Ehrenfried Pfeiffer

Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899-1961)

Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (* 19 February 1899 in Munich; † 30 November 1961 in Spring Valley, NY USA), was an anthroposophically oriented chemist, biochemist and pioneer of biodynamic agriculture. The copper chloride crystallisation according to Pfeiffer and the method of the round filter chromatogram goes back to him.

Life and work

Pfeiffer grew up in Nuremberg. He studied chemistry in Basel and came into contact with anthroposophy there. At the age of 21 he installed lighting respectively stage lighting in the carpenter's workshop at the first Goetheanum, then in the Goetheanum itself, so that it was suitable for eurythmy performances (now on display in the Salzburg Museum for Stage Technology). He lit the eurythmy performances until Rudolf Steiner's death in 1925 and recorded many of the performance director's details on the use of light for posterity. At times he also became Steiner's driver.

In 1925, together with Erica Sabarth, he developed the copper chloride crystallisation method, which is one of the image-creating methods of anthroposophy. On a cold winter's day he is said to have observed how the steam from a hot coffee cup and a hot tea cup at the window produced different ice crystals. With the method one can - if one has had long practice - prove to what degree food has vitality (by examining the images that the crystals form when they come together with plant juices or blood preparations). In 1938-40, Pfeiffer emigrated to the USA via France. In 1939, he received an honorary doctorate of medicine for his cancer research. In the USA, he developed a method for composting urban waste and conducted research in the field of organic farming and maintained a biodynamic model and research farm. In 1956 he became professor of biochemistry.

Publications

Biodynamics in farming and gardening

• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Soil Fertility, Renewal and Preservation: Bio-dynamic farming and gardening, Asiatic Publishing House, 2006. ISBN 81-87067-73-X.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Bio-Dynamic Gardening and Farming: Articles, Mercury Press, 1983-1984. ISBN 0-936132-67-1.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Using the Bio-Dynamic Compost Preparations & Sprays in Garden, Orchard & Farm, Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, 1984. ISBN 0-938250-26-4.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and Erika Riese, Grow a Garden and Be Self-Sufficient, Mercury Press, 1981. ISBN 0-936132-37-X.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Bio-Dynamics: Three Introductory Articles, Charter, 1999. ASIN B000PIZ250.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: The biodynamic treatment of fruit trees, berries and shrubs, Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, 1976.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Weeds and What They Tell, Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, 1981. ASIN B00071HRSU.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: The Earth's Face: Landscape and its relation to the health of the soil, Faber and Faber, 1947. ASIN B0007IXST0.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Practical guide to the use of the bio-dynamic preparations, Rudolf Steiner Publishing, 1945. ASIN B0007K8FAU.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: The fair garden plot: Concise guidance for growing one's own vegetables, Rudolf Steiner Publishing, 1945. ASIN B0007KD2GC.

Chromatography

• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Chromatography applied to quality testing, Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, 1984.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Sensitive crystallization processes: A demonstration of formative forces in the blood, Anthroposophic Press, 1975. {{ASIN|B00073467S.

Composting

• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: The art and science of composting: Observations and testing methods: the chromatographic method, Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association, 1959. ASIN B0007HK7MC.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: The compost manufacturers manual: The practice of large scale composting, Pfeiffer Foundation, 1956. ASIN B0007G1MWC.

Other topics

• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Heart lectures: Three lectures, Mercury Press, 1982. ISBN 0-936132-49-3.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz: A commentary, Mercury Press, 1984. ISBN 0-936132-16-7.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Zarathustrian Way, St. George Book Service, 1982. ISBN 0-936132-45-0.
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: On Rudolf Steiner's Mystery Dramas, Four Lectures Given in Spring Valley, 1948. Mercury Press, ISBN 0-936132-93-0.

German

• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Erika Riese: Der erfreuliche Pflanzgarten, Vlg. am Goetheanum, Dornach 1994
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Die Fruchtbarkeit der Erde. Ihre Erhaltung und Erneuerung, Vlg. am Goetheanum, Dornach 1977
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Empfindliche Kristallisationsvorgänge als Nachweis von Formungskräften im Blut. Dresden 1935
• Ehrenfried Pfeiffer: Ein Leben für den Geist, Perseus Vlg., Basel 2003, ISBN 3-907564-31-6

Weblinks

• Pfeiffer, Ehrenfried in the online documentation of the anthroposophical Forschungsstelle Kulturimpuls (Herbert H. Koepf)
• The Pfeiffer Center - Biodynamics – Education – Agriculture