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Post by gaslight on Sept 22, 2007 2:17:42 GMT
On the Groupthink thread, Leonardo mentioned studying Polish for a proposed visit to Poznan in Poland. That prompted me to revisit some of the Polish bookmarks in my archive. The Grand Lodge of Poland site hasn't changed much, but I was saddened to see that the LDH Polish Federation site has undergone a major facelift. It used to have a superb top page, clearly the work of a professional designer. I was so impressed that I fired off an email to the website contact, but never received a reply. Now the page is so amateurish it positively weeps. Since my last trawl of Polish Masonic websites, about three years ago, this amazing portal has opened up: Polish Freemasonry. Somebody has put a lot of work into that. I found it just a few minutes ago and will return to browse at leisure.
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Post by leonardo on Sept 22, 2007 7:30:34 GMT
Thanks Gaslight for this info. I am delighted to learn FM is doing well generally in Poland but especially please to know LDH has a presence there also. Although my trip to the country did not come off on this occasion I will be visiting at some future point - I have very good friends in Poznan.
Are you Polish?
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Post by gaslight on Sept 23, 2007 4:17:15 GMT
Thanks Gaslight for this info. I am delighted to learn FM is doing well generally in Poland but especially please to know LDH has a presence there also. From the pages I've seen, it's had an on-off presence for some time. The present LDH Polish Federation dates to 1997. I couldn't find a simple list of current lodges (makes you wonder what's so difficult about compiling one) but from bits and pieces here and there, and in chronological order: - “Pierre et Marie Curie” in Warsaw
- “Orzeł Biały” (White Eagle) in Katowice
- “Pod Ulem” (Under the Hive) in Toruń
- “Konstytucja Trzeciego Maja” (3rd May Constitution) in Warsaw
- “Recontre Fraternelle” in Warsaw using French language.
There's a Masonic lodge in Poznań but it's under the Grand Lodge of Poland. My family roots are in that part of the world but the first time I ever visited was on that trip to Poznań that I mentioned previously.
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Post by leonardo on Sept 23, 2007 6:41:37 GMT
"Recontre Fraternelle” in Warsaw using French language." Interesting. Thanks for the list you compiled, be nice if there was one (LDH) in Poznan, too, as that area is still very much on the cards for a visit down the road. Incidentally, we now have here in Ireland many Polish people and I wouldn't be surprised if eventually we didn't see a Polish Masonic lodge spring up.
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Post by gaslight on Sept 24, 2007 2:56:40 GMT
Since my last trawl of Polish Masonic websites, about three years ago, this amazing portal has opened up: Polish Freemasonry. Somebody has put a lot of work into that. I found it just a few minutes ago and will return to browse at leisure. Three days and several dozen web pages later, here are a few comments about Polish Masonic websites. The excellent portal listed above seems to be, indirectly, under the aegis of the Grand Orient of Poland (maybe that's why it's called Virtual Masonic Orient), though it provides plenty of links and information about other jurisdictions. I checked out five or six other sites, of which the most interesting was Ars Regia, chock full of Masonic research papers, though all in Polish as far as I could see. The quantity and quality of Masonic research papers coming online is staggering, especially for a country that emerged from Masonic darkness as late as 1990, with the lifting of government restrictions. Maybe this has something to do with the intellectual calibre of Polish Masonry: historically its membership has been drawn from the professional classes. Officer lists are studded with professors, doctors, judges, etc. Trivia No. 1: The Masonic Collection of the Library of the University of Poznan holds 80,000 books, the largest in Continental Europe and the second largest in the world. Trivia No. 2: Most web histories of Polish Masonry seem to agree that the first Masonic lodge in Poland was Bractwo Czerwone (Red Brotherhood) founded c. 1720, but one page in the Virtual Masonic Orient adds that this lodge was MIXED. No source for that statement, however. Trivia No. 3: The same Virtual Masonic Orient site has a few links to external lodges and I was astonished to find one of my websites listed. Love these guys! ;D
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Post by leonardo on Sept 24, 2007 7:49:42 GMT
"Trivia No. 1: The Masonic Collection of the Library of the University of Poznan holds 80,000 books, the largest in Continental Europe and the second largest in the world. "
That is truly amazing. This, and others you've referenced, would certainly suggest FM is very much alive in Poland.
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