Luxembourg (redirected from Luxembourgers)

Luxembourg, province, Belgium

Luxembourg, Du. Luxemburg, province (1991 pop. 232,813), 1,706 sq mi (4,419 sq km), SE Belgium, in the Ardennes, bordering on the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in the east and on France in the south. The chief towns are Arlon (the capital), Bastogne, and Marche-en-Famenne. The province is drained by the Ourthe, Semois, and Lesse rivers. It is mainly agricultural, producing grain, rye, clover, and potatoes. Pigs and cattle are raised, and there is dairy farming. Tobacco is grown, iron is mined, and timber is exported. The population is largely French-speaking, although Letzeburgesch, a Low German dialect, is spoken in the east. The province was detached from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 1839. In World War II it was a major battleground in the Battle of the Bulge (Dec., 1944–Jan., 1945). Tourism is extensive, especially in the Ardenne highlands.

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Luxembourg, city, Luxembourg

Luxembourg or Luxemburg, city (1991 pop. 75,377), capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, S Luxembourg, at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers. It is a commercial, banking, industrial, administrative, and cultural center as well as a rail junction. First established by the Romans on a defensive site inside the rivers' meanders, it was known by the Saxons as Lucilinburhuc [little fortress]. Luxembourg developed around a 10th-century castle that was one of Europe's strongest fortresses until the garrison was dismantled according to the terms of the Treaty of London (1867).

The original nucleus of the city, in the upper town, consists of numerous medieval houses and churches, the most notable of which are the Grand Ducal Palace and the Cathedral of Notre Dame (both 16th cent.). Newer features such as the city hall and the Chamber of Deputies, as well the National Museum of Art and History and the city history museum, are also located there. The modern upper town to the west is a busy commercial center bordered by a complex of parks that replaced the old fortifications. On the Kirchberg Plateau to the northwest are Radio-Television-Luxembourg, the Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte Concert Hall, the Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art, and several institutions of the European Union, including the European Court of Justice, the European Investment Bank, and the Secretariat of the European Parliament. The lower town, in the winding valley bottoms, is mostly industrial. The entrenched meanders of the rivers are crossed by spectacular bridges, including the Adolphus Bridge and the Bridge of Europe. The city is the seat of a university (founded 1958).

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Luxembourg, grand duchy, W Europe

Luxembourg (lŭk`səmbûrg, Fr. lüksäNbr`) or Luxemburg (lŭk`səmbûrg, Ger. lk`səmbrkh), officially Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, grand duchy (2005 est. pop. 469,000), 998 sq mi (2,586 sq km), W Europe. Roughly triangular, it borders on Belgium in the west and north, Germany in the east, and France in the south. The city of Luxembourg is the capital and largest city.

Land and People

Luxembourg is drained by the Sûre (Sauer) and Alzette rivers, both tributaries of the Moselle (Mosel), which forms part of its eastern border. The Ardennes Mts. extend into N Luxembourg. The southwestern section is part of the Luxembourg-Lorraine iron-mining basin, once one of the most productive iron and steel manufacturing regions in the world; Esch-sur-Alzette is its main center. In the Letzeburgesch language, which is a prevailing Low German dialect, the duchy is called Letzeburg. French is the official language, German is taught in schools, and English is also widely spoken. The majority of the population is Roman Catholic.

Economy

Iron ore made the fortune of modern Luxembourg, and although its ores are now depleted, the steel industry continues, using iron imported from France. The country is an increasingly important center for high-technology industries, as well as a hub of banking and financial services. Tourism is also important, and Luxembourg derives great economic benefits as a center for many European Union functions, including the European Investment Bank and the European Court of Justice. Other industries are food processing and the production of chemicals, metal products, tires, glass, and cement. Grains, corn, potatoes, and grapes are grown, and livestock is raised. Steel products are the main exports; imports include minerals, metals, fuel, food, cloth, and manufactured goods. Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, and other European Union nations are the principal trading partners of Luxembourg, which has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.

Government

The grand duchy is a constitutional monarchy governed under the revised constitution of 1868. It has a unicameral legislature, the chamber of deputies. The appointed advisory council has some of the powers of an upper house. Luxembourg's grand duke is the titular head of state; the head of government is the prime minister, who is aided by a council of ministers. The country is divided into three administrative districts and subdivided into 12 cantons.

History

Through the Nineteenth Century

The county of Luxembourg (originally Lützelburg), extending between the Meuse and Moselle rivers and including the Luxembourg province of Belgium, was one of the largest fiefs in the Holy Roman Empire. John of Luxemburg, king of Bohemia and father of Emperor Charles IV, made Luxembourg a duchy in 1354. The elder line of the house continued in Bohemia and other parts of the Roman empire, with Emperors Wenceslaus and Sigismund; the younger line, descended from Charles's brother, Duke Wenceslaus, continued in Luxembourg. (The French noble family of Luxembourg was descended in collateral line from an early count of Luxembourg.)

In 1443, Philip the Good of Burgundy seized the duchy, and in 1451, he was confirmed in possession by the estates of Luxembourg. Luxembourg passed in 1482 to the house of Hapsburg following the death of Mary of Burgundy. For the ensuing three centuries it shared the history of the S Netherlands (see Netherlands, Austrian and Spanish), passing from Spanish to Austrian rule in 1714. The southern part of the duchy, including Montmédy, Thionville, and Longwy, was ceded to France in the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659). In 1684, Louis XIV of France seized Luxembourg, but he was obliged to restore it to Spain by the Treaty of Ryswick (1697). Occupied by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars, the duchy was formally ceded to France by the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797).

The Congress of Vienna (1814–15) officially made Luxembourg a grand duchy, in personal union through the sovereign with the Netherlands. At the same time, Luxembourg became a member of the German Confederation, and the fortress in the capital was garrisoned by Prussian troops. When in 1830 the Belgians rebelled against William I of the Netherlands, Luxembourg shared in the revolt. Belgium, on gaining independence, claimed the entire grand duchy; it eventually obtained (1839) the major part (i.e., the present Belgian Luxembourg prov.). The remainder, continuing in personal union with the Netherlands as well as a member of the German Confederation, became autonomous and was granted a constitution in 1848.

When the German Confederation was dissolved in 1866, William III of the Netherlands agreed to sell the grand duchy to France, nearly provoking war between France and Prussia. At the London Conference of 1867 the European powers declared Luxembourg a neutral territory; its fortress was dismantled and the Prussian garrison withdrawn. William III died (1890) without a male heir; his daughter Wilhelmina succeeded him in the Netherlands, but Duke Adolf of Nassau, from a collateral line, became grand duke of Luxembourg.

The Twentieth Century

Grand Duke Adolf was followed in 1905 by William IV and in 1912 by Marie Adelaide. In 1914, Germany violated the neutrality of the grand duchy and occupied it for the duration of World War I. Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide abdicated in 1919 in favor of her sister, Charlotte, who married Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma.

Germany again invaded (May, 1940) neutral Luxembourg in World War II. The grand duchess and her cabinet fled abroad, and a government in exile was established in London. Allied troops liberated Luxembourg in Sept., 1944. Luxembourg entered the United Nations (1946) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949, and it received Marshall Plan aid.

A constitutional revision (1948) abolished the perpetual neutrality of the grand duchy, a status that in practice had ended with the introduction of compulsory military service (1944–67). In 1958, Luxembourg joined with Belgium and the Netherlands to establish the Benelux Economic Union and became a founding member of the European Economic Community (now the European Union). In 1961, Prince Jean, son and heir of Grand Duchess Charlotte, was made his mother's representative as head of state; she formally abdicated in 1964, and Prince Jean became grand duke. In 1995, Jean-Claude Juncker, of the Social Christian party, became premier, replacing Jacques Santer, who became head of the European Union's European Commission. A recent problem in Luxembourg has been the increasing number of aging citizens and a lack of population growth, both of which affect the economy and have led to a dependence on foreign workers. Grand Duke Jean abdicated in favor of his eldest son, Prince Henri, in Oct., 2000.

Bibliography

See R. C. Riley and G. Ashworth, Benelux: An Economic Geography (1975); J. Newcomer, The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (1984).

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Luxembourg

 officially Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Country, western Europe. Area: 999 sq mi (2,586 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 457,000. Capital: Luxembourg. Most of the population is ethnically French or German, though there is a proportion of foreign residents, chiefly Portuguese, Italians, French, Belgians, and Germans. Languages: Luxembourgian, French, German. Religion: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic). Currency: euro. The country has a maximum length of 51 mi (82 km) and a maximum width of 35 mi (56 km). It is divided into two regions: the Oesling, an extension of the Ardennes Mountains in the northern third of the country consisting of a high plateau dissected by river valleys; and the Bon Pays, or Gutland, a rolling plateau that occupies the rest of the land. Luxembourg's economy is largely based on heavy industry and international trade and banking, and its per capita income is among the highest in the world. It is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the grand duke, and the head of government is the prime minister. At the time of Roman conquest (53 BC), the area was inhabited by two Belgic tribes, the Treveri and the Mediomatrici. After AD 400, Germanic tribes invaded the region. It later came into Charlemagne's empire. Made a duchy in 1354, it was ceded to the house of Burgundy in 1443 and to the Habsburgs in 1477. In the mid-16th century it became part of the Spanish Netherlands. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 made it a grand duchy and awarded it to The Netherlands. After an uprising in 1830, its western portion became part of Belgium, while the remainder was held by The Netherlands. In 1867 the European powers guaranteed the neutrality and independence of Luxembourg. In the late 19th century it built a great steel industry by exploiting its extensive iron ore deposits. It was invaded and occupied by Germany in both world wars. Following World War II, it abandoned its neutrality by joining NATO in 1949. It joined the Benelux Economic Union in 1944 and the European Coal and Steel Community, a forerunner of the European Union, in 1952. Luxembourg ratified the Maastricht Treaty on European Union in 1992 and adopted the euro as its official monetary unit in 1999.

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Luxembourg

City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 76,833), capital of Luxembourg. A rocky promontory along the Alzette River was the site of a Roman fortress and later of a Frankish castle, around which the medieval town developed. Siegfried, count of Ardennes, purchased this castle and made the duchy of Luxembourg independent in 963. The strongest in Europe after Gibraltar, the castle was garrisoned by the Prussians as a bulwark of the German Confederation (1815–66); it was dismantled by treaty in 1867. Long an important road and railway focus, the city is also an important industrial and financial centre. It is the seat of the European Court of Justice and several administrative offices of the European Union.

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Luxembourg

1. a grand duchy in W Europe: it formed the Benelux customs union with the Belgium and the Netherlands in 1948 and was a founder member of the Common Market, now the European Union . Languages: French, German, and Luxemburgish. Religion: Roman Catholic majority. Currency: euro. Capital: Luxembourg. Pop.: 459 000 (2004 est.). Area: 2586 sq. km (999 sq. miles)

2. the capital of Luxembourg, on the Alzette River: an industrial centre. Pop.: 77 300 (2003 est.)

3. a province in SE Belgium, in the Ardennes. Capital: Arlon. Pop.: 254 120 (2004 est.). Area: 4416 sq. km (1705 sq. miles)

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Luxembourg

duchy of 999 square miles in Western Europe. [Eur. Hist.: NCE, 1632]

See : Smallness