Lodge Thistle & Saltire was founded by a group of dedicated Freemasons who felt that there was a need for a Lodge in Germany practising a Scottish Ritual. Although the situation in Germany is very special in that there is a large variety of Rituals - including English and American ones - the specific Scottish way of doing it could not be experienced.
So a Scotsman, e.g. a soldier of Her Majesty’s Forces, who became a Member of a Lodge in Germany would be faced with a number of important discrepancies when returning to the homeland and joining a Lodge there. On the other hand a good number of Freemasons of English, German and other origin would probably like to learn about Scottish Ritual or practise here what they had experienced when visiting Scottish Lodges.
It took a considerable time from the first “We should have...” mentioned by Bro. Tam Nelson, a Founder member of Thistle & Saltire at Osnabrück, to the day when the dream came true. But after many discussions, meetings of the Steering Committee, contacts and more discussions with the Grand Lodges involved the Lodge was consecrated on September 14th, 2002.
More than 160 Brethren from many different countries witnessed the ceremony. Since then the Lodge has been going from strength to strength. From originally 55 Founding Members the number grew to well over eighty although a good many are unable to attend the meetings, mainly those who are or were serving in the Forces and have been posted elsewhere all over the world or gone back to Scotland.