15 Nations Luxembourg

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This sub-project is part of the larger 15 Nations Global Tour. Please visit the main project page for details on the goals and objectives of this project.

G2G: Click here to participate in our current discussion on the Luxembourg G2G thread, or here for our general discussion on the 15 Nations Global Tour G2G thread.

Geography

Luxembourg is a small landlocked country in the Low Countries of Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south. The topography of Luxembourg is divided very clearly between the hilly Oesling of the northern third of the Grand Duchy and the flat countryside of Gutland, which occupies the southern two-thirds.

Luxembourg is divided into 12 cantons which are further divided into 102 communes. The cantons were previously a subdivision of the districts (Diekirch, Grevenmacher and Luxembourg) but are now the first-level subdivision of Luxembourg. The communes are the lowest administrative division in Luxembourg. A dozen of the communes have official city status, and one, Luxembourg City, is further divided into quarters.

Former Districts and their current Cantons:

• Diekirch
  • Clervaux
  • Diekirch
  • Redange
  • Vianden
  • Wiltz
• Grevenmacher
  • Echternach
  • Grevenmacher
  • Remich
• Luxembourg
  • Capellen
  • Esch-sur-Alzette
  • Luxembourg
  • Mersch
  • Redange
  • Remich

Luxembourg City, which is located in Gutland, is the capital and by far the largest city in Luxembourg.

Demographics

Luxembourg 's has a total population of just over 660,000 people. Only about half the population is native-born. According to the latest data, the population of Luxembourg is about 53% Luxembourger, 15% Portuguese, 8% French, 4% Italian, 3% Belgian, 2% German, 1% Spanish, 1% Romanian, and 14% other.

Luxembourg’s culture, people, and languages are highly intertwined with its French and German neighbors; while Luxembourgish is the only national language of the Luxembourgish people and of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, French is the only language for legislation, and all three – Luxembourgish, French and German – are used for administrative matters in the country.

The predominant religion in Luxembourg is Roman Catholicism, with about 64% of the population adhering to it. Other Christian denominations such as Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy account for about 3% of the population. Muslims also account for about 3% or the population. Approximately 23% of the population do not claim a religion.

History

Although its recorded history can be traced back to Roman times, the history of Luxembourg proper is considered to have begun in 963. Over the following five centuries, the powerful House of Luxembourg emerged, but its extinction put an end to the country's independence. After a brief period of Burgundian rule, the country passed to the Habsburgs in 1477.

After the Eighty Years' War, Luxembourg became a part of the Southern Netherlands, which passed to the Austrian line of the Habsburg dynasty in 1713. After occupation by Revolutionary France, the 1815 Vienna Congress transformed Luxembourg into a Grand Duchy in union with the Netherlands. The treaty also resulted in the second partitioning of Luxembourg, the first being in 1658 and a third in 1839. Although these treaties greatly reduced Luxembourg's territory, the latter established its formal independence, which was confirmed after the Luxembourg Crisis of 1867.

In the following decades, Luxembourg fell further into Germany's sphere of influence, particularly after the creation of a separate ruling house in 1890. It was occupied by Germany from 1914 until 1918 and again from 1940 until 1944. Since the end of the Second World War, Luxembourg has become one of the world's richest countries, buoyed by a booming financial services sector, political stability, and European integration.

Resources

Click here for a list of resources relevant to Luxembourgian genealogical research:

Luxembourgian Resources Page

Notable Luxembourgians

In the below list, columns can be sorted by clicking on the arrow button in any category heading box. A "C" in the final column denotes a Notable who has been successfully connected to the Big Tree. "N/C" stands for Not Connected.

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	C
Étienne Lenoir	1822	1900	Inventor of the Spark Plug		Connected
Curt von François	1852	1931	Geographer and Cartographer of Africa		Connected
Batty Weber	1860	1940	Influential Journalists and Author		Connected
Dominique Lang	1874	1919	Impressionist Painter		Connected
Hugo Gernsback	1884	1967	Science Fiction Writer		Connected
William Justin Kroll	1889	1973	Metallurgist		Connected
Frant Heldenstein	1892	1975	Olympic Sculptor		Connected
Madeleine Frieden-Kinnen	1915	1999	Luxembourg's First Female Cabinet Minister		Connected
Camillo Felgen	1920	2005	Singer and Lyricist		Connected
Josy Barthel	1927	1992	Luxembourg's Sole Olympic Gold Medal Winner		Connected
Gaston Thorn	1928	2007	Prime Minister, UN and EU Leader		Connected
Charly Gaul	1932	2005	Champion Cyclist		Connected
Elsy Jacobs	1933	1998	Champion Cyclist		Connected
Louis Pilot	1940	2016	Champion Footballer		N/C
Xavier Bettel	1973	LIVING	Current Prime Minister of Luxembourg		Connected