Grand Lodge Alpina of Switzerland

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With 84 lodges and 3’350 members, the Grand Lodge Alpina of Switzerland (GLAS) is a Swiss Masonic obedience founded in 1844.

It is the oldest and most numerous Grand Lodge in Switzerland, but other so-called liberal Grand Lodges exist on Swiss territory, including the Droit Humain Suisse,^[1] the Mixed Grand Loge of Switzerland,^[2] the Grand Lodge Symbolique Helvétique,^[3] the Grand Orient of Switzerland^[4] and the Women’s Grand Lodge of Switzerland.^[5] According to its historic custom, the GLAS is monogenous, and its lodges admit only male members.

The essence of the GLAS is that its Constitution is based on ‘the spirit of the Old Charges, from which the Anderson Constitutions of 1723 were inspired. These include a belief in a Supreme Being, the presence of a sacred book on the lodge altar; no brother may promote his personal opinions on religion or politics.

Through its adherence to these values, GLAS has recognized a wide network of Grand Lodges in other countries and in return is recognized by them, which allow its members to visit lodges throughout the world. It is governed as an association under Article 60 of the Swiss Civil Code and has its own constitution, statutes and regulations.

GLAS aims at the moral and ethical improvement of the members of its lodges by working on themselves, aided by ad hoc initiatory and symbolic ceremonies and close harmony between its members. More generally, the aim is to adopt a moral position and committed ethical behaviour within society. GLAS offers a broad spiritual approach and an initiatic pedagogy which retains a stance of privacy to its rituals, even if all the information on the arcane and the functioning of Freemasonry is easily accessible on the web and in specialized books. GLAS brethren belong mostly to the middle class.