Deutsches Freimaurermuseum (German Masonic Museum)
The only Masonic Museum in Germany was founded in 1902 in the house of the Bayreuth Lodge "Eleusis zur Verschwiegenheit" with the aim of countering the prejudice of a "secret society". Of some 10,000 objects, around 500 are on display in three rooms. Aprons and sashes, lodge badges, medals and cups illustrate the customs of the Freemasons. The history of the lodges since their first foundation in England in 1717 and their roots in the medieval cathedral building lodges are documented, as is the decisive influence of Masonic principles on the Enlightenment of the 18th century and the democratic idea of the state. Of the many famous people who belonged to lodges, only a few may be mentioned: Johann Wolfgang v. Goethe, Johann Gottfried v. Herder, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Kurt Tucholsky, Voltaire, Winston Churchill or Frederick the Great.The museum also has a special library of 16 500 volumes, which is open to visitors, as well as an archive, and has thus become a Masonic study centre.
Last edited on 26.10.2023
