of a serious accident she suffered in 1939 (in September of that year she experienced a fall which caused a complicated fracture of her left arm). Since the beginning of the war, a portion of her activity was involved with easing the suffering of those affected by the war, especially children damaged by war.

(Dr. Wegman presented her medical views in print, especially in the work she authored with Dr. Steiner, Foundations for an Extension of the Art of Healing Based on Spiritual Scientific Knowledge, which appeared in 1925. In 1926, she founded Natura, A Journal for the Extension of the Healing Arts Based on the Spiritual Scientific Understanding of the Human Being.)–p. 281.

This essential volume is a rich source of pleasure for anyone who has an interest in one of Rudolf Steiner's closest friends and colleagues. Though a bit dear, at sixty-five dollars, I consider it a bargain as it will continue to provide that “said pleasure” for many years to come.

NB: Unfamiliar with anthroposophy? Read Henk van Oort's concise and excellent, one hundred page text, Anthroposophy: A Concise Introduction to Rudolf Steiner's Spiritual Philosophy (2008).

Ita Wegman and the Clinical-Therapeutic Institute: A Photographic Documentation. ISBN: 978-1-62148-318-2. $65 USD. 8 × 10 in. Paperback, printed on non-glossy heavy stock; 335 pages. SteinerBooks; 2023. Available at: https://steinerbooks.org/. Contact: [e-mail].

Publication History

Article published online:
12 June 2025