The Order of Freemasons in the Netherlands has approximately six thousand members, united in 140 lodges.  On average, a lodge has about forty members. Membership is open to all adult men.
The Order consists of all the lodges which have submitted themselves to its control. Worldwide  approximately 160 lodges in The Netherlands, Suriname, the Dutch Antilles, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Thailand. The headquarters - referred to as Ordegebouw (Order building)- is located on the  Prinsessengracht in The Hague.  It is the home of the national secretariat and the meeting place of the management board. 
The highest authority of the Order of Freemasons lies with the Grand East, which is the meeting of representatives of all lodges in the Netherlands.

 

The daily management of the Order rests with the Grand Master and the board of Grand Officers, who are elected annually, by representatives, at the meeting of the Grand East.
Freemasonry is practised in Lodges. Lodges are autonomous local societies, organized into a national organisation. Provincial Grand Lodges have been established for administrative reasons  in Suriname, the Dutch Antilles and Zimbabwe. They are supervised by a Provincial Grand Master and his board of officers.

The Cultural Masonic Centre “Prins Frederik”  is situated in the former coach house of the Order building. It is a masonic museum,  with a large collection of great historical significance.

Freemasonry is practised worldwide, but no global organization  exists. However, friendly relations with foreign Grand Lodges are maintained.
Many foundations and organizations have originated within Freemasonry, some exclusively for the benefit of the members,  but some also focus on charities within society.
Profile of the Dutch Order of Freemasons
The national federal structure in which the Dutch Masonic lodges are organized is called the Order of Freemasons.  The order has a central administration elected by the lodges. The chairman bears the traditional title of “Grootmeester” (Grand Master).
The central administration performs national functions for the lodges, such as the current rules for the order, maintaining contacts with foreign masonic organizations, production of national promotion material, organizing nationwide activities, monitoring of charity foundations and relief funds on behalf of the order etc.
Each year, representatives from each of the lodges, belonging to the order, are gathered in a national meeting called  the “Grootoosten”  (Grand East = Grand Lodge).

International relations
There are about two million Freemasons worldwide. Lodges are seldom found in countries with dictatorial or dogmatic regimes, but even there the principals and practices of Freemasonry are often upheld in secret or kept alive in exile.
Most countries have a national Masonic order, generally called the Grand Lodge, Grand Orient or Grand East. Large countries sometimes have more than one Grand Lodge. There is no international organization of Freemasons to which the national organizations are accountable.  All national organizations are completely autonomous. They do however maintain friendly relations with each other. Close links exist between the Dutch Order and about hundred and fifty other orders around the world.

Related workforms
Besides the male-only Order of Freemasons, masonic organizations for men and women exist within the Netherlands. The International Order of Mixed Freemasonry "Le Droit Humain" and the Dutch Grand Lodge of Mixed Freemasonry. Furthermore, a female only organization exists: the order of female weavers Vita Feminea Textura, with objectives and methods  similar to those of Freemasonry.