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Wilhelm Pelikan (3 December 1893, Pola – 17 November 1981, Arlesheim) was a German-Austrian chemist, anthroposophist, pharmacist, gardener, and practitioner of anthroposophical medicine practitioner.[1]
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Wilhelm Pelikan was born to a German-Austrian father and a mother from Dalmatia. He spent his early childhood in Galicia and later pursued studies in chemistry in Vienna and Graz. In 1916, he was called to military service, but he was discharged due to a severe lung and heart illness. During his illness, Pelikan was introduced to anthroposophy through Rudolf Steiner’s work, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. In 1918, he attended one of Steiner’s lectures in Vienna and subsequently became his devoted student, dedicating his life to anthroposophical pursuits.[2]
Pelikan initially worked in Vienna’s gold and silver refinery before being invited by Eugen Kolisko in 1919 to join the research institute Der Kommende Tag in Stuttgart. At the institute, he engaged in anthroposophical research, contributed to academic lectures, and presented at the East-West Congress in Vienna. In 1922, he began work in the newly established laboratories of the Institute of Clinical Medicine in Stuttgart, focusing on the preparation metal mirrors.[2]
Following the dissolution of Der Kommende Tag in 1924, Pelikan became the head of Weleda in Schwäbisch Gmünd, a company he led for the next 40 years. Under his leadership and in collaboration with colleagues such as Oskar Schmiedel, Fritz Goette, and Theodor Schwenk, Weleda developed a range of anthroposophical medicines, including metal mirror preparations, vegetablized metals, and mineral compositions inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s principles.
Together with biodynamic gardener Franz Lippert, Pelikan established a medicinal herb garden on Weleda's grounds and later expanded to Wetzgau, cultivating over 200 species of medicinal plants. This initiative became a foundational part of Weleda's production of natural medicines.
Pelikan also fostered the Schwäbisch Gmünd branch of the Anthroposophical Society, allowing it to hold meetings on Weleda’s premises from 1935. The branch, later named the Raphael Branch, symbolized the connection between Weleda’s work and the healing powers attributed to the archangel Raphael.
In 1948, he joined the editorial team of Weleda Korrespondenzblätter für Ärzte and organized numerous conferences for medical professionals, pharmacists, and others in related fields. He also conducted Goethean studies on metals and medicinal plants, contributing to the understanding of plant biology in anthroposophical terms.
After retiring in 1963, Pelikan continued his research with support from Christa Krueger-Woernle. In 1965, he and his wife relocated to Arlesheim, where he worked with the Science Section of the Goetheanum and remained active in the Anthroposophical Society. Pelikan also explored topics in astronomy, publishing a study on Halley's Comet, and collaborated with mathematician Georg Unger on plant growth statistics, culminating in a scientific paper in 1965.
Pelikan’s work was influenced by earlier anthroposophical botanists like Gerbert Grohmann, whose volumes The Plant introduced readers to the anthroposophical view of plant nature. Pelikan's contributions extended this knowledge, linking the growth and development of plants to cosmic forces and spiritual principles.
- The Secrets of Metals, Lindisfarne Books, Revised edition (2006), ISBN 158420043X
- Healing Plants: Insights through Spiritual Science, Mercury Press (1997), ISBN 0929979648
- Healing Plants volume 2, Mercury Press (2012), ISBN 1935136046
- In German
- Der Halley'sche Komet: Vom Geistig-Wesenhaften der Kometen-Natur, Philosophisch-Anthroposophischer Verlag am Goetheanum, (1985).
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