Local efforts to recenter the philosophies of French-German humanist Albert Schweitzer as morally and culturally imperative in modern Aspen have been recognized in a French book written by authors from his home region.
Local journalist Paul Andersen, who wrote a series of stories for Aspen Journalism about Schweitzer’s local legacy, and former Aspen Mayor Bill Stirling are featured in Francis Guthleben and Jenny Litzelmann’s book, “Albert Schweitzer Intime: 100 Témoignages” (“Albert Schweitzer Intimate: 100 Personal Accounts”). Guthleben, a French journalist and writer, and Litzelmann, director of Maison Albert Schweitzer, a museum located in Gunsbach, Alsace, which is part of a region of northeastern France bordering Germany, worked together on the book and published it in French in November. The book compiles 109 two-page personal stories of people, ages 18-95, from all over the world who have met Schweitzer or have a family member who has met him, or have been inspired by his thoughts and are spreading Schweitzer’s ideas.
Schweitzer, also a philosopher, theologian, doctor, musician and humanitarian, came to Aspen in 1949 at the request of Elizabeth and Walter Paepcke to give the keynote address at an event celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
“The two basic ideals of a profoundly human attitude are purity and kindness,” Schweitzer said in July 1949 during his remarks — which he gave in French and German — under a tent at Aspen Meadows. “Purity frees man from hypocrisy, and kindness is the supreme manifestation of the spirit in man. Goethe’s principle is: ‘Do good for the pure love of the good.’ By this individual practice of good on the part of a great number, the well-being of society is realized.”
The event and Schweitzer’s visit to what was then a sleepy former silver mining town, where recreational skiing was just beginning to take hold, signaled the birth of modern Aspen as an international destination and helped inspire the “Aspen Idea” or de-facto city mantra of a place dedicated to cultivating the “mind, body and spirit.”
Over the past year, a group of locals — led by Amy Honey, who is Aspen Historical Society’s vice president of education and programming; Pitkin County Commissioner Greg Poschman; and Aspen Community Church’s the Rev. J.R. Atkins — dedicated themselves to restoring Schweitzer’s ideas and encouraged the city of Aspen and Pitkin County to declare July 1 as Albert Schweitzer Day. In September 2024, Dr. Lachlan Forrow, president of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, gave a speech titled “Reverence for Life and Aspen Today” at the Aspen Chapel. The speech spurred this revival. The group is currently pondering ideas about what the next Albert Schweitzer Day will look like and how they can encourage stronger calls for action.
“This year, we’re trying to look at who else can help. So, here we are in February, mid-February, still trying to nail down some other things based on who else is prepared to contribute time and resources,” Atkins said. “So, we’ll see what comes out of that between now and then, and we are all interested in not just the history, but what is the living legacy?”
The event, which took place June 30 and July 1 in Aspen and at The Arts Campus at Willits (TACAW), featured an organ recital at the Aspen Community Church by Schweitzer scholar James Welch, and a series of conversations, including a keynote speech by Dr. Jim Withers, founder of the Street Medicine Institute and who is included in Guthleben and Litzelmann’s book. The event and the proclamation of the first Albert Schweitzer Day were featured on Maison Albert Schweitzer’s social media.
As of Feb. 26, another hourlong organ recital by Welch at the Aspen church, where Schweitzer came during his visit in 1949, has already been pinned down for this year’s Albert Schweitzer Day, but Atkins said they have asked Welch to twist it a little. “This year, we’ve asked him to continue that theme, that same kind of genre where there’s some playing and some speaking and some pictures,” he said. “[But] we’ve challenged him to dig deeper. You know, we don’t want the same thing as last year.”
Since Schweitzer was best known for his slow-pace interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach, Welch chose to center last year’s recital on Bach’s music, pairing his own live organ performance with recordings of Schweitzer’s playing Bach and clips of Welch’s visit to Gunsbach. This year, Welch told Aspen Journalism that he plans to broaden the program to include other composers’ works that Schweitzer also performed, including German composer Felix Mendelssohn and Alsatian organist and composer Charles-Marie Widor, with whom Schweitzer studied. Welch will also present nonmusical clips of Schweitzer, such as footage of him at his hospital in Gabon or him in a canoe in Africa.
“I want the audience to go away with a better appreciation of Schweitzer as a musician, as an organist, and a better understanding of what the organ is and how it works and then to show some other videos of him doing nonrelated things because I don’t want people to think that’s all he did,” said Welch, who was in town Feb. 24 giving an organ recital at Aspen Community Church.
From Gunsbach to Aspen
Guthleben, who hails from the same Alsatian region of France as Schweitzer, also published the book “Mon Schweitzer” (“My Schweitzer”) in 2024. In the book, people from the Munster Valley, where Schweitzer grew up, shared their memories of Schweitzer or how he has inspired them. After publishing the book, Guthleben wanted to broaden his horizons and get personal stories from people all over the world. “Albert Schweitzer Intime” includes testimonials, delivered in the first person, from citizens of France, Germany, Switzerland, Gabon, the United States, Australia and other countries.
The Schweitzer museum in Gunsbach presents exhibitions about Schweitzer’s work, life and childhood in the Munster Valley and Alsace region, which was torn between two countries during World War I and World War II. Schweitzer, who was born in 1875 in Kaysersberg, which was then part of Germany but is now inside the France border, built Maison Albert Schweitzer in nearby Gunsbach in 1928-29. The house was used for visitors and by Schweizer when he stayed in France during a time when he was living mostly in Lambarene, Gabon, where he founded a hospital. Maison Albert Schweitzer is run by AISL (Association Internationale pour l’œuvre du Docteur Albert Schweitzer de Lambaréné, or the International Association for the Work of Dr. Albert Schweitzer of Lambarene). This organization includes national committees from different countries that support humanitarian and environmental projects across the world. Kaysersberg-Vignoble, located about 14 miles from Maison Albert Schweitzer, has its own museum, Centre Schweitzer, which is mostly dedicated to Schweitzer’s humanist principles and influence on the creations of peace organizations.
“The Maison Schweitzer gave me access to all the filmed and sound archives to which I’ve added many other sources because I realized that there were many more sources available that haven’t never been explored before, and that’s how I ended up in Aspen. I found two movies from the Aspen Historical Society, two amateur movies about the 1949 convocation for the 200th birthday of Goethe,” Guthleben said in French as he explained how he found out about the Aspen Institute and got into contact with Andersen and Stirling.
“I was surprised by the life of Albert Schweitzer for all the people I’ve met. People talk about him as a contemporary, as if he’s with them, and how easily I’ve found people across the world,” Guthleben said. “I didn’t think this man was still so alive around the world.”
Andersen, a longtime local journalist and author, wrote a four-part series titled “the second coming of Albert Schweitzer” for Aspen Journalism in early 2025. The series was published by Aspen Journalism as a book later that year: “Albert Schweitzer at the Birth of the Aspen Idea.” Andersen’s reporting tells the origin story of the Aspen idea; describes how Schweitzer’s ethic inspired modern-day Aspen and the Aspen Institute; and highlights the current effort to elevate the message that Schweitzer carried that was so integral to the community’s history.
“And really, it’s a thin thing, it’s a booklet, but it is probably the most important book I’ve written of the 20 books I’ve written,” Andersen said. “It is so full of the ideas that are important to me [such as] reverence for life. I mean, I think there is no higher human aspiration than reverence for life.”
Schweitzer’s “reverence for life” is his most well-known ethical principle that considers every life as sacred and that no life is more important than another. Schweitzer, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, advocated for the respect of all lives, whether they are humans, animals or plants. He preached altruistic values and critiqued consumerism, materialism, specialism (the increasing trend of academics focusing on narrow fields) and individualism. He also spoke against nuclear proliferation.
“[Schweitzer’s ‘The Philosophy of Civilization. Civilization and Ethics’] looks like it was written by a philosopher two days ago. It’s insane. The issues he pointed out at the time — and by the way that’s quite frightening — are the same as those we’re facing nowadays,” Guthleben said.
In “Albert Schweitzer Intime,” Andersen’s chapter is titled “Élever” (“Raising”). Andersen describes how he came to Aspen in 1984; his discovery of Schweitzer’s philosophy; how he came to write about Schweitzer; and the first Albert Schweitzer Day. “Aspen was built on two visions,” he says in the book. “On the one hand, the good, the true, the beautiful. On the other, money, fame and power. I’ve picked my side.”
Stirling’s chapter in “Albert Schweitzer Intime” is titled “Réconcilier” (“Reconciling”). Stirling recounts his work with the Peace Corps in Kenya and his teaching job in New York City, and how Schweitzer’s ideas shaped his life and his work as mayor of Aspen from 1983-91. “Reconciling Aspen with Albert Schweitzer’s ethics requires us to acknowledge the wounds of the past,” Stirling says in the book. “This land belonged to the Ute people. … This history should be taught and passed on to younger generations, so that our prosperity is not built on forgetting.”
The first Albert Schweitzer Day and its impacts
“Lachlan [Forrow] has really inspired us to try to raise the consciousness of people who live here because not all of them know the history of it,” Stirling told Aspen Journalism. “And we just thought they would have a greater appreciation for the history of the town if they could learn more about it.”
After Forrow’s visit, a local group of people began to discuss whether they wanted to do anything else to remind the community of Aspen’s beginning.
“People do ask the question ‘Why is Aspen special? Why are we different? Why are we unique?’ And I think it goes back to Albert Schweitzer,” Poschman said. “We have something like at least 350 nonprofits in the valley, maybe more like 500 if you count all of the marginal ones, where people volunteer themselves and their time to contribute to something larger than themselves. So, there’s this idea of service which has been in the community, and I’m so proud of our community for that.”
For Poschman, Schweitzer has always been a household name. “I heard his name my entire life, and he was held up as this incredible symbol,” he said. “My grandmother was Swiss. She was from Zurich. She was very idealistic and intellectual. After traveling the world as a nanny, she ended up in the U.S., married, and then went back to school and ended up getting a degree in psychology as a Ph.D. She was a doctor and then a professor. … And when she heard about the Goethe Bicentennial, you know, it’s like her hero was coming to Aspen, to Colorado.”
After attending the event, Poschman’s parents, a couple of skiers, got married and were looking for a place to settle. His grandmother gave them her blessing if they chose Aspen, because she thought that it was the only ski town with a future. “She wasn’t thinking about skiing; she was thinking about the Aspen Institute and Schweitzer’s legacy, which was already blossoming into the Music Festival and the Institute,” Poschman said.
Poschman said he didn’t want a conversation “where scholars come and they discuss Albert Schweitzer and then everyone goes home. That’s not enough. I really wanted it to be something where something is accomplished.”
To that end, Poschman said organizers wanted to promote a contemporary humanist who is walking in the footsteps of Schweitzer and could be recognized either through an award or whom they could help with their cause. Last year, Withers was invited to give a keynote speech about his work for the inaugural Albert Schweitzer Day. Withers created a global street medicine movement that provides care for people experiencing homelessness. In “Albert Schweitzer Intime,” Withers writes that about 250,000 unhoused people receive care each year thanks to the Street Medicine Institute, which currently covers 140 cities and 27 countries and includes 900 physicians. “Albert Schweitzer’s legacy lives on. His radical choice to leave everything behind to care for strangers has fueled my desire to serve.”
Poschman said they raised about $50,000 for Withers’ organization. “We found a donor who issued a challenge grant, and they met it. And so now they’re able to hire an operations director using those funds to help them move along. So the Street Medicine Institute is going strong and we have contemporary humanitarians doing great work. And so now the question is: Should we do this again?”
Schools and younger generations
Many of the people featured in “Albert Schweitzer Intime” stress the importance of perpetuating Schweitzer’s legacy and passing it down to younger generations. Guthleben said that some members of European Schweitzer associations may worry that the legacy is fading, but they may be unaware of ongoing efforts in other parts of the world.
“The majority of the people I’ve found outside Europe — well, the European associations didn’t know them,” Guthleben said. “So there’s an inventory that needs to be done to say to everyone that you’re not alone, there are people over there as well, and this inventory could lead to a much stronger community.”
Andersen also reflected on the importance of that global connection, noting how pleased he was when Guthleben and Litzelmann reached out to him for an interview for the book.
“The fact that they’re making this book, and I’m part of it, made me feel like suddenly my book is an international book,” Andersen said. “And to see myself in print in French was a really cool experience for me. … It’s a really cool thing to feel like now there’s a connection to Europe.”
Guthleben also said that AISL launched a membership campaign in the hopes of recruiting younger people. Through his program of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs d’Albert Schweitzer (Schweitzer’s Kids), Guthleben has been working with elementary schools and preschools in the Munster Valley to introduce them to “reverence for life,” using games that teach young children compassion, empathy and respect for one another and for all living beings, including animals and plants. A total of 1,200 kids received a Schweitzer ambassador certificate that symbolically commits them to share Schweitzer’s message. They also received a free ticket for them and for an adult to Maison Albert Schweitzer.
“That’s a wonderful approach,” Andersen said. “That’s probably where all ethics begin and to start with the very youngest is another really smart idea because it’s a foundation for how to behave as a human being as you go through life.”
Todd Breyfogle, Aspen Institute’s senior adviser for humanistic studies and practices, who spoke during last summer’s Albert Schweitzer Day festivities, shared in “Albert Schweitzer Intime” his enthusiasm for Schweitzer’s Kids. “I’m excited about the idea of developing a global Albert Schweitzer ambassador program. We could create an educational kit for teachers, a small traveling museum, to introduce Schweitzer to a new generation.”
Honey, from the Aspen Historical Society, is working on two children’s books: one about Aspen’s mining era and another one potentially about Schweitzer.
“This is my inspirational picture,” Honey said, showing a picture of Schweitzer sitting at a desk with a kitten beside him. She said she would like to write a children’s book for younger kids that would be an introduction to Schweitzer through the eyes of the cat and through music. “There’s going to be all this music happening, and so we’ll introduce Schweitzer. Obviously, he didn’t perform music in 1949, but as [he was] a musician … there’s that music angle,” she said. “And I think they will understand reading about this person who devoted his life to helping other people. I think that is something anyone, any age child can understand.”
Honey is facing a challenge similar to the one Guthleben faces in France. Honey said she would like to have more school interactions, although she has yet to reach out directly to the Aspen School District about incorporating any curriculum based on Schweitzer, and she acknowledges the challenges of catering the instruction to different age groups.
“I’ll be honest,” she said. “I don’t feel like I have that quite figured out. Like, is it a history presentation? Is it like a philosophy presentation? Is it a civics presentation? So, I’m excited about the book because that’s a very concrete thing I know I can do.”
Honey also shared the fact that a few months ago, she met with the city of Aspen’s planning department staff who had received a copy of Andersen’s book. “It was really wonderful. … They were young people, and they were so interested. I would say they were interested in the history, but they were also very interested in ‘OK, what can we do? It’s one thing to talk about these ideas and maybe these values, but how can we implement them or what does this mean for us?’ … That actually made me pause because I thought: OK, maybe we don’t need to keep talking about history.”
Guthleben said that what interests him most is using Schweitzer’s ideas as a reference point for the younger generations, rather than treating him as a figure of the past whom people should admire.
Honey agreed. “I don’t think it’s about saying ‘Oh, this person was this perfect person at all. They were a product of their time, and I think just having a dialogue about that [is important],” she said. “Yes, it was a different time, and yes, we have to be realistic, but there’s lessons to be learned. And so, let’s figure out how to go into the history and pull out what is speaking to us.”
Atkins said he has confidence that the modern-day Schweitzer movement will take off. “And those of us that started out will look back in a few years and go ‘I had no idea that’s where it’d go.’ That would be cool,” Atkins said. “I wonder if it went beyond the valley. Maybe there was a local, Colorado, a national, an international award given out every five years called the Aspen Schweitzer Award, or something like that.”
