London Provincial Lodge The earliest authentic records of
Freemasonry activities in the territory of modern-day Latvia can be found in the records of the London Grand Lodge on June 24, 1731:Then the Grand Master [Lord Lovel of Minster Lovel, created
Earl of Leicester, 1721] and his General Officers signed a Deputation for our Rt. Worshipful Brother John Phillips Esqr. to be Grand Master of free and accepted Masons within the Empires of Russia and Germany and Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging, and his health was drank wishing Prosperity to the Craft in those parts.The second Grand Master from 1740 was the exiled Scottish nobleman
James Francis Edward Keith (1696-1758), brother of the English Grand Master (1740) John Keith, Earl of Kintore. He was a supporter of the
Stuart dynasty and backed the
Jacobite uprising. From 1728, he served as a general in the
Russian army, participated in the
Russian war against Sweden (1741-1743), carried out diplomatic missions in Sweden (1743-1744), and later commanded Russian forces in Tallinn and Riga (1745-1747). The first overseer of the lodge was
Jean de Labadie, and the second was Vietinghoff, also known as "Kurländer," as noted in parentheses after his name in the lodge's "Brief History." Members of the first Riga Lodge wore a black feather on their hats as their only distinguishing mark. The lodge's activities were hindered by the
Seven Years' War (1756-1763), during which the Russian Empire fought against the alliance of Great Britain, Prussia, and their allied German states.
Lodge members Not all the names of the brothers of the "Ziemeļzvaigzne" Lodge are available in the archives, as the authorities did not require the submission of lodge membership lists during its operation. It can be assumed that residents of the
Riga Governorate listed in the St. Petersburg Lodge "Zur Verschwiegenheit" (for example, Major General Wilhelm Georg von Fermor) were active in the Riga Lodge "Ziemeļzvaigzne." Similarly, older members of the "At the Sword" Lodge had been members of "Ziemeļzvaigzne" before its transition to the Strict Observance system, as well as brothers from foreign lodges, such as
Johann Gotthelf Lindner, rector of the Riga Cathedral School.
Chair masters •
Johann Dietrich von der Heyde (von der Heyde / van der Heyde): Merchant. A brother of the St. Petersburg Lodge "Zur Verschwiegenheit" (1750), initiated into the lodge by the Danish envoy to the Russian Empire and the lodge's first chair master, Baron Johann Lotharius von Maltzahn, a brother of the Copenhagen Lodge "Zorobabel zum Nordstern" (until 1750). Founder and first chair master of the Riga Lodge "Zum Nordstern" (1750-1760). •
Johann Zuckerbecker (1727-1775): Merchant, shipowner. A brother of the St. Petersburg Lodge "Zur Verschwiegenheit" (1750). Founder of the Riga Lodge "Zum Nordstern" (1750) and chair master (1760-1765). At his invitation, Johann Gottfried Herder joined the "At the Sword" Lodge in 1766.
Overseers •
Jean de Labadie (1719-1812): First overseer of the lodge. From 1751, a colonel in the Russian army; from 1781, a colonel in the Prussian army; from 1793, a brigadier general in the French army. •
Otto Hermann von Vietinghoff-Scheel (1722-1792): Known as "Kurländer." A Livonian politician and patron, founder of Riga's first permanent theater, and during Catherine II's reign, the Director-General of the Medical College of the Russian Empire in St. Petersburg. Second overseer.
Founder of the Lodge •
Johann Lothar Friedrich von Maltzahn (1719-1756): Danish diplomat in Russia. A member of the Copenhagen Lodge "Zorobabel zum Nordstern." Founder and first chair master of the first St. Petersburg Lodge "Zur Verschwiegenheit" ("To Secrecy") (1750). == References ==