The school opened on September 7, 1919 with 256 pupils in eight grades; 191 of the pupils were from factory families, the other 65 came from interested families from Stuttgart, many of whom were already engaged in the anthroposophical movement in that city. In the following years, a numerical balance between the factory workers' and outside children was achieved; it had been an explicit goal of the social threefolding movement to create a school that bridged social classes in this way. For the first year, the school was a company school and all teachers were listed as workers at Waldorf-Astoria, by the second year the school had become an independent entity.
The school's opening in 1919 aimed to create a school that bridged social classes through its "social threefolding" movement. The initial years saw a focus on factory worker children and families from Stuttgart, who were already engaged in the anthroposophical movement. Over time, a balance was achieved between these two groups of students.