Freemasonry in Germany

Freemasonry in Germany designates the set of fraternal organizations of an initiatory nature established in the Germanic territories since the 18th century, as well as their history, their rites, and their institutions. These organizations, which Masonic tradition traces back to the medieval guilds of stonemasons, became consolidated in Germany as spaces of Enlightenment sociability and underwent a singular development, marked by the creation of numerous Grand Lodges, the emergence of a distinctive system of their own—the Strict Observance—attempts at unification, persecution under National Socialism, and their rebirth in the postwar period.

Origins (1729-1754)

Freemasonry arrived in Germany in the second quarter of the 18th century, when some Germans joined English lodges before lodges existed on Germanic territory. Among them was Albert Wolfgang, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe. In 1729, Count Thuanus was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Lower Saxony by the Grand Lodge of England, although no activity was recorded. In 1733, “eleven German gentlemen” were admitted in London and received permission to found a lodge in Hamburg, without any evidence that they succeeded.

The first documented German lodge was founded on December 6, 1737, in Hamburg, under the name “Loge d’Hambourg,” without belonging to any Grand Lodge. In 1743, its second master registered it in London as lodge number 108 and received the title of Provincial Grand Master; that same year the lodge was renamed “Absalom zu den drei Nesseln.” In 1738, in Dresden, Count Rutowski founded the “Loge aux trois aigles blancs,” from which two more lodges emerged within two years. By around 1754, there were already nineteen lodges in Germany.

The Strict Observance (1750-1782)

German Freemasonry developed a particular system: the Rite of Strict Observance, which arose in the mid-18th century and introduced the higher degrees into Germanic lodges. Its central figure was Karl Gotthelf von Hund, who claimed to have been initiated into those degrees by Scottish Jacobites who, according to his account, guarded Templar secrets and who had the mission of reviving the Order of the Temple in Germany. After the failure of the Jacobite uprising of 1745, von Hund lost contact with his “unknown superiors” (unbekannten Oberen).

In 1764, while attempting to re-establish contact, he exposed an impostor named George Frederick Johnson, who was posing as an exiled Jacobite. The lodges deceived by Johnson then placed themselves under von Hund’s authority, thereby consolidating the Strict Observance, which became the predominant form of German Freemasonry. After von Hund’s death in 1776, the prince who would later reign as Charles XIII of Sweden was elected as his successor.

The order began to distance itself from the alleged Templar descent at the Convent of Lyon, where the “Beneficent Knights of the Holy City” (Chevaliers de la Cité Sainte bienfaisants) arose. At the Convent of Wolfenbüttel (1778), the National Mother Grand Lodge “The Three Globes” withdrew for political reasons. Finally, on July 16, 1782, the Convent of Wilhelmsbad was held, which within fifty days rejected the legend of Templar descent and of the unknown superiors, thereby bringing the Strict Observance to an end.

Consolidation of the Grand Lodges (1740-1846)

Throughout the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, numerous Grand Lodges were founded in Germany, reflecting the political fragmentation of the territory. The main ones, with their founding dates, are as follows:

• 1740: Provincial Grand Lodge of Hamburg.
• 1741: Mother Lodge “l’Union” of Frankfurt.
• 1741: Grand Lodge of Upper Saxony.
• 1744: Royal Mother Grand Lodge “The Three Globes.”
• 1744: Mother Grand Lodge “Zur Sonne.”
• 1770: Territorial Grand Lodge of the Freemasons of Germany.
• 1783: Mother Grand Lodge of the Eclectic Masonic Federation.
• 1798: Grand Lodge of Prussia called “Royal York of Friendship.”
• 1811: Grand Lodge of Hamburg.
• 1811: Territorial Grand Lodge of Saxony.
• 1846: Masonic Grand Lodge “Concord (Zur Eintracht).”

These Grand Lodges operated independently, each with its own rites and administrative structures, although they shared the fundamental degrees of symbolic Freemasonry: entered apprentice, fellow craft, and master mason.

Attempts at Unification (1801-1871)

From 1801, at the suggestion of Friedrich Ludwig Schröder, “lodge clubs” were founded with the aim of coordinating efforts. The first club brought together the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hamburg, the Grand Lodge of Hanover, and the Grand Lodge Royal York of Friendship. In 1810, the “Masonic Society of the Three Grand Lodges of Berlin” was founded, comprising The Three Globes, the Territorial Grand Lodge, and Royal York. The Hamburg club focused on scientific matters, while the Berlin one dealt with administrative aspects; the latter ceased its activity in 1823.

In 1839, the “Club of Grand Masters of the Three Ancient Prussian Grand Lodges” was formed, which existed until 1935. In 1868, Gustav Heinrich Warnatz, lifelong Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Saxony, founded the first German association of grand masters, which met in Berlin at the lodge of The Three Globes. Further meetings followed in Dresden (1869), Hamburg (1870), and other cities, although full unification was never achieved.

20th Century: Persecution and Rebirth

In the 1920s, German Freemasons were harassed, along with Jews, by those who believed in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and they were blamed for the German defeat of 1918. This campaign of defamation culminated in the suppression of Freemasonry by the National Socialist regime in 1935. Many Freemasons, both in Germany and in the occupied countries, were executed or sent to concentration camps.

After the Second World War, Freemasonry returned to Germany and was gradually reorganized. Today, a single central body represents five Grand Lodges considered “regular.” Alongside them, there also exist liberal, female, and mixed lodges, which reflect the diversity of the contemporary German Masonic landscape.

Distinction between Facts and Traditions

A distinction must be made between documented facts and the traditions or legends that circulate within the Masonic sphere. The alleged Templar descent of the higher degrees of the Strict Observance was a claim by Karl Gotthelf von Hund that was not historically verified and was officially rejected at the Convent of Wilhelmsbad in 1782. Likewise, the attribution of the German defeat of 1918 to Freemasons was a belief spread by their detractors, without documentary basis. Conversely, the founding dates of lodges and Grand Lodges, the existence of the Strict Observance and its dissolution, and the Nazi suppression of 1935 are verifiable facts.

References

• Spanish Wikipedia: «Francmasonería».
• English Wikipedia: «Freemasonry in Germany».