Peter Staudenmaier and the Invention of the Nordic-Germanic Sub-Race

"...Steiner's further claim that - in yet another remarkable coincidence - the most advanced group within the Aryan root race is currently the nordic-germanic sub-race." (Peter Staudenmaier - Anthroposophy and Ecofascism)

The remarkable discovery of the nordic-germanic sub-race was quite a surprise to most anthroposophists. While Steiner's body of work is so large that few have a truly comprehensive overview, many wondered why they had not previously heard of this important nordic-germanic sub-race. A conspiracy, perhaps? Historical revisionism? or "unfortunate" statements swept under the carpet? No. The reason is far simpler: There is no nordic-germanic sub-race in anthroposophy. There is no nordic-germanic sub-race anywhere in Rudolf Steiner's work. A check with the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung (his publisher in German) confirms it; the phrase "nordic-germanic sub-race" appears nowhere in the complete works.

Even the term “sub-race” is quite rare, having been superseded very early in the development of anthroposophy by the more accurate term "cultural epoch" (see my article on Root Races and Sub Races). The adjective "nordic-germanic" appears in only a few contexts in the entire complete works, and always modifying either the noun “peoples” or “mythology”. That is, Steiner refers on a very few occasions to certain cultural aspects of the Nordic-Germanic peoples, but never identifies them as a race or sub-race, and never speaks of any racial element at all.

Peter Staudenmaier is quite fixated on the supposed instances of racism in Steiner’s work. Since there is little evidence to support his position, he is forced to manufacture some in order to even have a case.