Architektur, Bauherr und Freimaurerorden

of us who are not so Catholic, a fanatic’s project”. At the same time though, he stood by the system and wanted to devise content for it “which should only look after the Swiss and not be general … – the image of liberty as the foundation of our independent country … could constitute the development of our work.” It is hypothesised that Johann Rudolf Burckhardt, as a potent builder-owner, wanted to provide scope for these plans and to convey them structurally in his private home.

During the construction work, an international crisis emerged regarding the Strict Observance system. This led to renunciation of the legend of origins in the Templar order and to closure of the lodges in Basel in 1784, which may be the reason why Johann Rudolf Burckhardt’s urban mansion fulfilled its intended role only briefly, if at all. In 1786, the builder-owner turned to another institution, the newly founded Society for the Good, committed to a national reform movement. In 1789, he signed the house over to his sons and moved to the country, where he built the country estate ‘Auf der Erndhalden’ near Gelterkinden in 1794. When lodge life in Basel was revived in 1808 by the lodge ‘Zur Freundschaft und Beständigkeit’ (meaning ‘To Friendship and Steadfastness’), he was no longer involved.

Translated from German by Simon Thomas