Thomas Weihs

Thomas Weihs (born 30 April 1914 Vienna (then the Austro-Hungarian Empire), died 19 June 1983 Aberdeen, Scotland) was a doctor, farmer and special needs educator, one of the founders and leading co-workers of the Camphill Movement and a pioneer of Anthroposophical curative education.^[1] ^[2]

Biography

Thomas Johannes Weihs was the second child of Gertrude and Richard Weiss (spelling later changed), who had settled in Vienna from Brody in the Ukraine. During his studies in Medicine at the University of Vienna, he met Dr Karl König and became part of a youth group whose members formed the core of what was to become Camphill in Scotland.

Being of Jewish origin, he fled Austria together with his first wife, Helene Stoll, completed his doctor’s degree in Basel, after which, at the outbreak of World War II he joined Dr König and the others in Scotland. Near Aberdeen, on Camphill estate, they founded the work in curative education for those they called “children in need of special care,” which was to occupy him for the rest of his life. He had a number of children with Helene, one of whom, Christine Polyblank, founded the Ringwood Waldorf School.

As Camphill grew, so his responsibilities increased, ranging from farming and general handyman to doctor, educator, lecturer and writer. In 1957 he was appointed Superintendent of the Camphill work by Dr König. He had, by this time, also established a thriving practice as a doctor, including working at Dr. König’s own London practice. At the same time he travelled widely, lecturing at Camphill centres throughout the world as well as to the general public. It was in this manner that he met BBC film director Jonathan Stedall, then 28 and taking a year off to study at Emerson College. Their collaboration led to the numerous films for British television that Stedall made on Camphill such as “Candle on the Hill”.

Weihs’ best-known work, the book Children in Need of Special Care, was published in 1971 and has since been reprinted on several occasions and translated into 14 languages.

His final work, “Embryogenesis in Myth and Science”, was completed on his deathbed and published posthumously.

Besides this, his work as sculptor led to a considerable number of pieces set up all over the various farms and public buildings of Camphill.

Films of Jonathan Stedall on Camphill

1967–68 In Need of Special Care (BBC2 2 × 60'):

1. Camphill School, Aberdeen – for children with special needs. (Awarded British Film Academy ‘Robert Flaherty Award’ for best documentary in 1968, and nominated for ‘United Nations Award’.)
2. Botton Village, Yorkshire – a Camphill Community for adults with special needs. (Also nominated for British Film Academy ‘United Nations Award’.)

1973

In Defence of the Stork (BBC1 30') – connections between embryology and the story of creation in the book of Genesis, with Camphill’s Dr Thomas Weihs.

1990

Candle on the Hill (BBC2 3 × 50') – celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Camphill movement and its work for children and adults with special needs.

Published works

Thomas J. Weihs ‘’Children in Need of Special Care’’ A Condor book Human Horizons series. Editors: Anthea M. Hailey, Michael J. Hailey, N. M. Blitz Souvenir Press Limited, 2000 ISBN 9780285635692
Thomas J. Weihs ‘’Embryogenesis in Myth and Science’’ Floris Books, 2008 ISBN 9780863156717
Thomas J. Weihs and Wain Farrants ‘’The Farm as an Individuality’’ Editor Baruch Luke Urieli Camphill Villages Trust, 1965

Books

‘’Thomas J. Weihs’’ Edited by Johannes M. Surkamp Camphill Books, 1999 ISBN 9781897839157

References

↑ ‘’The Builders of Camphill: Lives and Destinies of the Founders’’ Edited by Friedwart Bock, Article by Christine Polyblank, Floris Books, 2004 ISBN 9780863154423
↑ ‘’Thomas Weihs’’ - Biographischer Eintrag in der Online-Dokumentation der anthroposophischen Forschungsstelle Kulturimpuls

Anthroposophy

Founding board members of the General Anthroposophical Society	Rudolf Steiner Albert Steffen Marie Steiner-von Sivers Ita Wegman Elisabeth Vreede Guenther Wachsmuth Edith Maryon

Anthroposophists	Henri Bortoft Georg Kühlewind Jesaiah Ben-Aharon Dennis Klocek Ehrenfried Pfeiffer Theodor Schwenk Emil Bock Bernard Lievegoed Sergei O. Prokofieff Peter Selg Jens Bjørneboe Aasmund Brynildsen Daniel Nicol Dunlop John Fentress Gardner Walter Burley Griffin Karl König Robert A. McDermott Arthur Zajonc Douglas M. Sloan Pietro Archiati Marjorie Spock Christopher Bamford Henry Barnes Walter Johannes Stein Ernst Lehrs E. A. Karl Stockmeyer Herbert Witzenmann Massimo Scaligero Ross Rentea Rudolf Hauschka Oskar Schmiedel Hermann Poppelbaum Alfred Meebold Wilhelm Rath Herbert Hahn Francis Edmunds Thomas Weihs Cecil Harwood Daphne Olivier Marguerite Lundgren Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström Wilhelm Ernst Barkhoff John Davy Jakob Streit Alfred Rexroth Ernst Weissert Michael Henry Wilson Margaret Cross Fried Geuter Arnold Freeman Rudi Lissau Margaret Bennell Edith Rigby Bertram Keightley Arild Rosenkrantz Eileen Hutchins Eleanor Merry Paul Nordoff Clive Robbins Violetta Plincke Hans Schauder George Adams Kaufmann Liane Collot d'Herbois Egil Tynæs Else Klink Carlo Pietzner Marta Fuchs Johannes Tautz Julian Sleigh Botho Sigwart zu Eulenburg

Notable supporters	Saul Bellow Owen Barfield Andrej Belyj Joseph Beuys Wassily Kandinsky Selma Lagerlöf Albert Schweitzer Andrei Tarkovsky Bruno Walter Ibrahim Abouleish Nicanor Perlas Jacques Lusseyran Millicent Mackenzie Margaret McMillan

Cultural influences	Waldorf education Anthroposophic medicine Biodynamic agriculture Camphill Movement Eurythmy Threefold social order Anthroposophical architecture The Christian Community

Institutions, publications	General Anthroposophical Society Anthroposophical Society in America Goetheanum GLS bank Demeter International SEKEM Harduf Triodos Bank RSF Social Finance Associação Comunitária Monte Azul

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