Holiday camps at the castle: education or right -wing ideology?

Holiday camps at the castle: education or right -wing ideology?

Schloss Ober-Neundorf, 02826 Görlitz, Deutschland - in the picturesque Görlitz, more precisely at the Ober-Neundorf Castle, an educational leisure for children and adolescents between the ages of 9 and 17 will take place in the coming weeks. The event costs 350 euros for a week and is committed to conveying "humanistic education" and giving the participant: to give moving holiday experiences inside. A connection between body, soul and spirit is sought. But appearance is deceptive: the castle is a center of the controversial Anastasia movement, which was classified as a right-wing extremist suspicion in 2023. This raises questions whether the holiday leisure is actually apolitical, although the co-manager Ferdinand P. emphasizes that no political or ideological agenda should be pursued, as can be read at [End Station on the right] (https://www.endstation-rechts.de/news/schweizer-leiter-Ferienlager-auf-schloss-der-Anastasia movement)

The Anastasia movement has its roots in Russia and is based on a series of novels that is not only shaped by anti-democratic and anti-Semitic stereotypes, but also propagates a utopia of rural life. In this idealized world, the happiness of people is achieved by natural rooting in the earth, as [mmz Potsdam] (https://www.mmz-potsdam.de/forschung/emil-julius-gumbel-forschungsstelle/mitteilungen/anastasia- Democratic-fabelwelten) describes). The goal of the books and the associated movement is the withdrawal to self -sufficient communities, which are often referred to as "family residues". These endeavors are not without ideological connections to right -wing extremist groups, which Matthias Pöhlmann, an expert for sect questions, classifies as questionable.

creative and holistically learn

The program of the "Summer Week School at the Castle" provides for a wide range of activities, including calligraphy, poetry, mathematics, craft, theater and sport. These approaches use the controversial Schetinine pedagogy, which aims at "natural learning" and the existence of "cosmic primeval knowledge" in children. Co-manager Ferdinand P. also brings his experiences from the Tekos School, which uses these pedagogical principles. On an esoteric blog and its YouTube channel, P. also comments on various conspiracy theories, including the "Big Bang lie".

The event is led together with Elisa L., a Waldor teacher who has extensive experience in education. Both emphasize the relevance of holistic educational approaches and seem to have good access to the participants: inside, but the connections to the anastasia movement remain critical.

The role of the Anastasia movement

The Anastasia movement is quite heterogeneous in Germany and finds a connection to alternative, esoteric and ecological groups. There are now settlement projects in Brandenburg that want to practically implement the ideas from the novels. However, these efforts are not free from ideological links to ethnic movements of the past, which does not necessarily make it easier to perceive the movement. The fact that some of the projects in Brandenburg are particularly criticized here because they have connections to right -wing extremism.

Wlada Ruggle, a well-known supporter of the Anastasia movement, is regularly a guest at folklore events, and Mänken, an anthroposophin, linked anastasia ideas in her books. She appears as a speaker in the anthroposophical center Goetheanum. The spread of such views not only has local, but also international relevance and should not be downplayed as part of a more critical argument.