What is Freemasonry?

Anyone who thinks freely wants to meet others who also think freely. You don't want someone else's opinion imposed on you. No dogmas. You seek your own route through life. But not lonely, not alone. You are looking for a place where people listen to each other. Putting opinions side by side in freedom. Searching for answers to life's questions. That is what Freemasons do.
Freedom, tolerance, brotherhood. Three keywords by which Freemasonry can be characterised. Freemasonry assumes everyone's right to independently search for truth, strives for the general brotherhood of men, breeds tolerance, looks for what unites people and peoples and tries to remove divisions.
The Freemason enters the lodge to become a better person. Not to become better than someone else, but to improve himself. A person in whom thinking, feeling and willing are in harmony. At peace with himself and his environment. Freemasons are ordinary people, to whom nothing is alien. It is no coincidence that the ‘Know thyself’ is repeatedly put to them. Nowadays, we would say: ‘Improve the world and start with yourself’.

Special method
Freemasonry is not a religion, ideology or philosophy of life. And certainly not a sect or secret society. The Order of Freemasons is a democratic association, whose members strive to deepen their understanding. Of course, the Order is not alone in that endeavour. But Freemasonry distinguishes itself from other organisations in that field through its special method of working. It makes use of symbols and rituals that symbolically depict the course of human life.
Symbols are tools for conveying thoughts or feelings that are often difficult to put into words. In our daily lives, we unconsciously use countless symbols, the meaning of which everyone immediately understands: a bunch of flowers, the wedding ring, the national tricolour, the cross, a handshake, etc. For Freemasons, their symbolism is a language they understand wherever they meet in the world. Where the spoken or written word can cause misunderstandings, this common language of symbolism creates unity between people with completely different social backgrounds, views and characters.

In Freemasonry, building symbolism, inherited from the artisan lodges of the Middle Ages, occupies a very important place. The Freemason builds the temple of humanity, a better world, seeing himself as a building block.
A favourite expression is that man is a rough stone, which must be worked and polished into a pure cubic stone, so that that gifted stone can be fitted into the edifice of living stones.
Compass and shop hook are internationally the identifying sign of Freemasonry. The compass is associated with the idea of measuring, creating and measuring off. It is also the symbol of radiating Love from the East, the symbol of the Supreme Master who ordered everything according to measure, number and weight. The shop hook with its right angle symbolises the human being who receives the Light, the human being who knows how to place himself in the ‘right relationship’ to his fellow man.