In 2016 Royal Hanover Lodge, No. 1777 explored the possibility of forming a fraternal link with a Lodge in Hannover, Germany. Successful contact was made with Lodge Bridge of Fellowship, No. 929 under the Grand Lodge of British Freemasons in Germany within the United Grand Lodge of Germany.
Since then, Royal Hanover has sent representatives to the Lodge Bridge of Fellowship Installation Meeting every year for the last 4 years.
The 2019 Installation Meeting was held on Saturday 6th April and was attended by W. Bros Michael Ross and Hugh Saville of Royal Hanover Lodge, together with E. Comp Keith Gregory (current MEZ of the Royal Hanover Chapter.
CENTRE – W. BRO WOLFGANG SCHNEIDER, NEWLY INSTALLED WM, TO HIS RIGHT IS R.W. BRO JOSEPH MAISON (ASSISTANT GRANDMASTER), AND TO HIS RIGHT M.W. BRO FRED COLBRAN (PAST GRAND MASTER), WITH E. COMP KEITH GREGORY BEHIND. TO THE LEFT OF THE WM ARE W. BRO HUGH SAVILLE, A VISITOR FROM A FRENCH LODGE AND W. BRO MICHEAL ROSS
W. Bro Hugh Saville had been invited to be the Installing Chaplain, and W. Bro Michael Ross responded to the speech to the visitors.
The meeting received an Official Visit from R.W. Bro Joseph Maison, Assistant Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of British Freemasons in Germany, accompanied by his DC, and much of the Installation of the new Worshipful Master was undertaken by M.W. Bro Fred Colbran, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of British Freemasons in Germany.
THE ROYAL HANOVER DELEGATION WITH THE NEWLY INSTALLED WM.
The incoming Worshipful Master (W. Bro Wolfgang Schneider) is no stranger to the Office, having been WM of the Lodge on no fewer than 8 previous occasions since 1995!
Lodge Bridge of Fellowship has an interesting history, as it had its roots from when there were Freemasons serving in the British forces in Germany, and a number of Lodges were established to provide them with a local Masonic unit.
Whilst the British forces no longer has more than a notional presence in Germany, some British ex-servicemen married local girls and settled in Germany.
Most of the Lodges are located in places where the British forces were based (Hannover, Minden, Celle, Paderborn, Dusseldorf, Berlin etc).
Today Lodge Bridge of Fellowship has an interesting mix of German and British members, together with others from the USA, France and other Constitutions.
As always, a good time was had by all, and Royal Hanover are looking forward to welcoming a delegation from Lodge Bridge of Fellowship to Cole Court for their own Installation Meeting in October.
Lodge Bridge of Fellowship website: www.lbof929.com
