As I noted, our bank had offices in Esch. Maybe the employees weren’t “rich”, I suppose.
The new Grand Duke is the same age as me. 43.
Related question. Do you remember the coronation in 2000? If I remember correctly, you weren’t living there yet.
I know what I was doing 25 years ago, as I was in the midst of an international move. So the coronation was definitely not on my radar.
Still very little coverage in the local news. Congratulations to the new monarch!
I moved to Luxembourg in 2017. Like pretty much every other American, I was unaware of the country’s royalty before then.
I’d say it’s 60% German, 30% Dutch, and 10% French, actually. The grammar is basically German (main verb in second position, additional verbs at end, dative suffixes on adjectives, etc etc), with lots of borrowed vocabulary (e.g. gifts = Kaddoen which is French cadeau with a German plural ending).
Thanks! I noticed that when Luxembourgers speak High German, they usually have an accent that sounds like a mixture of a French accent and those of the bordering German regions, Palatine and Saarland. It sounds very beautiful.
ETA: now I wonder if to native French people, Luxembourgish French sounds like French with a German accent…
From what my kids report, it depends on which French people you’re talking about.
To most, yeah, it sounds German-influenced.
But to Parisians, it sounds like “those cow-smelling hicks to treat with barely-veiled contempt.” 
(I can confirm, at least, that on trips to Paris, my kids’ French has been effusively complimented. “You speak beautifully! I can barely tell you’re from Luxembourg.” Make of that what you will.)
But the Parisians will think so about anyone who doesn’t speak perfect French with a Parisian accent… 
Parisians: The Nyew Yawkahs of Europe.
IOW “We’re not provincial; the rest of the world is provincial.”
Berliners are the same…
The adjective will vary. Luxembourgers smell like cows. If you’re from Normandy, you’re rain-soaked. If you’re from Provence, you smell like lavender. And so on.
I was curious about whether the ducal family receives funding in any way by the government, as does, for example, the British royal family. Google’s AI states that the grand duke’s family holdings are “derived from private land and property holdings, investments, and a stake in the nation’s steel industry. The family’s wealth is managed independently of government funds, though they do receive an official allowance to cover costs for representative duties.” Which the Google AI states further on is about 11.1 million euros.
Wow. According to this 2024 article, the Luxembourg grand duke is the 6th richest monarch in the world. Have there ever been any disputes about continuing to pay that stipend for official duties?
Also, a steel industry? Somehow, that seemed surprising for such a small country that by your description, @Cervaise, seems mostly rural outside your primary city.
I know nothing about Luxembourg’s steel industry, but I do know that the bordering Saarland is/was a traditional steel region, because just like the former most important German steel region, the Ruhr Area, it had coal. I don’t know where the Saarland got its ore from, but I seem to remember that they imported it from France. Maybe the Luxembourgish steel industry developed the same way?
Huh. That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. Clearly I need to educate myself on that area of Europe. Which is a bit ironic, given that my father’s family (great-grandfather came over in late 1880’s) is from Lautzkirchen bei Saarbrucken.
Hail to the Duke
of all the Luxembourgans
He needs a Duchess
to satisfy his urgins’
*inspired by the book “MASH”
I haven’t heard any local grumbling about the monarch or our financial support. The institution remains broadly popular.
Regarding the steel industry, this is complicated (and fascinating), but here are the bullet points.
- The south of Luxembourg had a bit of coal (per the preceding mention), but we were very rich in iron ore and had robust mining operations.
- With imported coal, we developed a strong local steel industry.
- This backbone led us to ally with Belgium and the Netherlands in the Benelux Union, an economic bloc to compete with the larger France and Germany.
- The proven success of this pioneering bloc led to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community, which was followed by the EEA and then the EU.
- In short, Luxembourg’s desire to maintain its sovereignty after centuries of being handed back and forth as a prize between various kingdoms and empires is what eventually allowed Europe to unite.
- Luxembourg’s iron mines largely closed down (and its limited coal operations, entirely), but our biggest local company leveraged its business experience and central European location to merge with a major Indian steelmaker, thus forming ArcelorMittal, now the biggest steel company in the world.
- The headquarters remain in Luxembourg for strategic reasons, while the vast majority of production occurs elsewhere.
- There are a few factories and foundries still here in Luxembourg, but they mostly exist for R&D supervised by HQ and for recycling.
It’s just another example of how Luxembourg’s small size and consequent vulnerability forces us into a survival mindset, thinking strategically to achieve outsized influence.
Yes, I’m very impressed by what my adopted country has managed to achieve, economically speaking, given the limitations of its size.
(I’m less impressed by all the smoking, and our shitty drivers, but that’s another post. )
Our local buses have two monitors, one displaying the route and the other one displays news, ads, etc. They did have a story about today’s coronation.
“Luxembourg, putting the Lux in Benelux.”
I have been told that STEM college students in the Netherlands use English textbooks. Is this true for Luxembourg?
Suppose one wanted to emigrate from the US to Luxembourg in 2025. How would that work?
Is Luxembourg a member of the Schengen Area?
Most definitely! Schengen is a town in Luxembourg.
Just popped in to say that I had a 1-day layover in Luxembourg back around 2001. I found the city to be charming and beautiful. It felt quite wealthy (the people we saw were mostly very well-dressed.) I recall a plaque in a park commemorating the liberation from Nazi control by the Allied forces that was quite moving to this ‘Merican.
This is a great example of Luxembourg punching above its diplomatic and economic weight. The treaty was signed here, which is why it’s called that.
There’s a little memorial museum there. It’s kind of funny, considering it’s otherwise a tiny unremarkable village surrounded by vineyards.