On the occasion of the marking of 95 years since the official founding of the Grand Lodge “Yugoslavia” in 1919, the exhibition “Freemasonry in Serbia 1785 – 2014” was opened at the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade, realized in cooperation with the REGULAR GRAND LODGE OF SERBIA (RGLS). The exhibition presents the very long and glorious tradition of Freemasonry in Serbia.
Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to become acquainted with the origins and history of Freemasonry in the world and with the basic postulates of the Craft. A significant place at the exhibition is occupied by the section devoted to the most important Serbian Freemasons, such as Đorđe Vajfert, Dositej Obradović, Vuk Karadžić, King Peter I, Mihajlo Pupin, King Alexander, Slobodan Jovanović, Prince Paul, Petar Petrović Njegoš and Branislav Nušić, as well as by all the achievements and the contribution of Serbian Freemasons to the development and building of the Serbian state and the progress of the Serbian people.
Among other things, the participation of Serbian Freemasons in the drafting of the Sretenje Constitution, as well as in the formation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after the First World War, is highlighted. Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to become acquainted with the great building undertakings realized by Freemasons, such as the present-day building of Radio Belgrade, the Monument to the Unknown Hero on Avala, the Victor of Belgrade and many others.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to see a large collection of Masonic regalia used in Masonic Temples, items of Masonic equipment (aprons, medals and the like) and other authentic Masonic exhibits, and a particular attraction of this exhibition is the reconstruction of an authentic Masonic Temple — the space in which Freemasons gather and carry out Masonic workings.
Within the exhibition, visitors will also be able to view part of the display of the “Anti-Masonic Exhibition” of 1941 in occupied Belgrade, from the time of the beginning of the Second World War and the great persecution of Freemasons, Jews, Roma and communists by the Nazi occupier.
This attractive and exclusive exhibition at the Ethnographic Museum runs until 9 June, and visitors will also be able to see the display within the forthcoming “Night of Museums”.