Brothers and Sisters

Karl König (1902-66) was well-known as a physician, author and lecturer. He began his work at the Institute of Embryology at the University of Vienna. In 1940 he founded the Camphill Movement in Scotland. Based on Rudolf Steiner's insights into human development, the special education schools for children and villages for adults with special needs are now established in many parts of the world. Richard Steel, born 1952 in Oxford, England, completed the Camphill seminar for Curative Education at Föhrenbühl at Bodensee (Lake Constance), Germany, in 1975. He lived and worked there with his family in one of the households for children with special needs. Since 2008, he has shared responsibility for Karl König's estate and runs the Karl König Archive in Berlin.

'Readers will approach this book from their respective family positions, which in my case is the first of four. It was striking to see the first-born characterised as a defender of faith, tradition and the family against new ideas and action. Surely the balance is critical here.'-- David Lorimer, Scientific & Medical Network'For me the most telling aspect was how much König's descriptions of the first, second, third child and so on fitted so closely with characteristics we'd noticed in our children.'-- Education Otherwise'A pleasure to read this important work again.'-- Camphill News NI'A profound and insightful book.'-- Perspectives'Fascinating.'-- Desmond Morris, author of 'The Naked Ape'