Luxembourg: political system
According to COMPUTERMINUS.COM, Luxembourg is a parliamentary democracy in the form of a constitutional monarchy. At the head of the state is the Grand Duke, who exercises executive power with the government under the Prime Minister (also called Minister of State). The State Council with 27 members provides advice to the government. One third of these are appointed by Parliament, the Grand Duke and the Council of State. The legislation is in the hands of a unicameral parliament, which is elected every five years. See AbbreviationFinder for more information about Luxembourg politics, and acronyms as well.
The official name of the country is:
| Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (D) Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (F) Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
(L) |
National anthem
The national anthem of Luxembourg was written by Michel Lentz in 1859 and set to music by Jean-Antoine Zinnen in 1864.
| In Luxembourgish | In the English translation |
| Where the river flows through the meadows,Through the rocks the sour breaks,
Where the vine along the Moselle smells fragrant, The sky wine makes us: This is our land, for which we would win everything here, Us Homeland that we so deeply In our hearts. Our homeland that we so deeply In our hearts.In its dark forest wreath, Still guarded by peace, So without pomp and expensive splendor Comfortable love it laughs; His people can happily say, And they are not empty dreams: How it lives so secretly in it, How it is so good at home!Singing, singing of mountain and valley The earth that carried us; Love made a faithful echo In every breast; For home is no way too beautiful; Every word that sounds from him, touches our souls like celestial stones And glistens in our eyes like fireO Thou above, whose hand leads the nations through the world, Protect the land of Luxembourg From foreign yoke and suffering; Thou hast already given us all as children The free spirit, Let the sun of freedom, which we have seen for so long, shine forth! Let freedom’s sun, which we have seen for so long, Shine for evermore |
Where the Alzette runs through the meadows,the Sauer breaks through the rocks,
where the fragrant vines bloom along the Moselle, the sky makes wine for us: this is our country, for which we would dare anything down here, our homeland, which we so deeply into to bear in our hearts. Our homeland that we carry so deep in our hearts.In its dark wreath of woods, quietly guarded by peace, So without pomp and dear splendor, Comfortable, loving it laughs. His people can say that they are happy, Are not vain dreams: How cozy it is here, how good it is at home.Singing, singing, from mountain and valley The earth that carried us, the love has made a faithful echo in every breast. No song is too beautiful for home, every W that sounds from it, seizes the soul like heavenly tones and our eyes, like a fire flashes.Oh you up there, whose hand guides the nations through the world, you protect the Luxembourg country from foreign yoke and suffering. As children you gave all of us the free spirit, let the sun of freedom shine on, which we have seen for so long. Let the sun of freedom shine, We have seen for so long! |
National flag
The national flag of Luxemberg was introduced on June 12, 1845 and officially adopted on June 23, 1972. Based on flag descriptions by Countryaah.com, except for the color nuances, which were determined on June 27, 1993, it resembles the flag of the Netherlands.
- Check top-mba-universities for public holidays, sports events, UNESCO world heritage sites and major places to visit in Luxembourg.
Luxembourg: Known People
Visual artist
Robert Brandy (born in Luxembourg in 1946)
Luxembourg painter whose works are represented in all the world’s major museums. After training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Aix-en-Provence from 1972, he returned to Luxembourg in 1976. He managed to combine the motifs of the historical motorsport world with contemporary art. So he was able to combine both hobbies.
Edward J. Steichen (1879 – 1973)
Famous photographer from Luxembourg who emigrated to the USA with his family in 1881 and became known as a war photographer during the First World War. He later worked for “Vanity Fair” and “Vogue”. During the Second World War he headed the US Navy photography department and then the photo resort at MOMA in New York.
Musician
dEFDUMp (since 1995)
Hardcore band from Luxembourg that is recognized beyond the borders: Hempcore (1997), Circle’s closing (1999), David vs. corporate society (2001), a sparkle has become a flame (2002), Split-Ep with Kafka (2003), Makeshift Polaris (2004)
Camillo Felgen (1920 – 2005)
He became known as the first German-speaking program manager with programs such as “Hitparade”, “Die große Acht”. He was succeeded by Frank Elstner. As a singer he had great successes in the 50s and 70s, including the song “Bonjour les Amis”.
Politician
Adolph (1817-1905)
Grand Duke. Adolph Wilhelm Carl August Friedrich von Nassau-Weilburg was born on July 24, 1817 at Schloss Biebrich in Biebrich. He was Duke of Nassau from 1839 to 1866 and from November 23, 1890 until his death as Adolph Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He died on November 17, 1905 in Hohenburg Castle in Bavaria
Jean Asselborn (born 1949)
politician. Jean Asselborn was born on April 27, 1949 in Steinfort, Luxembourg. He is a member of the Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei (LSAP). He has been the country’s foreign minister since July 30, 2004 and also minister for immigration and asylum since 2014. Until December 2013, Jean Asselborn was also Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg. He is currently (2020) the longest-serving Foreign Minister in the European Union. In October 2012, under Asselborn’s leadership, Luxembourg received a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council for the period from 2013 to 2014 for the first time
Joseph Bech (1887-1975)
statesman who is considered one of the founders of the EU. He negotiated the Benelux treaties for the country and shaped the structure of the European Union since the 1950s.
Jean Claude Juncker (born 1954)
Jean-Claude Juncker was born on December 9, 1954 in the municipality of Redingen in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
He is a politician of the Christian Social People’s Party and was Minister of Finance from 1989 to July 2009 and Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to December 2013. From 2005 to 2013 he was also Chairman of the Eurogroup.
He has been President of the European Commission since November 1, 2014.
Jacques Santer (born 1937)
He was Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1984 to 1995 and President of the World Bank from 1984 to 1989. In 1995 he became President of the European Commission. Corruption allegations then led to the resignation of the commission on March 15th, 1995. Henri von Luxemburg (born 1955)
He has been the Grand Duke of Luxembourg since 2000 and the sixth ruler of the House of Nassau-Weilburg.
Grand dukes
Henri (born 1955)
Henri von Nassau was born on April 16, 1955 at Betzdorf Castle in the Grand Duchy.
He has been Grand Duke of Luxembourg since October 7. Due to a constitutional amendment in 2008, his right of veto no longer existed
Johann (born 1921)
Jean von Nassau was born on January 5, 1921 at Berg Castle in the Grand Duchy.
From November 12, 1964 to October 7, 2000 he was Grand Duke of Luxembourg until he abdicated in favor of his son.
Charlotte (1896-1985)
Charlotte von Nassau-Weilburg was born on January 23, 1896 at Berg Castle in the Grand Duchy.
From January 14, 1919 to November 12, 1964 she was Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Between 1940 and 1945 she was in exile in Great Britain. She abdicated in favor of her son.
She died on July 9, 1985 in Fischbach Castle in the Grand Duchy.
Maria-Adelheid (1894-1924)
Marie-Adelheid von Nassau-Weilburg (Marie-Adélaïde Thérèse Hilda Wilhelmine de Luxembourg was born on June 14, 1894 at Berg Castle in Luxembourg.She
was Grand Duchess from February 25, 1912 to January 14, 1919 of Luxembourg,
who died at Hohenburg Castle near Lenggries in Bavaria on January 24, 1924.
Wilhelm IV (1852-1912)
Wilhelm IV (Wëllem IV) was born on April 22, 1852 at Biebrich Castle near Wiesbaden in Germany.
He was Grand Duke of Luxembourg from November 17, 1905 to February
25, 1912. He died on February 25, 1912 at Berg Castle in Luxembourg.
Writer and poet
Guy Helminger (born 1962)
author from Luxembourg who was awarded the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize by 3sat in 2004 for his story “Pelargonia”.
Even his prose volume “Rost” made the professional world sit up and take notice.
Fernand Hoffmann (1929 – 2000)
pedagogue and writer who dedicated himself to research into dialect in the German-speaking world.
From 1977 he was a professor at the University of Luxembourg.
Actors, directors
Thierry van Werveke (born 1958)
Well-known actor from Luxembourg, who became known for his participation in Till Schweiger’s “Knocking on Heavens Door”.
In 2003 he received the “Luxemburger Filmpreis” for best actor for his role in “Le club des chômeurs” for his outstanding achievements.
He is also known on German-speaking television through his participation in various productions such as “Tatort”, “Helicops”, “Balko” and others
André Jung (born 1953)
The actor comes from Luxembourg, but has been on stage for the longest time in Basel and Zurich, having made a name for himself in Stuttgart, Esslingen, Ulm and Heidelberg. In 2003, Jung was voted Actor of the Year for the second time since 1981.
René Deltgen (1909-1979)
Well-known UFA actor from Luxembourg, who had his greatest time between 1935 and 1944. After the Second World War he still had great success with “The Tiger of Esnapur” and “The Indian Tomb”. In the 1960s he appeared in various television productions such as “The Witcher”.
His compatriots never forgive him for actively promoting the Hitler Youth in Luxembourg during the Nazi era.
Athlete
Joseph Barthel (1927 – 1992)
As a track and field athlete, he was able to take part in the XV. Winning the first gold medal for Luxembourg over 1,500 m at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
After his sporting career, he was President of the Olympic Committee of Luxembourg from 1973 to 1977.
Nicolas Frantz (1899 – 1985)
Nicolaus Frantz was born on November 4, 1899 in the Grand Duchy. He is a famous cyclist from Luxembourg who won the Tour de France in 1927 and 1928.
In the 1928 race, the frame of his bicycle was broken, so that he was the first to finish the race with a spectator’s bike.
He died on November 8, 1985 in the Grand Duchy.
Charly Gaul (born 1932)
Charly Gaul was born on December 8, 1932 in the Grand Duchy. He is a very successful cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1958. He was nicknamed “Angel of the Mountains”.
Charly Gaul died on December 6, 2005 in the Grand Duchy.
Andy Schleck (born 1985)
cyclist. Andy Raymond Schleck was born on January 10, 1985 in Luxembourg. His greatest successes were winning the Tour de France in 2010 and the Liège – Bastogne – Liège race in 2009.
Others
Mandy Graff (born 1989)
model. Mandy Graft was born on February 27, 1989 in Olm in the Grand Duchy .
In March 2007, at the age of 18, she appeared on Heidi Klum’s show “Germanys Next Top Model”. She came fourth out of a total of 16,421 participants.
Lea Linster (born 1955)
celebrity chef and restaurateur. Léa Linster was born on April 27, 1955 in Differdange in Luxembourg.
Léa Linster first studied law until she took over his father’s inn in Frisingen in 1982 after the death of her father. She obtained the Certificat d’aptitude professionnelle cuisinier (professional qualification) and a master’s degree and worked with Paul Bocuse, Joël Robuchon and Frédy Girardet.
In 1987 her restaurant was awarded one star for the first time by the Michelin Guide. Two years later she won the Bocuse d’Or and in 1991 she opened another restaurant in Hellingen with “Das Kaschthaus”.
Since 2001 she has had her own column in the German women’s magazine Brigitte and from 2004 to January 2008 she had her own television program “Leas KochLUST” on Saarland television.
She was also a frequent guest on the ZDF program Lanz cooks, which has since been discontinued. Her program Kachtipp mam Léa Linster runs on the Luxembourg television RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg.
And from 2013 to 2014 and 2016 she was a judge on the Sat1 cooking show “The Taste”.
She has also published a number of cookbooks.
Désirée Nosbusch (born 1965)
actress, presenter. Désirée Nosbusch was born on January 14, 1965 as the daughter of an Italian and a Luxemburgish resident in Esch an der Alzette.
She made her first public appearance at the age of twelve as a radio presenter on Radio Luxemburg. Together with Anke Engelke, she reported live from the international radio exhibition in Berlin as a children’s presenter for ARD in the early 1980s.
And in 1981 she had a role in her first feature film “After Midnight”. In the same year she began a four-year acting training at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.
Nosbusch moderated events for various broadcasters, including the Eurovision Song Contest in Luxembourg in 1984.
She attracted a lot of public attention in the television program “Auf Los gehts los”, in which the moderator Joachim Fuchsberger introduced a civil servant candidate from Bavaria who should not be made civil servants because of her overweight.
After the case had even been discussed by telephone with the then Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss and he did not want to give the woman any hope of a job, Désirée Nosbusch made fun of the appearance of the Prime Minister. This resulted in a prolonged ban on appearing on Bayerischer Rundfunk.
The 1982 film “Der Fan” caused a really big scandal, in which she appeared naked and murdered and dismembered her idol – a musician – who had dropped her after a night of love.
She has been switching between Los Angeles and Berlin since the mid-1990s. And since 2017 she has hosted the talk show “The Story of my Life” on the TV broadcaster VOX, in which prominent couples talk about their relationship and the topic of getting old.
