En: David S. Owens: Schröder Reproduction - The Work Process
Schröder Reproduction - The Work Process
First, I will set forth some information about the artist and Mason, Jens Rusch, so that the following can be properly understood.
Brother Jens Rusch occupies a somewhat unusual position in German Freemasonry. Although he does not hold a significant office, his role can be described as "not insignificant". This is due to the fact that he does not feel obliged to any of the Masonic teaching methods practiced in Germany alone. Only then was it possible to have such a huge, common platform as the online lexicon www.encyclopedia-masonica.com.
He did this for years on his own, had to endure hacker attacks and the threat of honorary tribunals and survive. But times change. Today, well over 40 million page views and more than 5,000 meticulously compiled content pages are of high value for this Masonic public relations tool.
The Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Germany, Brother Christoph Bosbach recently awarded Brother Jens Rusch the golden merit badge "Pro Merito" for this huge achievement and the enormous perseverance of the cancer-stricken brother. He was described as a "traitor", to now a highly valued knowledge facilitator. His team of brothers and also sisters, of the leaders and top-class staff of archives and museums has grown significantly.
Many of today's Freemasons thus received their first, serious knowledge of Freemasonry, which in Germany is also called "Royal Art". Often, his editorial staff receives letters of thanks in this spirit. Meanwhile, there is a support association for the preservation of the online lexicon, which in Germany is called "Freemason Wiki". The chairman is none other than Grand Master Brother Bernd Brauer. The magazine-like lexicon has thus become sustainable.
Rusch designed and produced many jewels and designed working carpets for German lodges, book titles and illustrations. They all have one thing in common: He basically worked "pro bono" and out of the goodness of his heart, so he did not take any fees.
When he was asked by the lodge master of the oldest German lodge "Absalom to the Three Nettles" in the Orient Hamburg, if it was technically feasible to reconstruct a life-size figure from an indistinct photo of a statue destroyed by the Nazis, he took the daunting request without hesitation and at no time did he demand even a penny for this increasingly time-consuming task. It was the pure Masonic idealism that drove him for over two years. No one thought about a contract or an official task structure at this time. Why? No one thought it was ever necessary.
Quote from Grand Master Stephan Roth-Kleyer:
“I wish the brothers responsible for this project much success. I would be very happy to be able to see the life-size statue of our brother and great Masonic reformer, Friedrich Ludwig Schröder, during one of my next visits to Hamburg. I would like to encourage you, my brothers, to help with this project.”
In addition to this, the artist Jens Rusch was increasingly forced to indulge in what the Nazis had done to German Freemasonry, but also the horror at how inadequately discussed the atrocities done to German Freemasonry in the post-war period. Instead, such atrocities were opressed and hushed.
Jens contacted authors and contemporaries who also dealt with the topic of "oppression". He received very similar information from Spain, where only today the atrocities of the Franco regime are discussed and not oppressed. Such information is also kept in a large archive in Salamanca. From Israel, Denmark, to Iceland, the growing project of reconstruction received great recognition.
Thus, the enormously complex artistic task became a symbolic act instead. When I recognized the increased level of difficulty of this artistic task, I decided to support Brother Jens Rusch in the accomplishment of this task. The world needs to know the damage the Nazis did to their own country as well. Everyone knows how they persecuted people, but not what they did to the Freemasons.
Quote by Brother Jens Rusch:
“I am delighted that far-sighted Brothers like David S. Owens have also recognized these relationships. Unfortunately, there is currently little evidence of sustained support for this reconstruction project in Germany; on the contrary, negative voices can be heard.”
In response to the oppression, Jens stated that:
“This reflection is becoming more and more important on a daily basis, because the sprouting of a new and violent right-wing populism in Germany has not left its mark on the lodges in the former GDR. One can only prevent the story from repeating itself in a fatal way, if you face your own past.”
Quote from Arno Schmidt, German author and translator:
"Germany may take the role of the stone in history, over which humanity has stumbled many times.”
