IV. Letter from Count Aldalbert von Keyserlingk
Dear Mr. Kelder, and at the same
time, My Dear Friend Greub,
Many thanks for your information
that you sent me on April 17, 1985 regarding the exposition on the occasion of
the 200th anniversary of the Hermitage in Arlesheim.
From my youth on, I have
occupied myself with just that area, made countless walks at all times of the
day and night and came back each time enriched and endowed.
The accounts by His Excellency
[General] von Moltke, Emil Bock and many others, also about their conversations
with Rudolf Steiner concerning the Hermitage, I experienced partly at first
hand and with Mr. Grosse, my school friend, I discussed the questions
concerning this Grail area intensively.
Thus I was glad when the book by
Werner Greub – to begin with, as announced, the first, exoteric volume – appeared.
His destiny happened to lead him as an officer of a corps of engineers just
into that this stretch of land that he was interested in, with the result that
after thorough research he was able to motivate his hunches and experiences. A
real knowledge of the truth of this ancient Mystery place arose in him – an
important event in the entire field of Grail research.
At the time that the opinions
about this first volume on the reality of the Grail began to diverge, I made a
point of visiting Mr. Greub. We compared our studies concerning Mystery places,
established that they were completely in agreement and confirmed our mutual
sympathy.
The work of the publisher,
however, this I had to counter, was such that if I had been the publisher, I
would have been ashamed. But this has nothing to do with the contents.
After the destructive, yet in no
way professionally motivated criticism by a schoolmaster appeared, I was angry
on two counts. On the one hand, it seemed to me to have less to do with the
actual contents of the book than with a general subjective, different approach,
and on the other hand, it maintained generalities that were not in line with
the thoroughness of the work. This reminded me of my own experiences with my
book Koberwitz 1924*, although a negative
review of it with passages quoted out of context suddenly caused an increase in
sales.
If the writer of the criticism
of Greub’s book, Mr. Lindenberg, would have taken up contact with the author
and would have evaluated the first volume as part of a work that included a
second volume, then untruths would have been avoided in the world to make room
for an objective cognitional attitude, which is more than necessary in
spiritual life. One is instinctively reminded of the destiny of the Parzival
story (Willehalm) that apparently is only revealed to those who are inwardly
connected with the secrets of the Grail.
I convey my best wishes for your
plans and am with heart-felt greetings, your
Signed: A. Count Keyserlingk
* Koberwitz 1924 – Geburtstunde einer neuen Landwirtschaft, Verlag
Hilfswerk Elizabeth, Stuttgart 1974. This book about the birth of a new biological-dynamic
agriculture through Rudolf Steiner in 1924 contains memoirs of Adalbert’s
mother, Countess Johanna von Keyserlingk, her son and other participants such
as Wilhelm Rath and Rudolf Meyer. In 1968, the same publishers brought out Gralburg (