Grand Lodge of Prussia, called the Royal York of Friendship (Berlin)

Since 2017, 22 books from the library of the Grand Lodge of Prussia, Royal York zur Freundschaft in Berlin, could be returned.

The Grand Lodge of Prussia, called Royal York zur Freundschaft, was founded in Berlin in 1752. The Lodge was liquidated and expropriated by the Nazis in 1935. It was revived starting in 1946.

The books were obtained from a depot of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) at Eisenacher Str. 11-13 in Berlin Schöneberg. This is clear from the marking of the books with the number 15, which is found in almost all of the volumes. The RSHA had collected looted books from all over Europe at this location. Parts of these books were distributed to libraries in Berlin after the end of the war in 1945.

The ZLB would like to express its sincere thanks to the German Masonic Museum in Bayreuth for their support with this restitution.