Grand Lodge of Vienna

In 2017, a book from the library of the Grand Lodge of Vienna could be returned.

The Grand Lodge of Vienna was founded in 1918. Immediately after the Anschluss in 1938, it was dissolved and its property confiscated. The Grand Lodge was re-established in 1945, initially as the “Grand Lodge of Vienna for Austria" (Großloge von Wien für Österreich). Since 1955, the lodge has been called the “Großloge von Österreich” (Grand Lodge of Austria).

It is unclear how the volume entered the holdings of the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin. The object was found in unprocessed stock in the Berlin City Library. It is likely that the book, like numerous other volumes from libraries of lodges, was delivered after the end of the war via the Bergungsstelle (Salvage Office), order no. 15 (a depot of the Reich Security Main Office).

The Austrian National Library and the Bavarian State Library have already restituted books of the same provenance.

The ZLB would like to thank the Association of Masonic Museums, Libraries and Archives in Europe for their support in this restitution.