GOETHE / STEINER Johann Wolfgang von Goethe lived from 1749 to 1832. He spent more than 30 years of his life on his “Colour Apprenticeship” and a multitude of scientific nature studies. He, himself, considered his “Farbenlehre” to be a far greater achievement than all his internationally known literary and poetic works. 1889 an archive was founded in Weimar and Rudolf Steiner (1861 – 1925) was invited to become a member of the team of researchers and natural scientists, who were given the task of classifying Goethe’s posthumous works in the so-called Sophien-Goethe-Archive. Steiner had already worked on Goethe’s writings about nature studies together with Professor J. Kürschner since 1883. Therefore, it was clear to Steiner that their content would be able to open up a scientific debate to loosen the deeply encrusted scientific research methods of their time. He was hoping that this would lead to a cultural renewal in the spirit of Goethe’s world view. Unfortunately, this did not come about. Most of the researchers at the Goethe Archive worked like normal publishers: they were content in filtering out reliable texts, clarifying unclear phrasing and wanted to classify variations. Rudolf Steiner’s intent went much further. With his commentaries he wanted to show the depth of Goethe’s world view as a whole. Steiner’s commentaries were thorough and often contained texts and polemic explanations against currently still held, but outdated controversial theories. He describes his principles and purpose of the commentaries to Goethe’s archive texts as follows: “The publication of his scientific papers should clarify how Goethe’s explorations and thoughts were all encompassing and lead to single discoveries in specific areas of nature because he engrossed himself spiritually into each single object.” Steiner wanted to demonstrate certain facts about Goethe’s insights into the roots of evolutionary structures, not only in nature, but also in human beings. He had recognised, that in his scientific nature studies, Goethe had wanted to clarify a fact, which was not then - and even today is not widely accepted – namely the fact: that a human being will only be capable to recognise those structures in nature, which are inextricably intertwined with the structures that make up his own feelings, thoughts, concepts and spiritual values. 1973 a book was published by the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung in Dornach/Switzerland with a preface by Marie Steiner to the first edition published in 1929. It has the title “Das Wesen der Farbe”, for which “The Essence of Colour” would be an appropriate translation. It contains twelve of Steiner’s lectures from 1914 to 1924 about several aspects of colour, painting, light and the rainbow. 1979 The Verlag Freies Geistesleben published Goethes “Farbenlehre” in three volumes. (It is based on part 3 and 4 of Goethe’s natural science writings, prefaced by Rudolf Steiner, which were published as volume 35 and 36 of Goethe’s Works as part of the “German National-Literature” between 1883-1897 by Prof. Joseph Kürschner) The publishers Gerhard Ott und Heinrich O. Proskauer offer prefaces and informative commentaries as orientation to understanding Rudolf Steiner’s writings to “Goethe as Thinker and Explorer” with regard to the “merely materialistic quantifying methods of modern Science”.