The name "Waldzell" derives from a fictitious place in Hermann Hesse's novel The Glass Bead Game where selected people, once a year, create a spiritual-sensual work of art. Its effect reaches far beyond the circle of players and essentially contributes to the further development of society.
The Waldzell Meetings want, for two days, to create a place of securness, dialog and inspiration. But Waldzell does not want to be just another conference, the world has seen enough of those. Our vision is not only to create one of the most inspiring places in the world but also primarily one of the most inspiring places for the world.
There is no way of measuring inspiration. Whenever one thinks to have grasped something, it will be gone in the next moment. Waldzell cannot be described, it reveals itself to each one in a different way. The spirit of Waldzell acts on an unconscious level. A special atmosphere in these new human relationships and ideas evolve, some of which will actually be implemented in the physical world.
And where does the name Waldzell actually come from? Every good story starts with a question mark. Why Hermann Hesse gave the name of Waldzell in his famous novel The Glas Bead Game to the place where the élite glass-bead-game players who lived isolated from the rest of the world, is till today still unknown. In-depth research into Hesse's life and works led to the conclusion that he could have fashioned it after Maulbronn, a Cistercian monastery he joined as a youth on 15 September 1891. Ultimately, this is mere speculation.
By contrast, the reason why we chose the name Waldzell for our project in the year 2003 is easily explained. We were looking for a name to express the longing for a place; a sense of well-being and common spirituality and creativity. After many unsatisfactory attempts, the name Waldzell came up. At that moment, we felt deep in our hearts that this was the path to follow. The decision was daring rather than rational because after all, we gave our initiative a name that was hard to pronounce for speakers of English and derived from a fictitious place in a high-brow book. However, the more we drew on The Glass Bead Game as a source of inspiration, the richer were our rewards. And we also realized rather quickly that many other people were as fascinated as we were. Thus, we were able to rally the support of Alan M. Webber, the founder the US business magazine "Fast Company," and of Carl Djerassi, the inventor of "the Pill;" they were among our first two speakers as they were curious about how we would fill The Glass Bead Game with life.
Every path comes into being because we follow it. Since the first Waldzell Meeting 2004, five Nobel Prize winners, some of the most famous artists of the world, and many of the most eminent scientists of our day and age have participated in Waldzell. The Meeting of 2006 hosted participants from no less than 21 countries.
To create an atmosphere conducive to inspiration, the choice of the right place is of tantamount importance. In the Abbey of Melk we have found a place that comes very close to our idea of "Waldzell". In the course of its history, the Benedictine abbey has inspired architects, painters, scientists and last but not least, writers such as Umberto Eco and his novel The Name of the Rose. The Abbey of Melk is a place of serenity and security amidst our fast-moving and dangerous times. It unites a thousand years of Christian spirituality with openness for new ideas and other beliefs.