What did the philosopher Franz Rosenzweig and the labor lawyer Hugo Sinzheimer, the social philosopher Max Horkheimer and the department store pioneer Hermann Wronker have in common?

They were brothers of the Jewish order B'nai B'rith ("Sons of the Covenant") in Frankfurt am Main.

Twelve immigrants of German-Jewish origin had founded the order in New York in 1843. In 1882, the idea found its way back to Germany.

Under the presidency of Rabbi Leo Baeck, the German district united more than 100 individual lodges and sister associations with around 30,000 members.

The different political and intra-Jewish religious attitudes of the brothers and sisters were regarded as valuable diversity.

The history of the three Frankfurt lodges (founded in 1888, 1919 and 1922), which is told here for the first time, reflects not least the history of the Jewish bourgeoisie in Germany.

The lodge home at Eschersheimer Landstraße 25-29, watercolor by the painter and lodge brother Arthur Galliner, around 1928

With their social and educational projects, such as the Gumpertz'schen Siechenhaus or the Freie Jüdische Lehrhaus, the lodge brothers and sisters contributed to the reputation of Frankfurt's urban society.

The lodge home was open to all Frankfurters as a community center. Under National Socialism, the work of the lodges was violently destroyed and is largely forgotten today.