John Amos Comenius in the Journals of Czechoslovak Freemasons during the First Republic Period (1925-1938)

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present an interesting part of the second life of J. A. Comenius, namely his relationship to the Czechoslovak Freemasons during the First Republic period. The author analyses the occurrences of the name of the Moravian giant in the periodicals Svobodný zednář and Die drei Ringe. The main interest of Czechoslovak Masons was to prove the infl uence of J. A. Comenius’s ideas on the establishment of the fi rst Masonic constitutions in 1723. Another thematic line connected with Comenius was the emphasis on the religious dimension of Masons. In addition, the author of the study points to a number of personalities and interesting facts, such as the problem of fi nding Comenius’s grave in Naarden, identifi cation of his remains, and the growing respect of German-speaking Czechoslovak Masons for the character of J. A. Comenius. They fi nally defi ne him as Anti-Führer. At the same time, the article becomes a stone in the mosaic of the history of the relationship between the Czech and German ethnic groups in Czechoslovakia.