Article: 7959 of alt.freemasonry
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From: kjellb@telepost.no (kjell brynildsen)
Newsgroups: alt.freemasonry
Subject: Norwegian freemasonry
Date: 1 Sep 1995 13:25:47 GMT
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A short survey of  Norwegian Freemasonry 

The first Norwegian lodge,St.Olai loge, was established in 1749 as an 
daughter lodge to the Danish  lodge St.martin in Copenhagen.. In 1780 the 
lodge got its present name,St.Olaus til den hvide Leopard ( St.Olaf to 
the white Leopard).  The lodge converted to the Swedish system in 
1818,partly as an consequence of the disruption from Denmark. The Swedish 
King Karl Johan ( Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte) was accepted as a mason 
in France before he was made king in Sweden,and was afterwards Grand 
Master of the Swedish and Norwegian lodge from 1818 until his death in 
1844. His son Crown prince Oscar ( later king Oscar I) was made an mason 
at age 19,and,despite his low age, delegated the office as GM from his 
father.  Short time before Oscar I's death in 1859 he left the hammer to 
his son ,King Carl XV. He was Grand Master from 1859 to 1872,and was 
followed by Oscar II,Grand Master until the foundation of the Norwegian 
Grand Lodge in 1891. he was also elected to Grand Master of the new 
Norwegian Grand lodge,and served in this office from 1891 until the 
disintegration of the Swedish / Norwegian union in 1905. The new 
Norwegian king Haakon VII was mason,but was also advised of the new 
Norwegian parliament not to engage in masonry,a advise he followed. For 
the first time was a non-royal Grand Master elected. For thirty-five 
years the royal art flourished, but in 1940 the occupation of Norway 
resulted in a five year long period without any official Masonic 
activity. German soldiers was using the Temple as restaurant, and the 
building was badly damaged. In the occupation period 1940 to 1945 
Brethren suffered from persecution by the German occupants and the 
Norwegian Quisling regime. The work continued despite persecution, and a 
"card-club" had meetings with regular intervals. After the occupation the 
work was rapidly recovered.  In 1947 the Grand lodge of  Norway and the 
Polar Star lodges joined, and every Norwegian mason was included into one 
Grand lodge. In 1995 it is about 16.000 Norwegian masons and lodges all 
over Norway.