The Freemasonry movement, also known as Masonry, emerged in the 18th century as an anti-clerical and cosmopolitan movement. These were mostly secret male associations whose aim was moral improvement and the brotherhood of people through liberation from religious and class differences.
The beginnings of the organized movement are associated with the year 1717, when four lodges in London joined together to form one Grand Masonic Lodge. In different countries, the movement adopted different leading currents. In Poland, after the partitions, the movement took on an independence-oriented character. Even Kings St. Leszczyński and St. Poniatowski were members. During the interwar period, in 1921, the Grand Lodge in Poland was established, and one of its masters was Andrzej Strug, a well-known writer. In Germany, Masonic lodges aimed to fight for the unification of the state (this current developed particularly during the Spring of Nations (1848–1849) and before 1870). Bolesławiec had a Masonic Lodge of St. John. In 1801, the lodge held a conference on the occasion of its patron saint’s feast day (24 June).
The lodge must have been well-off and brought together the urban elite, since it owned its own building.
After the unification of Germany in 1871 and the establishment of the Empire, when Otto von Bismarck became Chancellor, Freemasonry began to be regarded as a harmful movement. In 1885, the Bolesławiec Lodge was dissolved, and the city took over its building.