Allemania Lodge # 740 Travels to Germany
by John Boyen & Larry Wund
In June of 2009 Allemania received an invitation from the Freimaurerloge Roland in Hamburg to participate in an International Freimaurer Treffen in Hamburg from September 24th to September 27, 2009. The brothers of Allemania accepted the invitation and decided to extent this trip by 3 days to visit the Oktoberfest in Munich. To loose no time the brothers of Allemania started immediately with the ground- and air arrangements.
The Masonic meeting was attended, not only by brothers from other German states, but also by brothers from Spain, France, Paraguay and the 9th Manhattan district. Besides our District Deputy Lawrence Wund, the Ninth Manhattan District was represented by 26 brothers and sisters from Allemania, Herder, Trinity, Schiller and Lessing Lodges.
Our visit started at Hamburg Airport when a delegation of Roland brothers welcomed us with a surprise ceremony (including a banner and the American flag). The program for the next several days was planned and guided by brother Dieter Stephan assisted by other brothers and sisters from Roland Loge. After a short rest we were off to a very interesting Moroccan Restaurant. After a very interesting buffet we were treated to an exciting belly dancer that even young Dieter Borbeck III enjoyed. The next day’s activities included a visit to the impressive Rathaus (City Hall), a short tour of the city, and a boat ride on the lake Alster, which is situated in the center of the city. The day concluded by bonding with the brothers from Roland Loge with a reception in their beautiful temple (ladies included). Saturday had us up early for another day of touring Hamburg. We started with a bus tour of the Harbor and the southern part of the city, followed by a trip to the Free Masons museum in Jenisch house. Then it was lunch on the dock on the Elber River followed by a Harbor cruise to Hamburg’s immigration museum. The day concluded with a short walk to a Brazilian restaurant where we ate too much and wished Brothers Dieter Stephan and our own Lou Sieb a Happy Birthday.
On Sunday while the Ladies visited the Hamburg Maritime Museum, the Brothers joined Roland Loge for the opening of and the conferral of their first degree. Our own R.W. Ruland Schmidt, who is the Master of Rolland Loge in Bremen, was there as well. He was glad to see the delegation for our District. All ritual work was done in German, and though their rituals differed from ours, all of us were very moved and impressed. One of the differences was that during the opening a brother gave an interesting lecture and one of the brothers played classical music on a piano. The First degree was very different from ours which made it quite interesting. After the formal Lodge work we moved to their beautiful banquet hall for the Tafelloge. A four course dinner was served in between the toasts and all of the 150 brothers in attendance were singing drinking songs by the end of the evening. Allemania Master W.John Boyen presented an Honorary Membership to Brother Dieter Stephan. R.W. Larry Wund presented gifts to Brother Stephan and Rolland’s Master. Rolland Lodge presented books to everyone present. The book was written by one of their Brothers on the subject of collectable firing glasses. The Brother had recently passed away. The evening ended with everyone saying good bye and the hope to meet again soon.
Monday morning Brother Stephan was there to see us off. Everybody expressed their heartfelt thanks to Brother Dieter Stephan for arranging this great visit to the beautiful city of Hamburg and Rolland Lodge.
We boarded a plane for the quick trip to Munich. Since no rooms were available in the city, brother R.W. Dieter Borbeck made hotel reservations in the small town of Plattlingen not far from Munich and arranged for bus transportation during our stay. Monday afternoon we were free to explore the beautiful little town on our own.
Tuesday we were off again to tour Munich. We started with a walking tour led by the Helmprechts. Stopping to see the Rathaus with its famous Glockenspiel. Then the highlight, planned by sister Rose and brother Louis Sieb, an evening at the fun filled Oktoberfest. By the end of the evening there were many well known 9th district brothers and sisters dancing on the benches. No one can go to Oktoberfest and not have a great time. We all owe a big Thank You to the Sieb’s.
Our last full day in Germany was spent sightseeing in the medieval town of Regensburg. A few Brothers an Sisters stayed behind as the day would involve a lot of walking. We were dropped near the river and walked to the ancient Roman bridge for lunch. We then explored the beautiful city. With its old buildings and cobble stone streets it was like a postcard. We made our way to the famous cathedral that was originally built in 1035 and rebuilt in 1350. Words can not describe this magnificent building. The Pope was Vicar there. After a delay we were off to the Monastery/brewery in the town of Weltenburg. The Monks have been making a delicious dark beer there for almost ten centuries. Here again we enjoyed an amazing chapel that must be seen. Our return to Plattlingen was delayed by road construction till after 8:15. So the main group was not able to visit the Lodge in Passau. The Brothers who didn’t make the tour were able to visit the Lodge. They learned that in that area of Germany the Masons must meet in secret. The Lodge meets in an upstairs backroom of a warehouse in a remote area. They had to use an old fashion freight elevator to get to the Lodge room. While the ritual was similar to Roland’s the Brothers still found it very interesting.
Thursday we all said our goodbyes to each other as some of us were staying in Plattlingen, some going to other parts of Germany while most were going home. After all our own Traubenfest was only 3 days away.
Everybody truly enjoyed this trip and hoped we could do it again soon!
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