Freemasonry museum opens in Rīga

Freemasonry appeared in Latvia as early as the 18th century. As Rubahins explains, the first lodges were established here in the 1750s. Prominent figures of the Age of Enlightenment, such as Garlieb Merkel and Johann Gottfried Herder, are also linked to the history of Freemasonry in Latvia.

The museum holds a copy of a diploma from one of Latvia’s lodges. It depicts three crowned hearts and three swords. Rubahins presents this as evidence of a history that has long remained in the ...