En:American Canadian Grand Lodge
Inhaltsverzeichnis
American Canadian Grand Lodge
The American Canadian Grand Lodge (ACGL) is a regular Masonic Grand Lodge based in Germany, originally founded by American and Canadian Freemasons from the Allied forces after World War II. It operates under the umbrella of the United Grand Lodges of Germany (VGLvD).
Founding
After World War II
During World War II, active Freemasons came to Germany along with the Allied soldiers. As a result, Masonic work began immediately after the end of the war, primarily in the tradition of American, British, and Canadian Freemasonry. On July 11, 1946, the "Oregon Military Lodge U.D." was founded in Frankfurt (Main). It was the first lodge in Germany established by Allied soldiers and received its charter from the Grand Lodge of Oregon.
In the following postwar years, additional lodges were founded under various American and Canadian Grand Lodges.
In 1954, the "Galilei Lodge No. 810a" emerged from the "Square and Compass Club" in Kaiserslautern. It was the first lodge founded by Allied soldiers that did not receive its charter from an American Grand Lodge, but from the United Grand Lodge of Germany, AF&AM, which had been founded on July 19, 1949. Around the same time, the Stuttgart-based "American Lodge U.D." and "Ort Bavarian," a lodge active in southern Germany, also returned their charters to their American Grand Lodges and reestablished themselves under the umbrella of the United Grand Lodge of Germany, AF&AM. In quick succession, eight such lodges were founded directly under the United Grand Lodge of Germany, AF&AM.
Representatives of these lodges also took part in the Grand Lodge meeting of the United Grand Lodge of Germany, AF&AM, held in Cologne in September 1955. During this meeting, a separate district was established for the American and Canadian lodges. Brother Peter M. Rasmussen was appointed as District Master. By 1964, there were already 42 American and Canadian lodges in this district. These lodges formed the core of what would later become the "American Canadian Grand Lodge".
Founding Meeting at Lake Chiemsee, Bavaria
Over time, many language and administrative barriers, as well as psychological and cultural differences, became apparent between the lodges of this district and the other Grand Lodges of the "United Grand Lodges of Germany (VGLvD)." These and other factors led the Americans and Canadians to meet at Lake Chiemsee in June 1962 in order to establish an independent Grand Lodge under the VGLvD.
Thus, on June 2, 1962, the "American Canadian Provincial Grand Lodge (ACPGL)" was founded. The original District Master, Brother Peter M. Rasmussen, was appointed as the first Provincial Grand Master. In September of the same year, the founding of this new Grand Lodge was announced at the Grand Lodge meeting of the VGLvD, and Brother Peter M. Rasmussen’s appointment as Provincial Grand Master was officially confirmed.
Later Name Changes
Over the following 18 years, two more name changes were made. First, the word "Provincial" was replaced with "Land." Later, the word "Land" was dropped entirely, resulting in the current official Grand Lodge name: "American Canadian Grand Lodge (ACGL)."
Miscellaneous
The official language of the ACGL Grand Lodge is English. The lodges conduct ritual work in German, English, French, Italian, and Turkish, with plans for additional languages currently in progress. At present, the ACGL is the only German Grand Lodge that permits newly founded lodges to use their own rituals upon request, provided these meet certain formal requirements.
Lodges
A list of member lodges can be found here:
Links
- Grand Lodge homepage: https://acgl.online
- Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Canadian_Grand_Lodge
