Walther Cloos
Encyclopedia
Walther Cloos was a pharmacist
, alchemist
, Anthroposophist, lecturer
, researcher, inventor, author and pioneer in anthroposophical pharmacy.
, and studied pharmacy
at the Stuttgart
Technical University. He attended lectures on mineralogy
and geology
and did practical training in pharmacy in the Spessart
region, near Hamburg
and in the southern Black Forest
.
Joanna Thylmann's reading group introduced him to Rudolf Steiner
and Anthroposophy
through her reading group. He had already heard Steiner speak at the independent academic course held in Stuttgart
in March 1921. He also attended a second course in Darmstadt
in July of that year.
After having completed his assistantship in pharmacy, he went to work in a chemical factory in Darmstadt.
In April 1925 Cloos joined the laboratory staff of the Institute of Clinical Medicine in Stuttgart. The center of this group would later become the German Weleda
Company. There he started to develop the method of metal distillation
that Rudolf Steiner suggested would increase the medical action of metals. Metallic mirror preparations called 'metallicum preparatum' came to play an important role in the medicinal use of metals.
He took interest as well in medicinal plants grown in the Weleda Schwaebisch Gmuend. With the botanist Gerbert Grohmann and many farmers he studied the ideal conditions and best habitats for different medicinal plants and their biodynamic
cultivation.
The main focus of his work at Weleda
would be the manufacture of medicines made from minerals and metals. Cloos worked out 200 monographs for these medicaments.
In the 1960s and 1970s collaboration developed in Schwabisch Gmuend with Pelikan
, Schmiedel, Krueger and Theodor Schwenk
. This would be the foundation for Weleda medicines later on. Cloos also kept in close contact with the medical profession which provided opportunities for further collaboration. He was also in contact with the Science Section of the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum
. He offered lecture and courses for he workers, farmers, gardeners and students at the Goetheanum.
Cloos was continually invited to give talks to physicians at Lake Hallstatt in Upper Austria
. Dr. Franz Bengesser built a house there for small-scale medical meetings in a large room there.
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
, alchemist
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, Anthroposophist, lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
, researcher, inventor, author and pioneer in anthroposophical pharmacy.
Life
Walther Cloos grew up in DarmstadtDarmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, and studied pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
at the Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
Technical University. He attended lectures on mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and did practical training in pharmacy in the Spessart
Spessart
The Spessart is a low mountain range in northwestern Bavaria and southern Hesse, Germany. It is bordered on three sides by the Main River. The two most important towns located at the foot of the Spessart are Aschaffenburg and Würzburg....
region, near Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and in the southern Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
.
Joanna Thylmann's reading group introduced him to Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
and Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
through her reading group. He had already heard Steiner speak at the independent academic course held in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
in March 1921. He also attended a second course in Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
in July of that year.
After having completed his assistantship in pharmacy, he went to work in a chemical factory in Darmstadt.
In April 1925 Cloos joined the laboratory staff of the Institute of Clinical Medicine in Stuttgart. The center of this group would later become the German Weleda
Weleda
Weleda is a multinational company that produces both natural beauty products and natural medicines. Both branches design their products based on anthroposophic principles. The company takes its name from the German form of the name of the 1st century Bructeri völva Veleda. They use plants grown...
Company. There he started to develop the method of metal distillation
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
that Rudolf Steiner suggested would increase the medical action of metals. Metallic mirror preparations called 'metallicum preparatum' came to play an important role in the medicinal use of metals.
He took interest as well in medicinal plants grown in the Weleda Schwaebisch Gmuend. With the botanist Gerbert Grohmann and many farmers he studied the ideal conditions and best habitats for different medicinal plants and their biodynamic
Biodynamic
Biodynamic may refer to:*Biodynamic agriculture, a method of farming based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner*Biodynamic craniosacral therapy, based on the teachings of William Sutherland...
cultivation.
The main focus of his work at Weleda
Weleda
Weleda is a multinational company that produces both natural beauty products and natural medicines. Both branches design their products based on anthroposophic principles. The company takes its name from the German form of the name of the 1st century Bructeri völva Veleda. They use plants grown...
would be the manufacture of medicines made from minerals and metals. Cloos worked out 200 monographs for these medicaments.
In the 1960s and 1970s collaboration developed in Schwabisch Gmuend with Pelikan
Pelikan
Pelikan is a German manufacturer of fountain pens and other writing, office and art equipment, credited with the invention of the differential-piston filling method....
, Schmiedel, Krueger and Theodor Schwenk
Theodor Schwenk
Theodor Schwenk was an anthroposophist, an engineer and a pioneering water researcher. He founded the Institute for Flow. Science. Link: http://www.stroemungsinstitut.de/prospect.htm...
. This would be the foundation for Weleda medicines later on. Cloos also kept in close contact with the medical profession which provided opportunities for further collaboration. He was also in contact with the Science Section of the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum
Goetheanum
The Goetheanum, located in Dornach , Switzerland, is the world center for the anthroposophical movement. Named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the center includes two performance halls , gallery and lecture spaces, a library, a bookstore, and administrative spaces for the Anthroposophical...
. He offered lecture and courses for he workers, farmers, gardeners and students at the Goetheanum.
Cloos was continually invited to give talks to physicians at Lake Hallstatt in Upper Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Dr. Franz Bengesser built a house there for small-scale medical meetings in a large room there.
Works
- Die Erde—ein Lebewesen. Beitraege zur Physiologie der Erde (The Earth as a Living Entity—Aspects of Its Physiology) published by Freies Gestesleben in Stuttgart in 1952.
- The Living Earth. The Organic Origin of Rocks and Minerals.
- Kleine Edelsteinkunde. In Hinblick auf die Geschichte der Erde (A Brief Gemology in the Light of Earth History) published by Freies Geistesleben in Stuttgart in 1956. 4 editions.
- Weredende Nature (Evolving Nature) Goetheanum Beucherreihe Nr. 8. Phil.-Anthr. Verlag, Dornach 1966.
- Vom Arbeiten mit der Weredenden Nature (Working with Evolving Nature) Verlag Die Kommenden, Freiburg 1966.