BAHRDT, KARL FRIEDERICH

A German Doctor of Theology, who was born, in 1741, at Bischofswerda, and died in 1792. He is described by one of his biographers as being “notorious alike for his bold infidelity and for his evil life.” We know no¨ why Thory and Lenning have given his name a place in their vocabularies, as his literary labors bore no relation to Freemasonry, except inasmuch as that he was a Freemason, and that in 1787, with several other Freemasons, he founded at Halle a secret society called the German Union, or the Two and Twenty, in reference to the original number of its members.

The object of this society was mid to be the enlightenment of mankind. It was dissolved in 1790, by the imprisonment of its founder for having written a libel against the Prussian Minister Woellner. It is incorrect to call this system of degrees a Masonic Rite (see German Union).