Not only in the early modern Catholic world, fraternities were mass institutions of lay people with hundreds of thousands of male and female members. With the Enlightenment, the fraternity system came under criticism from the Enlightenment - Joseph II therefore dissolved the fraternities almost completely in 1783. In addition to broad research overviews, the volume outlines the diverse fields of activity of the brotherhoods in Central Europe: banking, media entrepreneurs, music and death service providers and pilgrimage offices. In addition, relevant types of brotherhoods such as the Rosary, Luke, Musician Brotherhoods or the Jesuit Congregations are presented. A comparative look at Greek and Jewish brotherhoods underlines their importance in different confessional cultures.