Obituary: Karla Kiniger, teacher

Karla Kiniger: Steiner teacher who embraced a philosophy she assumed had been banned by the Nazis

by ALISON SHAW

Published on the 27 March 2014 00:00

Published 27/03/2014 00:00

Born: 4 November, 1921, in Hinterstoder,  Austria. Died: 21 March, 2014, in Edinburgh, aged 92
Karolina Maria Anastasia Kiniger grew up in the idyllic surroundings of some of Austria’s most beautiful countryside, a picture postcard setting of towering mountains and crystal clear lakes.
The youngster, the eldest of four sisters, attended a convent school and had hoped to become a doctor but, as the Third Reich intruded inexorably into her homeland, she found herself living under the dark shadow of Nazi rule.
During the Second World War, after embarking on her studies at Vienna University following Austria’s annexation to Germany, she endured forced labour, under the so-called Voluntary Labour Service, on farmland in Sudetenland and Galicia, and never did fulfil her ambition to be a medic.
But, when the war was over, the opportunity to embrace a philosophy she assumed had been banned under the Nazis set her on the road to becoming a gifted and indefatigable teacher and ultimately led her to Edinburgh where her no-nonsense yet intuitive approach to education inspired generations of pupils.
She continued to teach until well into her 80s and remained respected and appreciated by her former pupils who helped her celebrate milestone birthdays decades after they had left her class.
As one acknowledged: “She educated you towards a sense of freedom of thought and, in doing so, she empowered you to confront the world when you left.”
The daughter of a farmer, who later became a postmaster, she was born in the village of Hinterstoder, in a valley in Upper Austria, surrounded by high peaks. She was educated at the local school before going on to the Freistadt Gymnasium for a year, after which she attended a girls’ school. When the family moved to the Salzkammergut, the spectacularly beautiful lake district right in the heart of Austria, she became a convent school pupil.
Church attendance was compulsory and there, aged 12, she became an agnostic, partly as a reaction to what she called “the Roman Catholic dictatorship”.
Just after the Anschluss in 1938 that saw Austria become part of Germany, she went to university in Vienna to study history and German.
Medicine was not pursued, partly because of the excruciating experience of having her tonsils removed under local anaesthetic – she vowed never to be in a position to inflict such pain on others.
Her studies were interrupted, however with duties for the Nazis, “voluntarily” working the land belonging to farmers in Sudetenland, on the border of Bohemia, and, in 1942, in Galicia, later part of Poland.
Miss Kiniger had seen Hitler in person more than once and many years later would use her eyewitness account to explain some of the history of the Second World War to her pupils.
During the Battle of Stalingrad, which raged over the autumn and winter of 1942-43, she had a vision of how future Soviet and Anglo-American interests would be mapped out in Europe, imagining northern Austria controlled by the Soviets and south of the Danube by the Americans. It was not until May 1945, after the Yalta conference earlier that year, that the demarcation followed that same line with the river separating the two zones.
After the war she lived in Linz on the Danube, staying with an aunt in the American sector south of the river while her parents’ home was in the north in the Russian area.
In 1946, at the instigation of one of her sisters, she attended a lecture on anthroposophy, the spiritual science founded on the work of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner.
She had not a clue what the subject was, save that it may well have been prohibited under Nazi rule. Once in the lecture hall, it was a revelation. Its ethos, based on a modern spiritual path of self-development that recognises and respects the freedom of every individual, immediately made sense to her and she began attending lectures and a study group.
She went on to study the dance-like art form eurythmy and creative eurythmy in Vienna and, in 1953, during a conference in Switzerland, met one of the Edinburgh Steiner School’s founding teachers, Inez Arnold.  She was interviewed for a teaching post in Edinburgh but, before arriving in the Scots capital, spent a term learning English at Michael Hall School in Forest Row, East Sussex, Britain’s oldest Steiner School.
Miss Kiniger began teaching in Edinburgh in 1954, initially doing creative eurythmy with individual pupils and giving German lessons, before becoming a class teacher – a role performed by each teacher for a period of eight years at a time. Her charges ranged from age six to 14.
In the early 1970s she took her class of approximately 36 on a two-month exchange visit to a Steiner school in Vienna. A formidable presence, she brooked no nonsense on the three-day train journey, even managing to keep an eye on mischief-makers at three in the morning.
The trip was an extraordinary experience for the youngsters and much of their daily lesson concentrated on the Second World War. Their teacher was able to give them a personal insight not only into the history of the conflict but, having witnessed the Fuhrer in real life, could describe his deep blue eyes and the inexplicable charismatic quality that allowed him to influence so many people in pursuit of his abhorrent aims.
Also during the 1970s she was asked to visit Russia, to meet others interested in anthroposophy. The movement was still underground at that time and much care was taken in preparation for her journey, one that she repeated regularly for another 30 years.
She took a sabbatical in 1974-75, travelling to New Zealand where she also taught. She returned to Scotland, via Russia on the Trans Siberian Express, and set up the Steiner teacher training course in Edinburgh in 1976 with colleague Lawrence Edwards.
A stocky powerhouse of a woman, known for both her spiritual insight and clear opinions, her contribution to the school was enormous, practically and spiritually.
She continued to teach until about ten years ago and remained active in the Anthroposophical Society, locally and internationally. She also enjoyed a large network of friends and acquaintances and kept her sharp mind fully occupied with interests including reading, music, opera, current affairs and scientific advances.
On her 90th birthday she was invited to address the entire Steiner school during assembly and did so without a microphone, her words leaving a deep impression on every pupil from six to 18.
She is survived by one sister, her nephew and nieces.

Crochet in Court

Taking the unusual step of entering a national court competition by fielding two teams from one class, with students of all abilities participating rather than taking a gifted and talented group forward as many schools do, Steiner Academy Hereford came away from the local heat in Hereford on Saturday 15th March with 1st and 2nd place. In addition to clearly strong team performances in a variety of formal legal roles, Bethan Glennon won the cup for the best defendant, and Oliver Meiklejohn and Louie Ablett won the cup for the best defence lawyers.
The Magistrates Court Mock Trial is a national competition organised by the Citizenship Foundation and magistrate courts with support from local charities. Teams for the competition consist of 13 students, with each taking a role as either a magistrate, prosecution or defence lawyer, prosecution or defence witness, defendant, legal advisor / clerk and usher. Each student explores their particular perspective on the case (one ‘Jaz Henry’ accused of dishonestly handling stolen goods – a bicycle) and is required to step into their part as fully as possible. In the competition itself they participate in two heats, one when the prosecution lawyers and witnesses have to play their part, and another when it is the turn of the defence team. Three judges, drawn from the bench and the police, mark students’ performances against national criteria. This includes observing each heat in court as well as the deliberations of those students playing the part of magistrates discussing the merits of the case in the retiring room.
The contribution of local magistrates was invaluable in supporting the students. Leigh Brazewell, organiser of the local heat, visited the school to give an overview of the justice system in the UK. As in previous years, discussion around more severe sentences for crimes involving discrimination or prejudice, whether involving a person’s race, gender, sexual orientation or vulnerability, provided a salutary context for incidences of careless classroom talk that can challenge all teenagers. Magistrates Michael Wilcox and Michael Ward also supported the class with astute and invaluable feedback on their performances during weekly run-throughs.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the teams from Steiner Academy Hereford also drew attention from the judges for their innovative crocheted red and blue badges, worn to distinguish whether they were either defending or prosecuting the case in one of the two heats. The “nimble fingers – nimble minds” and “slow-burn” pedagogy of Steiner Waldorf education and the uniqueness of the school as the first state funded Steiner Waldorf school in the UK, returned a number of times during conversations between the school’s teachers and visiting dignitaries, as verdicts were awaited and students calmed.
Preparation for this competition began just before Christmas 2013 for the current Class VIII (year 9). Since September, the class had been taking a weekly ‘Justice’ lesson, exploring both retributive and restorative forms of justice around the world. It so happened that the class visited the history of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the weeks before Nelson Mandela passed. The balance of reconciliation and punishment within justice and the relationship between ethics and law has formed a basis and ongoing theme of the students’ work. Preparation for the competition itself allowed the students to engage with the professional challenges of putting these issues into practice. Whilst the school has previously participated in the competition this has been the first year that the project has been fully integrated into the curriculum for a whole class. It has offered the students a powerful experience of participation and commitment, beyond perhaps their success. In a broader context, the growing place of citizenship studies in the UK, exemplified by this competition, is converging well with the goal of Steiner Waldorf education, expressed by the Steiner Academy Hereford’s vision as cultivating the ‘moral imagination’ of ‘free thinking individuals’.
Paul Hougham, March 2014
 
 

Steiner School Kings Langley Students visit CERN
9:54am Tuesday 18th March 2014 in Your Contributions

From the 9th to 11th March 14 students from the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley and 16 students from Michael Hall (another Steiner school in Sussex) went on a trip to CERN in Geneva. CERN is the leading particle Physics research centre in the world. The pupils had a chance to see some of the experiments carried out there first hand, and to talk to the Scientists, technicians and engineers who make it happen. The trip included a chance to see the beautiful city of Geneva, visit the Geneva car show, visit the chemistry and Physics departments of the University of Geneva, visit the CERNs museums and the highlight of the trip, the tour of CERN.
The tour took four hours. It included an introductory lecture, a visit to the cryogenic testing facility where the giant magnets used in the large hadron collider (LHC) are tested. We then had a visit to CMS, one of the experiment sites. We were lucky that the experiment was not running as it enabled us to travel 100 metres underground and look at the huge particle detector they have assembled down there in a cavern. The trip was a huge success and enjoyed by all.

https://www.steineracademybristol.org.uk/about-our-school/location
 

Steiner Academy Hereford are delighted to announce that Stephen Holland has been appointed as the new Principal of the Steiner Academy Hereford with effect from September 2014.  Stephen joined the Academy in 2012 having been a parent and school governor at Michael House Steiner School in Derbyshire.  He currently holds the position of Teaching and Learning Coordinator.