F. Mentényi Klára szerk.: Műemlékvédelmi Szemle 1995/1-2. szám Az Országos Műemléki Felügyelőség tájékoztatója (Budapest, 1995)

TANULMÁNY - Keresztessy Csaba: A Magyarországi Szimbolikus Nagypáholy páholyházának építéstörténete

sub Commitee of the Financial committee on 17th February and was found to be justified. On the 12th February meeting of the Financial and Economic Commitee it was also supported, however the City Council on 9th March was ready only to give the site on low cost. In March a collection was begun for the financial basis of the building which was continuing in the next year. In the meantime the place had also changed. On 1st of May the Grand Master announced the grand committee had bought the site at the corner of Vörösmarty and Podmaniczky streets. The planned beginning of the building was at that time the summer of 1894, and the finishing in 1895. The competition was published in „Kelet" (Orient) in the October of 1893, on condition that the building should be planned with central heating and electricity. The date of the competition was at that time the 28th January, 1894. But because of the small number of the applicants this date was more than once modified. Finally on 13th April Vilmos Ruppert was charged with making the plans (he himself was a lodge member and freemason). By the May of 1895 the beginning of the building became urging as they were given the notice of leaving the hired building with the 1st May, 1896. On 21st June, 1896 the inauguration celebration of the building took place and on 1st October the „central sanctuary" was also opened. During the 1st World War the Grand Lodge had a base hospital in the ledge building held by the lodges. Following the war the dynamically developing freemasonry (26 lodges with approximately 13000 members) was attacked by the power. Following 21st March, 1919 the state had confiscated the goods os the Grand Lodge and the building was given to the unions. On 14th May 1920, the lodge building was taken by the MOVE (Hungarian National Defence Committee) and on 18th May the lodge was formally prohibited. In the September of 1923, István Rakovszky, Minister of the Interior had ordered the land registration office to registrate the building to the OTBA. At the same time the MOVE had also remained there and in 1926 it got the right to hire the building for 16 years then becoming the owner the building was in its possession. In the February of 1945 Dr. Rezső Mezei was proposing to Andor Gerő to claim back the lodge building and to get a permission of the government to continue their work. The National Committee had given back the building on 23rd February and proposed to get an agreement with the National Peasant's Party working already in the building. The situation of the Grand Lodge became better with the becoming legal of the lodge life from the April of 1945 on, and a later order on 15th December had confirmed the fact of giving back the building. Following the agreement with the National Peasant's Party in 1946 the Grand Lodge was trying to get away the tenants from the building. In the meantime the reorganization of the lodges begun, and the reconstruction of the badly damaged building. The work started on 17th September, 1946. Between the August of 1946 and the March of 1948 the building and refurnishing required 862000 Ft, from which amount the collection of the lodges was 176 000 Ft.