Welcome to Malmö!

Friday

The Friday started off with a short Lodge meeting for the Brothers while Rebekah sisters and guests were treated to a presentation of Malmö and the Lodge 123 S:t Knut, followed by a presentation by archeologist Brother Julius Lundin of the archeological digs in Uppåkra that have changed our view of local history.

This was followed by a festive Lodge in English for all attending, with both song and music. We heard our Vice Grand Sire br. Bertil Öhrstrand speak about the Odd Fellow Orders work in Sweden regarding charity and compassion for humanity. 
The dinner that followed saw the use of the large festive hall in the Malmö Odd Fellow palace, a hall which has been closed since 1992 due to renovations. The dinner itself was a traditional Scanian goose dinner, sometimes called ”The feast of S:t Martin”, including ”svartsoppa” (black soup).
Music and singing accompanied the dinner and concluded the first day of the international meeting.

Saturday

After a day of activities, including a guided bus tour of Malmö for those who were interested, we were greeted at the Malmö Town Hall by Kommunfullmäktiges ordförande (Chairman of the municipal council) Kent Andersson. He gave a lecture about the history of the Town Hall and Malmös role in the international focal point that is the Öresund region. In honor of our international Odd Fellows meeting, we were all allowed to enter the  special ”Landstingssal”, with unique paintings and portraits from the time Malmö and Scania were under Danish rule. This room is not usually open to the public, which made it a privilege even for the Swedish attendees.

Vice Grand Sire br. Bertil Öhrstrand gave a presentation about the Independent Order of Odd Fellows from an international perspective, with a quarter million members in 25 countries, 13 of which are European. Our Order is involved in many of the issues that are present and relevant in this day and age. And thanks to our shared identity and goals, all Brothers and Sisters are working towards an improved world.

We also heard speeches about the situation for Odd Fellow in other countries. While the Scandinavian countries are still rich in members, the German Lodges are small and their membership is unfortunately declining. One German Lodge that is currently growing is Roland-Loge zu Hildesheim, and Noble Grand br. Andreas Lüers accepted the task to arrange a new international meeting in 2 years time. District Grand Sire br. Hannu Collan of Ldoge 24 Kuninkaanportti (Helsinki, Finland) announced that his lodge positive towards arranging 4 years from now.

A speech was held by Vice Noble Grand br. Eugen Bohny of Lodge 20 Gottfried Kellerloge (Zürich, Switzerland) about the Situation for Odd Fellow on Cuba. Brother Eugen is an honorary member of Lodge 4 Habana there and has visited Cuban Odd Fellow lodges many times. The Cuban authorities have a special tolerance for our Order, since Odd Fellow Brothers distinguished themselves in the revolution. This has led to a growth on Cuba to over 20.000 members. Despite their size, they are struggling through many hardships, and most recently, have not had the means to repair their lodge houses. Imagine having a lodge meeting in a building damaged by hurricanes in tropical heat!

The day concluded in Malmös largest festive hall, the Knutssal, with a traditional christmas feast (slightly earlier in the year than is usual!). Artists from Malmö Opera filled the room with music on the themes ”Romance” and ”Europe”.

We parted ways at the end of the evening, knowing that we had revided an old tradition and perhaps begun a new era!