This paper reviews the four basic phases in the history of Waldorf education, which began almost one hundred years ago: a) the years from 1919 to the beginnings of the Nazi regime, when the Waldorf schools were forced to close; b) the period of the First World War, when these schools operated as a clandestine movement, and their official reopening in the post-war years; c) the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, when institutional disaffection led to a decline in Waldorf education; and d) the period from the 1980s and the end of the Cold War to the present day. In each phase, the development of Waldorf schools is reviewed in the context of important historical events in teaching and education. The paper’s main source of information is the Waldorf Education Worldwide, which reviews Waldorf education in all those countries where it is officially practised. The author proposes that historical analysis is key in understanding how this educational model has conserved much of its original character even while it has also evolved with the changing trends in twentieth-century educational practice.