The Camphill Movement

What is Camphill?

In 1939, Dr. Karl Koenig (1902-1966), a noted Viennese pediatrician and educator, fled the Nazi invasion of his own country and settled in Aberdeen, Scotland with a group of young physicians, artists and caregivers. These individuals founded the first Camphill Community for children with developmental disabilities. It was their intention to create a new form of social life, namely, a therapeutic community in which every human being could unfold his or her human potential. Dr. Koenig claimed that these children were social refugees whilst he and his co-workers were political ones; the handicapped children had been cast out of society in a similar way that he had been cast out of his homeland. Dr. Koenig and the other founding Camphill members aimed to live and work with children with learning disabilities carrying out what Koenig termed "curative education" with them.

In 1954, a group of parents in Britain approached Karl Koenig with the question as to what could be done for their children with special needs when they reached school-leaving age and adulthood. Hospitals, occupational therapy and training centers were dotted about the country as alternatives to remaining at home, but opportunities for people with special needs to make meaningful contributions, economically as well as socially, within their local environments or elsewhere were rare. The need of the parents and their growing, maturing children with special needs coincided with Camphill's ideal to establish village communities in which men and women, with special needs or otherwise, would work together and create new forms of social and cultural life. The original group of parents rose to the challenge and with faith, perseverance and few funds set out in search of a property suitable for a first village community of this nature. An estate which had belonged to W.F. Macmillan, one of the very first parents and benefactors of Camphill, was found and purchased in September 1955 at Botton Hall, North Yorkshire. Botton Village became the model for the many other village communities throughout the Camphill Movement, both in Britain and abroad which, in turn, have inspired others outside the Camphill Movement to find new ways of living for and with people with special needs. The Camphill Movement consisting of both schools and adult communities now has over a hundred communities worldwide.

Dr. Koenig's aims were fuelled by the works of the philosopher and scientist Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) who introduced the concept of the Threefold Social Order which places emphasis on a meaningful cultural, social and work environment. Each of these realms has its own identity and strives to serve the whole human being as well as the needs of the community.

These are the ideals of the Threefold Social Order in Camphill:

• The cultural life is based on Christian values and Anthroposophy, a spiritual science working with the spiritual insights of Dr. Rudolf Steiner in the educational, social and therapeutic realms. Another aspect of cultural life is practicing "conscious and accountable freedom". It means that each individual having discovered his or her own potential and capacities is then encouraged to share within the community by means of education, arts and religion.
  
  
• In social life, the community strives for equality with regard to rights and tasks of all members. For instance administrative decisions are prepared in small working units. Matters are decided by consensus, which allows everyone to work in the realm where his or her abilities and talents are best utilized. This allows everyone to participate in the process of legislation, decision making and execution of important issues concerning community life.
  
  
• The economic life is based on social partnership by sharing the needs and demands of the individual with those of the community. This is the realization of Dr. Steiner's Fundamental Social Law, which indicates that: "In a community of people working together, the well-being of the community is greater the less the individual worker claims for himself the proceeds of the work he has done and the more he makes these over to his fellow workers. Similarly he allows his own needs to be met out of the work done by others." The co-workers of the community share the income of their work not according to rights, but to needs. This principle helps to counterbalance the tendency in society that everyone works only for him - herself.
  
  

Effective community building does not come about without a struggle and makes tremendous demands on those involved, both humanly and physically. The Camphill way of life provides an enormous stimulus for those who take it up, whatever their age or ability. By providing challenges for self-advancement and by respecting the developing individuality of each person, life in Camphill allows everyone the freedom to grow to his or her fullest potential.

About Anthroposophy
Rudolf Steiner recognized the need of our times to re-unite supersensible realities with our experience in the material world. To that end, he chose a rigorous education in modern science and philosophy, and developed Anthroposophy, which can be defined as "spiritual science" or simply "wisdom of the human being". He shared the results of his spiritual research in over 6000 lectures and 40 books. Anthroposophy is a spiritual view of the human being and his relation to the cosmos, but emphasis is on knowing, rather than faith. Rudolf Steiner's wealth of insights offers a path for conscious spiritual self-development, and at the same time inspires countless practical initiatives in education, science, agriculture, the arts, social and economic realms, medicine and curative work.

What is so special about Camphill?

More and more people today are recognizing the need to treat people with learning difficulties and handicaps as individuals. In the Camphill Movement, communities are formed in such a way that the members, whatever their abilities, can help to support the needs of their fellows, while they themselves are supported in turn. The person with learning or social difficulties is accepted as an individual whose need of body, soul and spirit are recognized by the whole community and all live, work and learn together to form one community. By making a commitment to a Camphill community, each person makes a sacrifice, giving something of himself to help another. Out of this attitude, the community grows stronger and all are helped.

Camphill communities are Christian communities, endeavouring to uphold Christian values. The celebration of the seasonal festivals, especially Christmas, Easter, Ascension, Whitsun, St. John's and Michaelmas is important and provides a strong and natural rhythm to the year. A unique feature of our community life is the fact that co-workers do not draw salaries, but their material needs are met through the communal budget, depending on available funds. This means that each person is accountable to him- or herself regarding demand and each person strives to recognize the needs of the others.