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1780
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According to
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.37, on 1781, June 8, Joseph II (Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790)
authorized a law on censor reform.
On p.40 of
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
it is pointed out, however, that although the censor reform certainly meant
a broadening of intellectual freedom, it did not mean the abolition of the
censor.
Incidentally, footnote 22 of p.40 of
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg
describes this as the "Zensurpatent von 1781"
It should be noted that
Weisberger (1993), p.119 refers to a
"1781 Josephinian Patent legalizing the activities of Masonry in the
empire..." It is not completely clear whether Weisberger is
referring to the "Zensurpatent von 1781" mentioned above, or some
other decree.
In any case,
Weisberger (1993), p.120 indicates that
Viennese freemasons interpreted this to mean that Joseph considered
freemasonry a respectable institution.
According to
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.50, the Lodge "Zur wahren Eintracht"
(originally a spin-off from the Lodge "Zur gekrönten
Hoffnung")
was founded on 1781, March 12.
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.50 notes further that the nominal leader was at first
Ignaz Fischer, court surgeon.
After the lodge had existed for only a year, Ignaz Edler von Born
affiliated himself and his circle with the lodge, and soon became leader
of the Lodge.
Under his leadership the Lodge aspired to become an elite lodge with
literary and scientific leanings.
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.64, indicates that as early as 1782 Born had encouraged the
publication of a journal devoted to the cultivation and advancement
of the exact sciences.
This publication would also make the papers delivered at the lodges
accessible to a wider audience.
As a result, it was decided that the "Zur wahren Eintracht" Lodge
would publish the
Physikalische Arbeiten der Einträchtigen Freunde in
Wien.
Born became the editor of the journal.
It was intended as a quarterly publication, but, as it happened, over its
entire run from 1783-1788 it published only seven issues.
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
pp.50-51 indicates that Ignaz Edler von Born was born on 1742,
December 26 in Siebenbürgen, studied in Vienna, entered Jesuit
orders, but left after only sixteen months, and did some traveling, in the
course of which he came in contact with freemasonry.
For a while, he settled in Prague, and in 1770 he revived the free masonic
lodge "Zu den drei gekrönten Säulen in Prag", which had
been founded in 1743, but which had been dormant for some time.
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.51 also notes that at about the same time he founded the Prague
scholarly society
Privatgesellschaft zur Aufnahme der Mathematik, der
vaterländischen Geschichte, und der Naturgeschichte, and he
played a role in its publications.
He also became a member of most of the scholarly societies and academies
in Europe.
In addition, he is said, with some justification, to have been the model
for Sarastro in Mozart's Zauberflöte.
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.53 notes that most Viennese authors appeared in the Lodge by and by, and
considered it an honour to belong to this Lodge.
It should be, as was often asserted, a substitute for the
long striven for German Academy of Sciences and Arts (suggested by
Leibnitz), and to fulfill this duty in the spirit of the Enlightenment.
The duties of such a Leibnitzian Academy were in many respects fulfilled
by the "Zur wahren Eintracht" Lodge.
As an example, Rosenstrauch-Königsberg mentions the so-called
Übungsloge which were held regularly at the suggestion of
Born.
Designated themes were considered, although authors always endeavoured to
relate them to freemasonry.
According to
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.55, the Lodge could never be a valid substitute for an Academy of
Sciences, since it was not possible to remain in the Lodge unless one
adhered to the ideas of the Enlightenment, or at least pretended to do so.
This ideological limitation would be unthinkable for an Academy.
According to
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.56 the sphere of action of the Lodge was limited by its definite
pro-Enlightenment, anti-clerical orientation.
Even so, the Lodge was the centre of intellectual life in Vienna, and
could have become the embryo for an Academy, if its work had not been
stopped by the 1785 Freimaurerpatent
(freemason decree) of Kaiser Joseph II (see below).
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.56 refers to the controversial Illuminati order, which had been
founded in 1776 in Bavaria by Adam Weishaupt.
There were some similarities in the ideals of both the freemasons and the
Illuminati, but the latter were less inward-looking or contemplative than
the former, and were instead more interested in
social change. The similarities in philosophy between these two groups
was, unfortunately, to play a role in the downfall of freemasonry in
Vienna.
Weisberger (1993), p.149 indicates that,
like the freemasons, the Illuminati operated in secrecy;
but unlike the freemasons, the Illuminati also encouraged revolutionary
activities against European monarchs.
Weisberger (1993), p.149 notes that by late
1785 Joseph was disturbed by the activities of the Illuminati, and also
believed that the goals of the freemasons were similar.
He therfore enacted his Freimaurerpatent on 1785, December
1, aimed at thwarting the activities of secret societies.
It limited each capital city of each province to one lodge, and required
each lodge to submit its membership list to the secret police every three
months.
An immediate consequence of this 1785 Patent was that on 1785, December 24
the "Zur wahren Eintracht" Lodge ceased its activities, and four
days later (December 28) was merged with the"Zu den drey Adlern"
and "Zum Palmbaum" Lodges to form the
"Zur Wahrheit" Lodge
(Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.63).
After this a very rapid decline in membership occurred, since people did not
want to appear on the freemason membership list that was to be sent to the
Monarchs.
Rosenstrauch-Königsberg,
p.64 notes that, between 1787 and 1789, Lodge members met infrequently,
and in 1789 unanimously decided to dissolve.
On the other hand,
Weisberger (1993), p.150 says that Prince
Dietrichstein [Grand Master of the Austrian lodges] decided to close it
down in 1788.
Finally,
Weisberger (1993), pp.167-168 identifies
only two European Masonic lodges during the Enlightenment that aspired to
be scholarly societies:
first, the Parisian Loge des Neufs Soeurs
(which he names as the "Lodge of the Nine Sisters"), and
second, the Viennese Zur wahren Eintracht Lodge
(which he names as the True Harmony Lodge).
Weisberger (1993), p.168 states that because
the Zur wahren Eintracht Lodge published literary and scientific
proceedings, it was more like a scholarly society than its Parisian
sister.
Furthermore the Viennese Lodge "satisfied a great cultural need and
functioned as one of the very few learned societies in Josephinian
Vienna".
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