Solomon Lodge History
Solomon Lodge No. 822 was founded on September 28th,1955 within the American Canadian Grand Lodge and inherited from the Stuttgart American Lodge established in 1947, under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut. In 1993 Forget me Not Lodge No. 869 consolidated with Solomon Lodge, as a result of the consolidation of US military troops in Germany. Since 2007 it meets just north of Stuttgart.
Stuttgart-American Lodge U∴ D∴ (1947-1955)
Lodge History
American Canadian Grand Lodge
In 1947, the Grand Lodge of Connecticut was called upon by brethren of this jurisdiction to place a Lodge under dispensation. On May 16, 1947, Stuttgart American Lodge of Stuttgart, Germany was placed under dispensation (U.D.).
Bro. John A. Holbrook, Past Master of Siloam Lodge #32 in Connecticut, together with twenty other Brethren in the Stuttgart area, petitioned the Grand Lodge of Connecticut and received a charter as the Stuttgart American Lodge U.D. The uniqueness of the Stuttgart Lodge was its ‘traveling or circuit charter’, which enabled the Master to open his Lodge anywhere in Germany and confer degrees. The lodge made visits to Square and Compass Clubs all over Germany; an ideal situation for the Brethren scattered and located in isolated areas. During the next nine years, Stuttgart American Lodge raised some 1,750 Master Masons. One interesting account describes how fifty-four Brethren boarded a plane at Rhein-Main Air Base and flew to Bremerhaven to raise a Brother to Master Mason, using the same “traveling charter” which had previously been used by the Stuttgart Lodge to pass this same Brother to Fellowcraft at a meeting in Heidelberg. Those Brethren were obviously “travelers” in the truest sense of the word. The history of Stuttgart Lodge is closely related to the story of one special Brother, R.W.Bro. P. M. Rasmussen, who was destined to become the first Provincial Grand Master of the American-Canadian Provincial Grand Lodge in Germany. Brother Pete, as he was affectionately called, was a Past Master (1932) of Wheaton Lodge #269 (Illinois) when he was called to active duty in the United States Navy after Pearl Harbor. At the close of the war, he found himself in Heidelberg as a civilian employee. He became acquainted with the Master of the German Lodge in Heidelberg, “Ruprecht zu den Funf Rosen”, and was instrumental in assisting that lodge to regain possession of its building. Brother Pete interceded with the local military government officials in Heidelberg; as the story is told, twenty-four hours later the building was indeed returned to its rightful owners, by the city authorities.
Brother Rasmussen, a civilian employee of the Occupation forces, was transferred to Stuttgart in August 1947; just three months after the Stuttgart lodge received its charter. Through chance, on his very first visit to Stuttgart Lodge, Brother Rasmussen was elected secretary of the lodge. By the end of that year (six months after the lodge was chartered) its Master, W. Brother Holbrook, was rotated back to the United States. Since Wor. Bro. Rasmussen met all the prerequisites, he was immediately elected to serve Stuttgart Lodge as its Master, an office he held in that lodge for the ensuing nine years, during which period some 1400 degrees were conferred. When recognition of VGL was assured, the Stuttgart lodge’s charter was returned to Connecticut.
Grand Lodge of Connecticut
Stuttgart-American Lodge was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Connecticut and met in Stuttgart, Germany. It was never assigned a number and operated under dispensation (UD). The 1950 proceedings have printed the detailed returns of the lodge. Peter M. Rasmussen was Master, Mels Axberg Senior Warden and Lewis Williams was secretary. The 1949 return showed the lodge had 21 regular and 7 special communications with the average attendance of 17.
Ten were raised to the degree of Master Mason and the largest attendance was for a special meeting held in the city of Heidelberg on September 24, 1949 when 92 Masons were present from 26 states, the Canal Zone, Bermuda, and Great Britain. The lodge paid an assessment of $3 to Grand Lodge for each brother on the roll (34). The Master’s home lodge was in Illinois and the secretary from Ohio.
Past Masters
1947-1955 Peter M. Rasmussen
(1st PGM ACGL 62-63)
1947 John A. Holbrook
Archive dispensations and annual reports of Stuttgart-American Lodge U.D. between 1947-1955.
Forget me Not Lodge No. 896 (1965-1993)
Lodge History
On 21. August 1965, at 15 :20 hrs., Forget me Not Lodge No.: 896, AF&AM, came officially into being. Weeks of feverish activity on the part of several Brothers in the area culminated in the issue of a dispensation by the United Grand Lodges of Germany. The Charter followed on 14. April 1966. Officers elected and appointed under dispensation on that eventful day in August 1965, those same Brethren who had worked so hard to get Forget me Not Lodge established, were the following: W. Bro. Allen - Master, Bro. Drury - Senior Warden, Bro. Pearce - Junior Warden, Bro. Weeks -Treasurer, Bro. Musselwhite - Secretary, Bro. Strange - Senior Deacon, Bro. Meeker - Junior Deacon, Bro. Rowan - Senior Master of Ceremonies, Bro. Engelhardt - Junior Master of Ceremonies, Bro. Estabrook - Chaplain, W. Bro. Wenk - Senior Steward, Bro. McEvers - Junior Steward, Brother Burgess - Tiler.
Officers elected and appointed under Charter were the following: W. Bro. Pearce - Master, Bro. Musselwhite - Senior Warden, Bro. McEvers - Junior Warden, Bro. Weeks -Treasurer, Bro. Anderson - Secretary, Brother Burg - Senior Deacon, Bro. Mahoney - Junior Deacon, Bro. Shoulders - Senior Master of Ceremonies, Bro. Burgess - Junior Master of Ceremonies, Bro. Estabrook - Chaplain, Bro. Matzke - Marshall, Bro. Colvard - Senior Steward, Bro. Parnell - Junior Steward, Bro. McLeod -Tiler.
The early years were indeed bleak, lack of space for meetings being the principal difficulty. Meetings were often conducted in the Mess Hall of the 46th Medical Battalion located in Wharton Barracks. And later, shortly before the Charter was finally granted, meetings were taking place in the home of the Worshipful Brother Lewis E. Pearce. It says a great deal for the wives of Masons to turn their homes over for Lodge meetings. Needless to say W. Bro. Pearce's wife was suitably recognized for her patience and cooperation.
In the meantime negotiations had been going on with W. Bro. Dieter Wenk, Master of the German Lodge "Zurn Brunnen des Heils" No. : 367, located at Moltkestrasse 8/2 in Heilbronn, for the leasing of their Lodge, where a permanent home for Forget me Not might be found. With the cooperation and blessings of our German Brethren we soon had our Permanent Home.
However, Forget me Not was not yet out of the woods. Crisis after crisis hit the Lodge, the principal cause being the inability to perform degree work due to the lack of the minimum number of Brothers necessary to present a suitable proficiency. The continuous turn around of Brethren - return to CONUS, reassignment, etc. - had taken a heavy toll of the Lodge membership and it's capacity to operate successfully.
The darkest hour, perhaps, was on 10 June 1969. W. Bro. David L. Recob, ACPGL, Central District Representative addressed the Lodge at its regular Stated Meeting. The message was clear and unambiguous - shape up or face closing down.
Those were indeed dark days, and it is necessary at this juncture to recall a few names, without whose valiant efforts in our behalf, Forget me Not would not have celebrated 27 years: Right Worshipful Peter M. Rasmussen, Right Worshipful Marlon E. Westenburg, Very Worshipful Brother Paul MacKenzie, Worshipful Brother Dieter Wenk (Zurn Brunnen des Heils) and a score of other Brethren, too numerous to mention here.
The outcome of the struggle to keep Forget me Not solvent is well known - on 26th April 1985, Forget me Not Lodge No.: 896 was voted the best Lodge of the ACGL, Federal Republic of Germany.
Our little blue flower, the Forget me Not, our symbol of a dream came true, had finally came home. Not only is the little blue flower our symbol of hope, it is the symbol of Masonry that carried our German Brethren through their dark years when they were banned under the Hitler regime. It is the symbol that carried us through our dark years.
In 1993, Forget me Not Lodge No.: 896 consolidated with Solomon Lodge No. 822, as a result of the drawdown of US military troops in Germany.