Luxembourg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (German)
Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (French)
Grand Duchy of Lëtzebuerg (Luxembourgish)
Luxembourg flag
Luxembourg coat of arms
flag coat of arms
Motto : Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn ( Luxembourgish )
Nous sommes nous voulons rester ce que ( French )
We want to remain what we are ( German )
Official language Luxembourgish (official / national language ),
French (official language)
German (official language)
capital city Luxembourg City
State and form of government parliamentary monarchy
Head of state HRH Grand Duke Henri
(Dynasty: Luxembourg-Nassau)
Head of government State and Prime Minister
Xavier Bettel
surface 2,586.4 ( 166th ) km²
population 626,108 (January 1, 2020) , of
which 47.9% are foreigners
Population density ( 36. ) 228 inhabitants per km²
Population development + 1.9% (estimate for 2019)
gross domestic product
  • Total (nominal)
  • Total ( PPP )
  • GDP / inh. (nom.)
  • GDP / inh. (KKP)
2019
  • $ 71 billion ( 71st )
  • $ 74 billion ( 103rd )
  • 115,839 USD ( 1. )
  • 120,490 USD ( 2. )
Human Development Index 0.916 ( 23. ) (2019)
currency Euro (EUR)
independence de facto on April 9, 1839 by the Netherlands ( First London Conference ), de jure as early as 1815;
internationally recognized on May 11, 1867 ( Second London Conference )
National anthem Ons Heemecht
National holiday 23rd June
Time zone UTC + 1 CET
UTC + 2 CEST (March to October)
License Plate L.
ISO 3166 LU , LUX, 442
Internet TLD .lu
Telephone code +352
Österreich Belgien Bulgarien Republik Zypern Tschechien Deutschland Dänemark Dänemark Estland Spanien Finnland Frankreich Frankreich Vereinigtes Königreich Vereinigtes Königreich Griechenland Griechenland Ungarn Irland Italien Italien Italien Litauen Luxemburg Lettland Niederlande Polen Portugal Rumänien Schweden Slowenien Slowakei Island Montenegro Nordmazedonien Kroatien Türkei Türkei Malta Serbien Grönland Färöer Norwegen Norwegen Isle of Man Guernsey Jersey Andorra Monaco Schweiz Liechtenstein Vatikanstadt San Marino Albanien Kosovo Bosnien und Herzegowina Republik Moldau Belarus Russland Ukraine Autonome Republik Krim Kasachstan Abchasien Südossetien Georgien Aserbaidschan Aserbaidschan Armenien Iran Libanon Syrien Israel Jordanien Saudi-Arabien Irak Russland Tunesien Algerien MarokkoLuxembourg in European Union (special marker) .svg
About this picture
Luxembourg Topographisch.png

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg ( Luxembourgish Grand Duchy of Lëtzebuerg [ˈgʀəʊsˌhɛχtsoːktuːm ˈlətsəbuəɕ] , French Grand-Duché de Luxembourg [ɡʁɑ̃ dyʃe də lyksɑ̃buʁ] ) is a democratic state in the form of a parliamentary monarchy in western Central Europe . The country had around 640,000 inhabitants in mid-2021. The Grand Duchy belongs to the Central German-speaking area. The national language is Luxembourgish , additional administrative and official languages are standard German and French .

Historically, Luxembourg was part of the Holy Roman Empire and the German Confederation . In the wake of the Luxembourg crisis, the Second London Treaty in 1867, with the establishment of Luxembourg neutrality, led to the withdrawal from the association of German states. The Grand Duchy was ruled by the King of the Netherlands in personal union until 1890 and was occupied by the German Empire during the two world wars. As a result, after the Second World War it took a leading role in European integration and became a founding member of NATO , the UN and the European Union .

Together with its neighboring country Belgium and the Netherlands , Luxembourg forms the Benelux countries. Together with the Saarland , the French region of Lorraine , the Wallonia region in Belgium and the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate , it is part of the " Greater Region (Saar-Lor-Lux) ", in which around 11.6 million people live. The region has the highest cross-border mobility of workers within the European Union .

Country name

The name Luxembourg is probably derived from the name of the castle Lucilinburhuc , later Lützelburg ("lützel" = "small"; cf. Low German and Frisian "lütt", English "little"), the "small castle", which was built in 963 for Siegfried , the then Count of the Ardennes, was established as ancestral seat, and around which the (main) city of Luxembourg of the same name developed . The name Lucilinburhuc , on the other hand, is said to go back to the word " Last ", which denotes a fortified rock ledge. In fact, the ancestral castle is located on a rock spur, the so-called Bockfelsen.

The country emerged as a county in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation . In the German-speaking area, the name Lützenburg or Lützelburg was still used in the 17th century , for example in the topographia of Matthäus Merian . This name was later replaced by Luxembourg , which is nothing more than the Germanized French form of the name Luxembourg. In 1354 the county of Luxembourg became a duchy. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Duchy of Luxembourg was elevated to a Grand Duchy; William I of Nassau-Orange , King of the United Netherlands, became the first Grand Duke in personal union . The personal union ended in 1890 when the current Luxembourg-Nassau dynasty came into power , which was officially called Nassau-Weilburg until 1964 . The country is now the last Grand Duchy .

geography

Relief map

Geographical location

Luxembourg measures 81 kilometers from north to south and 55 kilometers from east to west. It borders France for 73 kilometers in the south , Belgium for 148 kilometers in the west and Germany for 135 kilometers in the east . The north of the country is part of the Ardennes and is called (the) Ösling . This part is on average 400 to 500 meters above sea ​​level . The landscape in the Ösling is characterized by wooded mountains, hills and deep river valleys, for example the valley of the Sauer . At 560  m , the " Kneiff " hill in Huldingen is the highest point in the country. In the north of Luxembourg, 358 square kilometers of the country are protected by the German-Luxembourgish Nature Park.

outline

In the south lies the fertile Gutland , which is part of the Lorraine plains . This area has a higher population and industrial density than the Ösling. The land is drained by the Sauer, which runs west-east, with Klerf and Our in the north and Alzette in the south. The lowest point in the country, called Spatz ( 129  m ), is located at the confluence of the Sauer and Moselle rivers in Wasserbillig .

Rivers

Important rivers in Luxembourg are the Moselle , which forms the border river to Germany in the southeast , the Sauer , the Our and the Alzette .

climate

Climate diagram of Luxembourg City

Luxembourg has a temperate Central European climate , which is influenced by Atlantic sea winds and is characterized by mild winters and moderate and therefore pleasant summers. The air is mostly mild and humid; the annual rainfall is 782.2 mm; Average annual temperatures 9 ° C, in January 0.8 ° C, in July 17.5 ° C. The average temperatures measured in January, the coldest month, are around 2 ° C. The highest temperatures are usually recorded during the summer months of July and August. At this time the average temperature is around 15-25 ° C. In the north of the country, the Ösling, it is usually a little cooler and there is also more precipitation.

Flora and fauna

The Schiessentümpel in the Mullerthal

The Ösling in the north of the country, part of the Ardennes , is characterized by wooded low mountain ranges and deep river valleys . The most common tree species are red beech , oak , maple and spruce . Oak coppice forests, the so-called tufted hedges , still take up a large part of the forest area. Bell heather and holly , among others, are characteristic of unforested areas . The mint Real and grapes germander are Mediterranean plants that occur in the southeast of Luxembourg. There are a variety of meadow types; however, the extensively used, species-rich rough meadows are declining (20% of the grassland species surveyed are on the red list of vascular plants in Luxembourg). The vegetation of the lower southern part of the country (approx. 300 m), in the so-called Gutland , is characterized by agricultural use and viticulture on the Moselle .

The spruce forests of Luxembourg, which after all take up 30% of the country's forested area, are to be regarded as remote from nature . They are the result of afforestation of coppice forests and unprofitable areas with this fast-growing species that became fashionable after the Second World War . With the exception of the Scots pine , however, all conifers in Luxembourg are outside their natural areas.

The fauna corresponds to the fauna common in Central European countries. However, the Ösling impressed by large stocks of red and wild boar and birds of prey and rare bird species such as the black stork or the grouse . In the case of other species, on the other hand, there has been a clear decline in populations. In the 1960s there were still 3400 to 4200 breeding pairs of the little owl in Luxembourg. In 2006 the population had decreased to 15 to 20 breeding pairs. Luxembourg is known for its abundance of fish , there are trout , pike , pikeperch , eel , carp and many other types of fish. The wall lizard has settled in the mild Moselle valley in particular , but also in many other places (e.g. along railway lines) , an animal that is usually found in Mediterranean countries.

The hunting in Luxembourg is inseparable from the real estate connected and in an area organized hunting system. The value of the venison and because of caused in the forest and field hall game damage most important game animals are deer and wild boar. Other game species relevant for hunting include: Red deer, mallard and brown hare .

54.8% of mammal species, 41.5% of bird species, 33% of reptile species, 71.4% of amphibians and 62% of fish species in Luxembourg are threatened . This is reported by the Observatoire de l'Environnement Naturel (OEN), which has updated the National Protection Nature plan .

There are a number of planned or already implemented conservation projects: such as the Bongert Altenhoven , the chalk grasslands in Junglinster , nature trail Deiwelskopp which Neibruch in Grosbous , the nature reserve Prënzebierg , the nature reserve Sonnebierg which Canecher Wëngertsbierg or the wetland Cornelysmillen .

Administrative division

Political organization of Luxembourg

From 1843 until its abolition on October 3, 2015, the country was divided into three districts ( Grevenmacher , Luxembourg , Diekirch ), with twelve cantons and since 2015 only 105 municipalities due to mergers. Twelve of these communities have city status. The municipalities are self-governing bodies subject to the legal supervision of the district commissioners appointed by the Grand Duke. The city ​​of Luxembourg is the capital of the Grand Duchy and the seat of government.

Districts and Cantons

The districts and cantons of Luxembourg were or are subdivisions which the ministries used to organize their governmental activities. A special task as a regional authority , for example for democratic decision-making, did not and does not fall to them. In contrast to the districts that were abolished in 2015, the cantons are laid down in Article 2 of the Luxembourg Constitution. In each canton there are (usually) state institutions such as registration and road construction offices, tax and inheritance authorities at the respective main locations. In addition, secondary schools and second-order police headquarters are preferably located here. The primary school inspectorate and many other state and semi-state institutions are also based on the cantons.

The district commissioners were assigned to the districts in their capitals Luxembourg, Diekirch and Grevenmacher (see above). Through their task of reviewing the activities of the communities and, if necessary, approving or banning them, they formed a kind of district government. Higher state contact points such as land registry offices and first-order police headquarters can still be found today, preferably in these former district capitals.

The canton and former district boundaries do not always coincide with the real state division. The main administration for the canton of Vianden is part of that of Diekirch . Instead of Grevenmacher , Esch an der Alzette has, among other things, a clinic, court and financial supervisory authority.

Municipalities

At the head of the Luxembourg municipality is the mayor (German mayor , French mayor ). As an administrative officer, he manages the affairs of the community. He is supported by the shepherds (German lay judges , French Echevins ) and the municipal council, democratically elected by majority or proportional representation, from which the mayor and lay judges are to emerge (Section 107 of the Constitution). The mayor presides over meetings and has to come to an agreement with the council of lay judges on all important matters. The lay judges (and the municipal council) can also ask the mayor to act.

In Luxembourg, any number of municipalities may freely join together to form syndicates (such as “Zweckverband” or “Verein”) in order to cope with the multitude of their tasks together. There are, for example, syndicates for the basic provision of the population or for music schools.

SIGI (Syndicat Intercommunal de Gestion Informatique) and LuxTrust have introduced the electronic signature for the commune portal macommune.lu, which enables citizens of the communes affiliated with SIGI to sign documents online from their administration.

Cities

In purely mathematical terms, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has only one large city (at least 100,000 inhabitants). Overall, the statistical degree of urbanization in Luxembourg is very high. About 92 percent of the population live in cities (2003), which, however, are predominantly only rural and small towns . The most populous city is the capital Luxembourg ( Luxembourgish Lëtzebuerg ) with over 100,000 inhabitants (metropolitan area 142,000). Since a place in the Grand Duchy can only be called a “ city ” by law , Luxembourg only has twelve cities, which were often granted city rights in the Middle Ages . Echternach in the east (5,617, canton of the same name over 19,000) is the oldest city in Luxembourg. The larger cities are in the southwest in the Minette region, where the iron and steel industry of the Grand Duchy is concentrated. These include Esch an der Alzette (34,000, greater area over 70,000), Differdange (24,800) and Dudelange (20,000). In the north of Luxembourg, on the other hand, there are several small towns, most of which are the main towns of a canton . Around the two cities of Diekirch (6900) and Ettelbrück (8500), the Nordstad (around 23,000 in total) is the largest conurbation in the north of Luxembourg, which, alongside the capital and Esch an der Alzette, is the third development pole of the Grand Duchy.

population

Demographics

Population development in Luxembourg 1961–2020
Population pyramid of Luxembourg in 2016

As of January 1, 2021, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg had 634,730 inhabitants .

In the last few decades its economic growth and the consequent enlargement of the labor market showed an almost constant population growth , which was mainly due to immigration . The optimal population size for Luxembourg was then lively discussed in politics. One study comes to the conclusion that there is no linear relationship between population growth and the impact on infrastructure and the environment; population growth does not necessarily have to worsen the quality of life in the country.

On January 1, 2021, the proportion of foreigners was 47.2% (= 299,426). 14.9% (= 94,335) of the total population are Portuguese, 7.6% (= 48,502) French, 3.7% (= 23,532) Italian, 3.1% (= 19,613) Belgian, 2.0% (= 12,785 ) German citizen. Smaller immigrant groups are British, Serbs, Dutch, Spaniards, Poles, Bosniaks, Greeks, Russians and Turks.

Around 2500 Yenish live in Luxembourg as a minority people without special status and with different nationalities. Best known for this is the Luxembourg district of Weimerskirch , where Yenish families have had their main residence for generations.

In March 2015, the number of cross-border commuters commuting to Luxembourg was 167,000. At the same time, the number of cross-border commuters was 11,500. In 1961 the proportion of cross-border commuters was 3 percent, in 2010 it was 44 percent. Around half of the cross-border commuters come from France.

16.0% of the population are under 15 years old (thereof male 51,832, female 49,563), 69.4% are between 15 and 64 years old (thereof male 225,547, female 215,051), 14.6% are 65 and older (thereof male 42,077, female 50,660). (Status: 2021) The average age is 38.51 years (status: 2010).

The life expectancy in Luxembourg is for men who were born in 2016, an average of 79.8 years and for women who were born at the same time, 84.9 years.

languages

The language situation in Luxembourg is complex. The mother tongue of most of the native Luxembourgers is Luxembourgish ("Lëtzebuergesch"), a Moselle-Franconian idiom that was regarded as a dialect of German and not yet as an independent language until the 20th century . In this sense, Luxembourg belongs to the Central German-speaking area. However, it has long been specific to Luxembourgish that it contains a much higher proportion of French loanwords than standard German or other German dialects. Luxembourgish only became the national language and co-official language of the country alongside French and German due to the Languages ​​Act of 1984 and, according to a survey by the European Union (2005), 73 percent of the population stated that it was their mother tongue.

Of the three official languages French , German and Luxembourgish, French is the most prestigious. Since 1944, French has been predominantly used as the written language in administrations and ministries as well as in secondary schools, but in the past centuries French had already played an at least equal role as the official and chancellery language alongside German, not least because of the close political and cultural ties between Luxembourg to Brabant and the southern Netherlands, ruled mainly from Brussels, and in particular the fact that until 1830 Luxembourg also included the French / Walloon- speaking areas of today's Belgian province of Luxembourg and thus divided into a Romance-speaking and a Germanic-speaking part. After the end of the Second World War , in which Luxembourg was annexed by the German Empire, the official name of the country was Frenchized and from then on it was usually spelled “Luxembourg”. Since then, all laws have only been published in French, although the debates in Parliament are mostly held in Luxembourgish.

French is the only language of legislation and is generally the preferred language of government and administration. Official written communications from the government, as well as written decisions by the administrative authorities, are mostly in French, while oral communications are in either French or Luxembourgish, and to a lesser extent in German.

In everyday life, each of the three official languages ​​plays a dominant role in certain fields of activity, without being exclusive: Luxembourgish dominates as the oral language of the local population; French dominates in trade and as the working language in the private sector, while German is preferred in the print media. Although the ISBN of many books published in Luxembourg begins with “2” (for French), such books are mostly written in German or Luxembourgish.

The multilingualism of the country is z. B. illustrated by the print media: In many newspapers, the press reports are alternately written in French, German or sometimes in Luxembourgish, without translation into the other two languages.

The upgrading of the Luxembourgish vernacular compared to Standard German after the Second World War and its gradual expansion into a written language with standardized spelling served to further strengthen the cultural identity of the Luxembourgers. In this context, attempts are also being made to integrate foreign-language immigrants into the society of the country through Luxembourgish language courses.

Due to the importance of French and German as international cultural and educational languages ​​and the ongoing expansion of Luxembourgish into a literary and scientific language, Luxembourg elementary school students first learn Standard German and from the second year of school also French. Since Luxembourgish children usually do not speak High German when they start school, they are taught in Luxembourgish first and a bridge is built to the written German language, in which most school books are printed. In the secondary level, French is gradually becoming the predominant language of instruction, especially in the natural sciences. Until the University of Luxembourg was founded in 2003, Luxembourg students had to rely on studying abroad; a good knowledge of French and / or German was an advantage.

The use of the national languages ​​in the public service is regulated by law: If a citizen contacts an official body in one of the three official languages, the answer should be in the language he / she is using. Linguistic flexibility prevails in court: for the sake of general comprehensibility, Luxembourgish is predominantly used, while the minutes of the meeting are drawn up in Standard German and the legal texts are quoted in French. French is often spoken in banks and shops.

Luxembourg has been a member of the Organization internationale de la Francophonie (International Organization of the Francophonie ) since March 1970 . According to several sociological surveys, the most widely spoken languages ​​by the population are French (99%), Luxembourgish (82%), German (81%) and English (72%). Luxembourg did not participate in the Intergovernmental Commission for German Spelling , which was set up to oversee the German spelling reform of 1996 . The Grand Duchy only sends one observer without voting rights to the German Spelling Council . Nevertheless, the new German spelling was introduced into school and German lessons by order of the government. In addition, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg has been taking part in the annual meetings of the German-speaking countries since 2014 .

An orthography for the Luxembourgish language Letzeburgisch has been officially introduced; however, there are dialectal differences in the phonetics and the graphic implementation of individual words (e.g. for the word us one uses ons in Luxembourg City and elsewhere eis ).

Another language in Luxembourg is the Yenish language , which is recognized by some linguists as an independent idiom and which is still spoken by the Yenish resident there, especially in Luxembourg-Pfaffenthal and Luxembourg-Weimerskirch . Furthermore, almost 20 percent of the population of Luxembourg are Portuguese immigrants or their descendants, most of whom still speak Portuguese among themselves.

The German Sign Language (DGS) is predominantly used as sign language , while deaf people usually only use German as spoken and written language, as French and Lëtzebuergesch are not taught in schools for the deaf.

Religions

The Saint-Alphonse Catholic Church in Luxembourg City

According to the data protection act, among other things Information about a person's religious or philosophical beliefs about the sensitive types of data that are generally not allowed to be collected. As a result, there is no official information on the number of followers of the different religious communities, but only in relation to events that are both religiously determined and civilly relevant.

Luxembourg is traditionally shaped by Roman Catholicism . According to a study published in 2011, around 68.7% of the population were Catholic in 2008. In addition to the Catholics, there are the two Evangelical Churches that are conventioned by the state, the Evangelical Church of Luxembourg since 1817 with its headquarters in Luxembourg City and nationwide distribution and the Protestant Reformed Church of Luxembourg HB with its seat in Esch, as well as a large number of smaller Protestant , Evangelical and Orthodox churches and parishes, which together represent around 3.7% of the population. Non-Christian religious communities such as Jews and Muslims together have a share of around 2.6%, and the share of non-religious communities , 24.9%, is around a quarter of the total population of Luxembourg.

In 1988 the Catholic diocese of Luxembourg was raised to an archbishopric by Pope John Paul II . On March 13, 1973, Sunday church attendance was counted. A visit by the Pope also provided an opportunity to assess the appeal of the Catholic Church.

The state has so far concluded conventions with the Evangelical Church of Luxembourg, the Protestant Reformed Church of Luxembourg, the Jewish Consistory, the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, as well as a convention with the Roman Catholic Church on the Religious education in public schools. Thus, a pupil in Luxembourg can so far only choose between the Catholic religious instruction and the ethics instruction called “morality” . There is no such convention for the other religions. So that the state can also conclude a convention with the followers of Islam , a representation (" Shoura ") was elected. Of the 2,500 people who had entered the electoral lists, 650 ultimately chose their twelve representatives for this purpose. In the course of the constitutional reform, the conventions with the religious communities will be fundamentally revised. The details were contractually agreed between the government and the religious communities in 2015. At the beginning of the 2016/17 school year, Catholic religious instruction in secondary school was replaced by standardized teaching on values. A reform of religious education in primary schools is to follow at a later date.

In a TNS-Ilres survey from 2012, 67 percent of the population were in favor of a separation of church and state.

story

The Bockfiels in Luxembourg City, which Count Siegfried acquired in 963

Prehistory, romans

The first traces of settlement in what is now Luxembourg come from the Paleolithic Age. The Neolithic begins with the linear ceramic culture around 4900 BC. Chr. Celtic settlements date from the 2nd century BC. About a hundred years later, Romans invaded the country when Caesar around 58 to 51 BC. BC Gaul and part of Germania up to the Rhine border conquered. What is now Luxembourg became part of the Roman Empire .

In the 5th century AD - at the time of the Great Migration - the Germanic Franks pushed back the Romans. Wandering monks built the first monasteries in the area. The Echternach monastery was founded by the Anglo-Saxon missionary Willibrord in 698.

County of Luxembourg within the Franconian Empire

Emperor Sigismund (woodcut, 1536)

In 963, when the country belonged to the East Franconian Empire , Count Siegfried I acquired the small Bockfelsen in the Alzette valley with the Lucilinburhuc castle through a barter with the St. Maximin Abbey in Trier . With this he laid the foundation stone for the noble family of Luxembourg and the county of Luxembourg.

Duchy of Luxembourg within the Holy Roman Empire

In 1308 Count Heinrich von Luxemburg was elected Roman-German King . He and his son Johann , who became King of Bohemia in 1310, established the power of the Luxembourgers in the medieval German Empire ( Holy Roman Empire ). In 1354 the county of Luxembourg was raised to a duchy by Emperor Charles IV . The first duke was Wenzel I. With the death of the Roman-German Emperor Sigismund in 1437, the main line of the House of Luxembourg died out, and the rule of the Luxembourgers in the empire ended. In 1441, the last duchess from the House of Luxemburg sold the land to the French House of Burgundy , but under constitutional law it remained a fiefdom of the empire. After the death of the last Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, in 1477, Luxembourg and the rest of the Burgundian inheritance fell to Charles' daughter Maria of Burgundy and her husband, the later Roman-German Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg. In 1482 it came under the rule of the Habsburgs and in 1555 on their Spanish line. Since the connection of the duchy with the House of Burgundy and later with the Habsburgs, who also ruled Brabant, Flanders and Holland, the history of Luxembourg has been closely linked to that of the northern and southern Netherlands (see Burgundian Netherlands ).

The Holy Roman Empire around 1400
Imperial district division since 1512. The independent territories are shown in white.
Map of Luxembourg from 1712 ( Pieter van der Aa )

In 1659, the Peace of the Pyrenees between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain ruled by the Habsburgs, to which the formerly Burgundian Netherlands (including Luxembourg) were subordinate, led to the first partition of Luxembourg, the cession of the south of the country from Diedenhofen to Montmédy to France. From 1684 to 1697 the country was completely under French rule as a result of the War of the Reunions of 1683/84 Louis XIV .

In the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713, Luxembourg fell to the Austrian Netherlands and thus again became a territory ruled by Habsburg within the Roman-German Empire. From 1795/1801 to 1814 the country came under French rule again after the entry of the French revolutionary troops .

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg within the German Confederation

German Confederation 1815–1866

The Roman-German Empire to which the duchy belonged was dissolved in 1806. Like the German territories on the left bank of the Rhine, Luxembourg fell to France until Napoleon I's empire fell. The Congress of Vienna laid down in 1815 that now for the Grand Duchy country raised a state of the newly founded German Confederation was. At the same time, the congress resolutions led to a personal union with the Kingdom of the United Netherlands , so that the Netherlands, later Belgium and Luxembourg from 1815 onwards formed a unified state association; Belgium left as a result of the Belgian Revolution in 1830. With the resolutions of the Congress of Vienna, the second division of Luxembourg was brought about, but actually only an incomplete restoration of the status quo ante : some northern areas of old Luxembourg fell from France directly to the Netherlands, and eastern to the Prussian Rhine Province . In 1830, Luxembourg joined the Belgian Revolution. In 1839 the third and final division took place, in which the “French Quarter”, namely the French-speaking western half, in addition to areas around the cities of Arlon and Martelingen as the province of Luxembourg , fell to Belgium; Since then, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has only had the “Germanic Quarter”, the Moselle-Franconian-speaking eastern half.

In the German Bundestag of the German Federation exercised until the dissolution of 1866, the Kingdom of the Netherlands Virilstimme for Luxembourg from.

The Luxembourg crisis

In 1867 the Luxembourg crisis broke out : Napoleon III. tried Luxembourg from King Wilhelm III. the Netherlands to buy. The public in the Grand Duchy and other areas of the German Confederation were outraged against this plan: Luxembourg, the homeland of the Luxembourg dynasty, which had established four Roman-German emperors , should not fall to France. A protest movement pleaded with a petition to the King-Grand Duke Wilhelm III. for the status quo. At that time, Luxembourg's later motto “ Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn ” (We want to stay what we are) became popular among the Luxembourg population. The crisis culminated in the second London Treaty of 1867, in which the country was declared “forever neutral” as a compromise. The fortress of Luxembourg as a fortress of the German Confederation in Luxembourg was then razed .

Complete independence of Luxembourg

Luxembourg achieved complete independence after the death of King Wilhelm III of the Netherlands . in 1890: Due to the extinction of the Dutch royal family Orange-Nassau in the male line, the closest male relatives, the Dukes of Nassau-Weilburg , took over the government in Luxembourg on the basis of a private law inheritance contract between the princes of the Nassau family ( Nassau Heritage Association ) . This gave Luxembourg its own hereditary dynasty , while in the Netherlands the succession of the Orange was continued by an heir to the throne, the daughter of Wilhelm III, Wilhelmina .

After the creation of the North German Confederation and the German Empire , the Grand Duchy remained a member of the German Customs Union until 1919 .

The German Customs Union 1834-1919
blue = when it was founded
green = extensions until 1866
yellow = extensions after 1866
red = borders of the German Confederation 1828
pink = relevant changes after 1834
Grand Duchess Charlotte von Nassau-Weilburg 1896–1985

Luxembourg in the 20th century

During the First World War (1914–1918), Luxembourg's contractual neutrality was violated by the Imperial German troops by serving and occupying Luxembourg for the march through to France. The national crisis of 1918/19 broke out: Because of her (allegedly) pro-German stance during the war, Grand Duchess Marie Adelheid came under domestic political pressure and abdicated in favor of her sister Charlotte .

The active and passive right to vote for women was introduced in 1919 when the constituent assembly decided on May 8, 1919 to extend the right to vote to all women and men of Luxembourg nationality over the age of 21. The revised constitution came into force on May 15, 1919. Women were allowed to vote for the first time in September 1919, namely in the referendum on the continuation of the monarchy, and in the following month in the parliamentary elections.

The Union Économique Belgo-Luxembourgeoise was founded in 1922. This contract regulated, among other things. the parity between the Belgian and Luxembourg currencies. From then on, the Belgian franc was recognized as a means of payment in Luxembourg.

In the 1920s, new political currents grew stronger, such as the Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei (LSAP) , which emerged from the labor movement, and the Catholic-oriented Chrëschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei (LCV), which gradually replaced the predominance of the liberals.

The German National Socialists saw Luxembourg as well as Alsace-Lorraine and East Belgium as genuinely German territory with a German-speaking, Aryan population. Since the seizure of power in 1933, the Grand Duchy was threatened with annexation by the neighboring country.

Even before the Second World War and the occupation of Luxembourg by Germany, anti-Semitism was widespread in Luxembourg. He expressed himself primarily in national-populist movements, but also in Catholic-conservative circles around the daily newspaper “Luxemburger Wort”. From 1936 the entry regulations for Jewish refugees from the German Reich were tightened. The Nuremberg Laws were adopted by Luxembourg in 1935 to the effect that Germans living in Luxembourg were prohibited from marrying Jews. Jews who fled to Luxembourg were registered separately. Among other things, Jews were discriminated against when looking for work.

In May 1940 German troops occupy Luxembourg. The government and the Grand Duchess fled into exile in London . After temporary military administration , a civil administration was set up under Gustav Simon , NSDAP Gauleiter of the neighboring Gau Moselland. Luxembourgers were drafted into the German armed forces and for military service, and Jewish citizens were deported to German concentration camps . In August 1942 , Germany annexed the occupied country and formed districts out of the districts .

The Second World War was a test for the young nation and led to national symbols such as the monarchy and the Luxembourgish language becoming firmly anchored in the consciousness of Luxembourg society. On September 10, 1944, Luxembourg was liberated by US troops for the first time. In December, however, the German Ardennes offensive followed , after the failure of which Luxembourg fell completely into the hands of the Allies at the end of January 1945 and was thus freed from the yoke of Nazi rule.

The deportation of Jews from Luxembourg took place in seven transports from October 16, 1941 to June 17, 1943. Luxembourg has been criticized by international historians for not having dealt with this chapter of history objectively and for wrongly presenting itself as a victim. The subsequent investigations by the Luxembourg historians Denis Scuto and Vincent Artuso revealed that the Luxembourg Administrative Commission, which had acted as a substitute government, had actively participated in the deportation. Not only did she collaborate, she also extradited Jewish adults and children to the Nazis of her own accord. You have acted actively and not just as a recipient of orders. In June 2015, Luxembourg officially apologized to the Jewish communities for this misconduct. Even today, however, Luxembourg has not returned the expropriated property, real estate or companies, or given any compensation or financial reparation. There was hardly any denazification in Luxembourg either.

After the Second World War, Luxembourg's monetary union with Belgium was re-established and the customs and economic union was extended to the Netherlands ( Benelux countries). Luxembourg became a member of the United Nations in 1945 . In 1948 the country formally abolished the "perpetual neutrality" that had existed since 1867. In 1952, Luxembourg became the seat of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, Montanunion). In 1957, Luxembourg was one of the six founding members of the European Economic Community (EEC). Luxembourg is a contracting party to the Schengen Agreement , which was signed in 1985 with four other EU countries and named after the Luxembourg town on the Moselle . In 1986 the Charlemagne Prize was awarded to the entire Luxembourg people for their special contribution to European unification . In 1990 the Schengen Implementation Agreement was concluded, which on March 26, 1995 led to the abolition of border controls between the contracting parties; the Schengen area was created . At the beginning of 2002, the euro was introduced as the successor to the Luxembourg franc as the official means of payment in cash transactions ; since the beginning of 1999 it was already the book currency.

politics

The Hôtel de la Chambre , seat of the Chamber of Deputies

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has been a sovereign and independent state since the Second London Conference in 1867. The form of government is a parliamentary monarchy , the crown of which is hereditary within the Nassau family.

The legislation is the responsibility of the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Députés) , all five-year term.

At the starting point of Luxembourg (constitution of 1868) stood the monarchist official state (ruling Grand Duke and “his” ministers and officials appointed by him). From this tradition derive the designation of Minister of State instead of Prime Minister for the head of government of Luxembourg, the inviolability of the person and (theoretical) power of the Grand Duke (constitution §§ 4, 33 ff.) Or at the community level the coexistence of Bourgmestre (as grand ducal administrative officer) and the " dating back to the people " lay judges , so non-official (see also: administrative divisions ).

Today the Grand Duke can largely only exercise his rights formally (see also Head of State ), "Luxembourg is a democratic ... state" (Constitution § 1). This is guaranteed by the House of Representatives, directly elected by the people, from which the government emerges, the election of the Bourgmestre from the municipal council and, last but not least, the possibility of a referendum.

Constitution

The constitution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg of October 17, 1868, which was published in the original German text with a French translation in the Official Journal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg ( Mémorial ) on October 22, 1868 , is the constitution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg that is still valid today despite multiple changes in the meantime.

Motto

The motto of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is: Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn (“We want to stay what we are”). The occasion was the Luxembourg crisis in 1867, which was triggered by Napoleon III. intended, unrealized acquisition of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which is part of the German Confederation and its head of state Wilhelm III. the Netherlands was.

Sovereignty symbols

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has a flag , a coat of arms flag and a small, medium and large coat of arms .

flag

The Luxembourg red-white-blue tricolor has existed in its current form since 1972. The blue of the flag of the Grand Duchy is sky blue , in contrast to the Dutch flag, whose blue is ultramarine .

Since 2006, a change of flag has been discussed, mainly because of this likelihood of confusion. According to a draft law introduced by the government, in addition to the three-colored flag, the coat of arms flag with the red lion (Roude Léiw) should be permitted on Luxembourg territory in the future . This variant has been used on Luxembourg ships since 1972. The government is currently rejecting its introduction as the sole national flag.

coat of arms

After several changes, the content of the Luxembourg coat of arms was largely determined by Heinrich V , Count of Luxembourg.

National anthem

The first and last stanzas of the song Ons Heemecht (Our homeland; Luxembourgish original text: Michel Lentz , music: Johann-Anton Zinnen ) from 1864 represent the national anthem of Luxembourg.

The coat of arms and the flag have been under legal protection since 1972, the national anthem has been protected against any unauthorized use since 1993.

Head of state

HRH Grand Duke Henri of Nassau (2009)

Article 3 of the current constitution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg states: “The Crown of the Grand Duchy is hereditary in the Nassau family, in accordance with the Treaty of June 30, 1783, Art. 71 of the Vienna Treatise of June 9, 1815 and the London Treaty Treaty of May 11, 1867. "

The contract of June 30, 1783 is the Nassau Hereditary Association , through which the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is inherited within the Nassau family to this day.

Head of State and Grand Duke of Luxembourg has been Henri von Nassau since October 7, 2000 . He is married to Maria Teresa . Formally, the Grand Duke has extensive executive and legislative powers; he appoints and dismisses the government, executes all laws, but in fact performs almost exclusively representative tasks. The Grand Duke is non-partisan. He has not yet exercised his right to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies (Parliament). He is not allowed to publish his own statements without the consent of the government of Luxembourg.

In 2008 Henri refused to sign a law on euthanasia. In order to resolve the state crisis quickly, the Grand Duke was released from sanctioning laws by means of a constitutional amendment. Since then, his task has been limited to “ promulgating ” the laws. According to the constitutional lawyer Francis Delpérée, the Grand Duke would only have had the power to prevent a law from coming into force with the consent of a member of the government. Most recently, the grand ducal court, especially Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, was exposed to criticism because, according to a report by a special investigator appointed by the Luxembourg government, the financial circumstances and personnel policy at the court were considered unregulated and non-transparent.

Coat of arms of the monarch

Government and Council of State

The executive power is exercised by the Grand Duke and the government. The government consists of the Prime Minister , who has the traditional title of Minister of State, as well as fifteen ministers and three state secretaries.

Xavier Bettel of the Democratic Party (DP) has been State and Prime Minister since December 4, 2013 . He leads a coalition of his DP with the LSAP and the Greens . Jean Asselborn (LSAP) is Foreign Minister, Pierre Gramegna (DP) Minister of Finance. See government Bettel-Schneider / Kersch-Braz / Bausch .

See also: List of Prime Ministers of Luxembourg , List of Foreign Ministers of Luxembourg , List of Transport Ministers of Luxembourg , List of Defense Ministers of Luxembourg

The State Council is an advisory body that consists of 21 members. The nomination procedure is not regulated in the constitution, but only in a law. The Council of State participates in the legislative process. His formal opposition to bills has a three-month suspensive effect. Christophe Schiltz has been at the helm since 2021.

houses of Parliament

The Chamber of Deputies ( Chambre des Députés , in Luxembourgish "Chamber") has 60 seats. Its current president is Fernand Etgen (DP). The deputies are appointed in national elections for a period of five years.

Since the election to the Chamber of Deputies on October 14, 2018, it has been composed as follows (number of seats from 2013 in brackets):

CSV 21 (23), LSAP 10 (13), DP 12 (13), Déi Gréng 9 (6), ADR 4 (3), Déi Lénk 2 (2), Pirate 2 (0).

Political indices

Political indices
Name of the index Index value Worldwide rank Interpretation aid year
Fragile States Index 18.8 out of 120 170 of 178 Stability of the country: very sustainable
0 = very sustainable / 120 = very alarming
2020
Democracy index 8.68 out of 10 13 of 167 Full democracy
0 = authoritarian regime / 10 = full democracy
2020
Freedom in the World Index 98 of 100 - Freedom status: free
0 = not free / 100 = free
2020
Freedom of the press ranking 17.56 out of 100 20 of 180 Satisfactory situation for freedom of the press
0 = good situation / 100 = very serious situation
2021
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 80 out of 100 9 of 180 0 = very corrupt / 100 = very clean 2020

Choose

Electoral districts: north (green), center (blue), south (red), and east (yellow). The number of parliamentary seats per district is given.

Elections to the national parliament take place every five years according to proportional representation. The country is divided into four electoral districts with different numbers of MPs in order to do justice to the population distribution of the country (north [9], east [7], center [21] and south [23]). The boundaries of the electoral districts are almost identical to those of the three districts, with the difference that the district of Luxembourg City is subdivided again (Diekirch district = north, Grevenmacher district = east, Luxembourg district [canton Luxembourg City and Mersch] = Center and district of Luxembourg [canton Esch and Capellen] = south ). The voters have the corresponding number of votes and can either cumulate their votes (all votes to one party) or variegate them (vote by person, a maximum of two votes per candidate). Since 1919, voting has been compulsory for all citizens over the age of 18. This also applies to anyone who is entered on the Luxembourg electoral roll and lives in Luxembourg.

The Fontagné Report had already found it inevitable to bring the country out of the reform impasse, to put the question of dual citizenship and the expansion of political participation on the political agenda. According to an ASTI study from 2009, 79% of the Luxembourg and foreign residents estimate Luxembourg as their preferred country of residence. But while 90% of the foreigners surveyed are in favor of local voting rights, only 68% of Luxembourgers are in favor of it. This regardless of the fact that local voting rights for resident EU foreigners have long been anchored in law. Even fewer, namely only 48% of the Luxembourgers surveyed, could imagine a right to vote for foreign residents at national level. 66% of them are even ready to oppose a scenario according to which foreign citizens could be elected to the national parliament. Since 2011, foreigners can also hold an office in the council of lay judges and thus also become mayors.

On June 7, 2015, a consultative constitutional referendum took place on the question of whether foreign citizens may vote in elections to the national parliament under certain conditions. In addition, a vote was taken to lower the voting age to 16 years and to limit the term of office of ministers to 10 years. In a representative survey in May 2015, a majority of the Luxembourgers questioned rejected the right to vote for foreigners and the right to vote from the age of 16. The limitation of the term of office for ministers, however, was in favor of a narrow relative majority. All three referendum questions were rejected by a clear majority of voters: 81% were against the lowering of the voting age, 79% against the right to vote for foreigners and 70% against the term limits for ministers.

Political parties

Since December 4, 2013, the Liberal Democratic Party (DP) (Déi Blo) , the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) (Déi Roud) and the Greens ( Déi Gréng ) have been in power in a coalition. The long-standing conservative ruling party Christian Social People's Party (CSV) (Déi Schwaarz) , the right-wing conservative Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) and Die Linke ( Déi Lénk ) are in opposition . Since the legislative elections on October 14, 2018, the pirates ( Pirate Party ) have also been represented with 2 seats. The PID had previously decided to compete on a list with the Pirate Party. The Communist Party of Luxembourg (KPL) and the Conservatives ( Déi Conservative ) are not represented in Parliament.

Law and Justice

Cité judiciaire , St. Espirit plateau

Luxembourg private law is rooted in the French Civil Code, which was created under Napoleon Bonaparte . Together with French and Belgian law, it is one of the systems of the Romance legal system that is most closely related to Napoleonic civil law . Even the criminal is heavily influenced by the French model. In contrast, administrative law and income tax law are more in line with the German model. The legal language is French; Court languages ​​Luxembourgish, German and / or French, depending on the individual case.

In the Grand Duchy there are three peace courts (in Esch an der Alzette, Luxemburg and Diekirch ), two district courts (in Luxemburg and Diekirch) and a Supreme Court , which includes the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation. In criminal and civil matters, the Court of Cassation is the highest judicial authority in the country. There is also an administrative court and an administrative court, as well as a constitutional court. The administrative court and the administrative court are located on the Kirchberg , the remaining courts in the city of Luxembourg have their seat in the Cité judiciaire , on the Heilig-Geist-Plateau.

State budget

Thanks to higher tax revenues, Luxembourg was able to reduce its global public treasury deficit to 709 million euros in 2010. The national debt is still 18.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This makes Luxembourg one of the lowest indebted countries in Europe.

For the entire public budget - i.e. for the state, municipalities and social security - there was a deficit of 1.7 percent of the gross domestic product in 2010. Luxembourg thus complies with the Maastricht criteria, which allow a maximum of three percent deficit.

In addition to various transfer taxes, the state earns a large part of its income from taxes on income and earnings: These include income, corporation and trade taxes.

Investment funds are exempt from corporate income tax, trade tax and wealth tax in Luxembourg. The wealth tax has also been abolished for natural persons since 2006. Inheritance tax is only due on the death of a resident of the country. Residents also pay ten percent withholding tax on investment income.

With a top rate of 42% for individuals Luxembourg has an above-average personal income tax rate in the European Union (for comparison example, has Bulgaria a uniform tax rate of 10%).

At 17% (or 15% for sales up to € 175,000) and a surcharge of 7% for the unemployment fund, the corporate income tax rate is also above the European Union average.

As of January 1, 2015, the regular VAT rate was increased from 15 to 17 percent.

military

Tail unit of an AWACS Boeing with Luxembourg registration

According to the London Treaty of 1867 , the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was not only supposed to be neutral, but also unarmed. As a result of experiences in World War I and World War II - Luxembourg was occupied by German troops in both wars despite its status of permanent neutrality - this position gave up in 1948. A grand-ducal decree that declared neutrality ended on November 30, 1944 and introduced universal conscription, was ratified by parliament in 1948. However, general conscription was abolished in 1967 and replaced by voluntary military service.

The armed forces of Luxembourg today consist of the approximately 1000 members strong Lëtzebuerger Arméi (Luxembourg Army), which is divided into an infantry battalion and two reconnaissance companies. There are no naval or air forces, only the NATO AWACS reconnaissance fleet is registered in Luxembourg. Any EU citizen who has lived in Luxembourg for at least three years and at least understands the national language Luxembourgish can join the army in Luxembourg without having to change his or her nationality. Anyone who voluntarily decides to do military service has easier access to the lower civil service, for example the police , customs or the penal system.

Luxembourg participates in various international peace missions:

  • NATO mission KFOR in Kosovo with 29 soldiers
  • EUFOR in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Congo and Chad
  • ISAF mission in Afghanistan with nine soldiers
  • UNIFIL mission in Lebanon

In 2003, the Luxembourg government, together with Belgium, ordered a military Airbus A400M , which was originally supposed to cost 120 million euros according to the law of March 21, 2005. At the moment, the price is expected to rise by 25%. The delivery date has also been postponed three years. Nevertheless, 1.9 million euros for 2009 and 1.6 million euros for 2010 are earmarked for purchase financing in the government's financial plan. The construction of its own hangar or a military runway will not take place in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg - instead the machine will be stationed in the Kingdom of Belgium.

police

old
police patrol car of the Police grand-ducale

The Police grand-ducale (also known as Police Lëtzebuerg) is the executive body responsible for internal security, maintaining public order and enforcing the law. There are Circonscriptions régionales (police departments) in Luxembourg City, Diekirch, Esch / Alzette, and Grevenmacher. In addition, there are the national special units Service de Police Judiciaire (criminal police), Unité Centrale de Police de la Route (traffic and motorway police and motorized escort), Unité Centrale de Police à l'Aéroport (airport police ), Unité de Garde et d ' Appui Opérationnel (riot police), École de Police (police school) and Unité Spéciale (special unit). The head unit of the police is the Direction Générale .

Since the end of 2010, most of the national special forces and the General Direction of the Police Grand-Ducale have moved to new premises in the Findel Business Center near Luxembourg Airport. Until then, the police were housed in buildings on lost food, some of which came from the 1950s and were also used by the former gendarmerie as barracks, among other things. The rooms in the Findel Business Center are located on Kalchesbrück and are designed for up to 400 people.

Intelligence service

The Service de Renseignement de l'État (SRE) is Luxembourg's intelligence service. Its purpose is to collect and evaluate information in order to prevent a threat to Luxembourg territory, its allies or international institutions that are based in Luxembourg. This also includes the endangerment of critical infrastructure, in particular the energy and water supply, road traffic and information technology.

Foreign policy

Luxembourg is the seat of important European institutions such as the European Court of Justice , the European Court of Auditors , the European Investment Bank and the Secretariat of the European Parliament and is also one of the founding countries of the European Union.

Luxembourg is an active participant in European Union politics. Within the EU, it also attaches great importance to adequate participation by the smaller EU member states, as well as in reforms and the further development of the EU institutions. The country is a passionate supporter of European cooperation and was the first country to ratify the Maastricht Treaty .

In 1986 the “people of Luxembourg” was awarded the Charlemagne Prize of the city of Aachen . This recognized that Luxembourgers were convinced Europeans from the very beginning and that Luxembourg politicians made important contributions to European unification. The text on the medal, which was presented to Grand Duke Jean on behalf of his citizens, reads: "Charlemagne Prize of the City of Aachen 1986. The people of Luxembourg, model of perseverance on the way to European unity."

Political relations with Germany

Maintaining good neighbors with Germany, France and Belgium is a priority for Luxembourg. Luxembourg sees itself as the center of gravity of the culturally and economically flourishing greater region of Saar-Lor-Lux , which also includes Trier and Wallonia in Belgium . 150,000 cross-border commuters from Lorraine, Wallonia, Saarland, the Trier region and the Eifel (a total of 36,000 from Germany) work in Luxembourg. The most important areas of cross-border cooperation are spatial planning , employee migration, civil protection , culture, tourism and transport. At the European level, Luxembourg’s political interests are also closely interlinked with those of Germany’s. The German embassy is located in Luxembourg (city).

Economic relations with Germany

The economic relations between Luxembourg and Germany are intensive: Germany is Luxembourg's largest buyer of Luxembourg export goods and at the same time one of the Grand Duchy's most important suppliers of imported goods: around 25 percent of imports come from Germany. Of the 149 Luxembourg banks, 45 are branches of German credit institutions. Economic cooperation in the greater Saar-Lor-Lux region is steadily increasing.

Cultural relations with Germany

Germany and Luxembourg combine diverse cultural relationships. Luxembourg and the Greater Region were the European Capital of Culture in 2007: numerous projects underlined the close cultural and political ties. The cooperation in the Greater Region will continue after the year of culture. There is lively exchange in the fields of art, theater, literature, music, research and science. The Luxembourg media regularly report on cultural events in Germany. Due to the easy linguistic access, German television and the German print media are widely used in Luxembourg. On August 27, 2007, the German-Luxembourg school project, "Schengen-Lyzeum", was opened in Perl , near the border, in the Saarland . Over 300 pupils in five classes receive lessons in German, French and Luxembourgish from teachers from both countries.

Greater Region

Luxembourg sees itself at the center of an urban, economic and geographic agglomeration that extends far beyond national borders. The unmistakable fact was taken into account politically by the establishment of forms of cross-border cooperation such as the Greater Region . The economic interdependence of this metropolitan area is particularly evident in the mobility on the labor market and the housing market, which reacts relatively quickly to the wage and price gap.

Membership in international organizations

Plenary Chamber of the European Parliament in Brussels. Luxembourg is one of the 27 member states of the European Union .

education

school-system

The Luxembourg school system (from 2018-2019)

In Luxembourg, school attendance is compulsory for twelve years, from 4 to 16 years of age:

  • Primary school from three to eleven years, divided into four cycles:
    • Cycle 1: three to five years; this includes optional early childhood education (éducation précoce) and preschool (éducation préscolaire) ;
    • Cycle 2: six to eight years;
    • Cycle 3: eight to ten years;
    • Cycle 4: ten to twelve years; cycles 2 to 4 correspond to primary school (enseignement primaire);
Detailed system structure - Classical secondary education (ESC) / (Luxembourg)
Detailed system structure - General Secondary Education (ESG) / (Luxembourg)
  • Secondary education (enseignement postprimaire) up to at least 16 years.

The literacy level is 100 percent. The Luxembourg school system is familiar with several problems, such as the high level of effort involved in teaching German , French and English as well as a high proportion of foreign students, especially from Romance countries, who fail to take German lessons.

Since 1999 there has been an optional one-year early childhood education (éducation précoce) before the compulsory two-year preschool (éducation préscolaire) ; this first cycle of primary school is intended to enable better socialization as well as linguistic, social and academic integration.

After the fourth cycle, an orientation committee decides on the avis d'orientation . If the parents do not agree, they can register the child for an examen de recours . There are two intermediate educational pathways available:

  • Classical secondary education (enseignement secondaire classique - ESC) (33 percent of students). The degree after seven years (7th – 13th grade) consists of the diplôme de fin d'études secondaire classiques , which enables access to university studies. The last three years are completed here in so-called sections that offer specialized courses. There are eight sections ( section A : languages, section B : mathematics-computer science, section C : natural sciences-mathematics, section D : business-mathematics, section E : visual arts, section F : music, section G : humanities and social sciences, section I : Computer Science Communication), which the students can choose at will (and qualification).
  • General secondary education (enseignement secondaire général - ESG) (67% of students). The lower level is divided between an orientation level and a pre-vocational level.
    1. The students from the orientation level decide on a subject for the last four years. These include administration and trade, health and social professions, general technology, art as well as hotel and tourism. In the last two years there is the possibility to specialize further within these fields. The degree after seven years (7th – 13th grade) consists of the diplôme de fin d'études secondaire générales and leads to the general university entrance qualification. Schoolchildren specializing in health and social professions also have the opportunity to train as a nurse or educator.
    2. The pre-vocational level has a modular structure and leads to vocational training, the formation professionnelle . The formation professionnelle ends with a professional qualifying diploma, a technician diploma (Diplôme de Technicien) (10th-13th grade), the DAP (Diplôme d'aptitude professionnelle) (10th-12th grade) or the CCP ( Certificat de capacité professionnelle) (10th – 12th grade). Depending on the completed modules, the technician diploma leads to the entrance qualification for a university of applied sciences.

It is relatively difficult to switch from one type of school to the next, be it from the pre-vocational level to the orientation level of general secondary education, or from general secondary education to classic secondary education.

The final grade of the Abitur of the students in the classical and general secondary education contains the grades of the last year for a share of one third and the grades of the Abitur exams for a share of two thirds. The Abitur exams are typically written within two weeks in all subjects taken in the last school year (depending on the section between 9 and 14) and are the latest in the EU in terms of date.

After the so-called “social budget”, education holds the second largest share of the state budget with 11.5 percent. Nevertheless, Luxembourg performed worse in the PISA study than z. B. Germany .

In 2004/2005 approximately 33.3% of all sixth grade students in elementary school were foreigners. The distribution of the top elementary school class when switching to enseignement secondaire was as follows:

Transfer to the lycée classique (grammar school; 1945 pupil)

  • Foreigners: 19.7%
  • Luxembourgers: 80.3%

Transfer to the lycée technique (Realschule / Hauptschule; 2349 students; without Modulaire )

  • Foreigners: 41.5%
  • Luxembourgers: 58.5%

Transfer to the modulaire (secondary school / special school; 295 students)

  • Foreigners 56.3%
  • Luxembourgers 43.7%

Repetition of the 6th grade of elementary school (34 students)

  • Foreigners 44.1%
  • Luxembourgish 55.9%

The fact that few foreigners make it into higher school careers and that there are obvious integration problems in school was recognized from the 1970s, but countermeasures have so far not been successful. In most schools, there is a large gap between Luxembourgish students and Germans, Dutch and English with German as their main language and foreign students with French as their main language; these are mainly Portuguese, French, Italians and Cape Verdeans .

After a positive development between 2003 and 2007, the number of early school leavers has risen again. Exactly 1928 students did not succeed in completing secondary school with a certificate in the 2007/08 school year. No more than a tenth of them have found a job. During the school years 2008 to 2010, the drop-out rate fell to 9% of the total number of students.

Higher education

Logo of the University of Luxembourg
eufom-University Luxembourg
DTMD University for Digital Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry

Since 2003 there has been an independent university in Luxembourg , which sees itself as multilingual, international and research-centered and had around 6,200 students in the 2012/2013 winter semester. In the fields of natural sciences , technology , law , economics as well as social and educational sciences , history, political sciences, philosophy and multilingualism, students are now trained in three faculties. The University of Luxembourg offers bachelor's and master's degrees and supervises doctoral students. Most of the degree programs can now be studied in full in Luxembourg. A stay abroad of at least one semester is compulsory for Bachelor students. Belgian, French and German universities in particular play an important host role. In the meantime, however, the University of Luxembourg has partnership agreements for the exchange of students and researchers with around 50 universities in 15 countries, including China, the USA and Canada.

In cooperation between the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), research and doctorates in medicine, including in the field of modern molecular medicine, are possible.

Furthermore, the state-recognized and accredited private university eufom (European University for Economics & Management) was established in 2012 . The European-designed course at eufom University is aimed specifically at professionals and trainees in the Greater Region and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg who want to gain academic qualifications in addition to their entrepreneurial or business activities. The languages ​​of instruction are German (Bachelor) and English (Master).

In September 2016, the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce (Chambre de Commerce) and the Luxembourg Chamber of Crafts (Chambre des Métiers) launched the ISEC Business School as an independent university successor to eufom . The ISEC is state recognized and accredited.

The DTMD University for Digital Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry, an ISO-certified private university under Luxembourg law, is based in the castle in Wiltz . It was founded by André Reuter (President), Ralf Rössler (Dean) and Daniel Grubeanu (Vice Dean Teaching and Quality Management) and offers dedicated postgraduate, part-time master’s and doctoral courses for doctors, dentists and dental technicians as well as curricular training for dental technicians and medical assistants.

The University of Innsbruck and the University of Vienna have held the title of “State University for Luxembourg” since the time of Maria Theresa, who was also the Luxembourgish Duchess at the time. Luxembourg students traditionally acquire their degrees abroad. Around 19.6 percent of students are enrolled at German universities (particularly technical subjects and natural sciences), while 22.6 percent are enrolled in Belgium and France.

The establishment of the University of Luxembourg is intended to strengthen Luxembourg as a research location and consolidate Luxembourg as a business location. In addition, more and more foreign students are to be attracted to Luxembourg. Nevertheless, Luxembourg is struggling with the recognition of some foreign qualifications and has problems in particular with graduates of German universities of applied sciences and vocational academies, which, for example, the four years of professional experience in Germany required by the EC Architecture Directive cannot prove. With the Institut Supérieur de Technologie, Luxembourg had its own university of applied sciences, which was integrated into the newly founded university in 2003.

The CEDIES is responsible for the study support of Luxembourg students. In the 2010/11 winter semester, the government introduced parent-independent student grants. Every student whose parents work or live in Luxembourg received EUR 13,000 annually (half of which was a loan at two percent interest). In July 2014, parliament decided to amend the law. The new funding consists of five components: a basic grant for each student (2000 euros); a mobility allowance for students studying abroad and paying rent (2000 euros); a social allowance, linked to the income of the student's parents (up to 2500 euros); a family allowance if a sibling is studying alongside the student (500 euros) and a loan of up to 7,000 euros.

Vocational training

After a three-year phase in the pre-vocational lower level, there is the possibility of completing three different training courses within the formation professionnelle :

  • The three-year craft and commercial vocational training takes place both according to the dual system in the company and in general secondary education as well as on a purely school basis. As a conclusion, there is the technical and professional diploma for the professional maturity DAP. This type of vocational training is characterized by a lack of apprentices in many occupations.
  • The three-year vocational training that ends with a certificate of professional qualification, the CCP. In addition to basic professional knowledge, social skills should also be acquired here. This training path is intended for students who do not achieve a technical diploma or DAP directly. After attaining the CCP, students can begin vocational training in their craft with the aim of achieving a DAP.
  • A four-year technician training with a technician diploma, which enables an immediate entry into professional life, but can also lead to a technical college entrance qualification depending on the completed modules.

The Enseignement secondaire général division des professions de santé et des professions sociale (educational path of the general secondary level for professions in health and education) offers, among other things:

  • to acquire the profession of educator as well as the BAC.
  • to acquire the profession of nurse.

For this, a 14ième must be completed in addition to the 13ième. A 15ième must also be completed to become a nurse.

The master craftsman's examination and the corresponding preparatory courses for obtaining the brevet de maîtrise are carried out by the Chamber of Crafts (Chambre des Métiers) .

business

Luxembourg is part of the European single market ; together with 18 other EU member states (blue) it forms a monetary union, the euro zone .

According to a study by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), the average income is two and a half times that of the average European. The average wealth of a household in Luxembourg is 570,000 euros, foreign residents tend to be much wealthier. This is the case for a minority of foreign citizens, since by far the largest foreign community, the Portuguese, makes little contribution to the high average foreign wealth. The purchasing power standard of a Luxembourg resident is 253 percent of the EU average (Germany: 116 percent). Luxembourg's gross domestic product per capita is, apart from the principalities of Liechtenstein and Monaco , the highest in the world. The total value of all goods and services produced in the Luxembourg economy within the year 2009 and serving final consumption is 104,512 US dollars per capita. This places Luxembourg well ahead of Norway (79,085 US dollars), Qatar (68,872 US dollars) and Switzerland (67,560 US dollars). The gross domestic product of Luxembourg City is 213 percent of the EU average. Only Greater London (315 percent) and the Brussels Capital Region (234 percent) have higher values. In the Global Competitiveness Index , which measures a country's competitiveness, Luxembourg ranks 19th out of 137 countries (as of 2017-2018). In 2017, the country ranks 14th out of 180 countries in the index for economic freedom .

Most of the statistics relating to Luxembourg are falsified by a factor of two or 0.5. The reason for this is that around half of all employees in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are cross-border commuters and therefore non-residents who, together with the residents, generate the gross national product in Luxembourg and pay the same taxes and social security contributions as the residents. As a result, correspondingly falsified results are obtained in such cases, e.g. B. in the gross national product per capita or purchasing power per capita, etc., where only half, namely the residents, are taken into account, but not the other half, namely the cross-border commuters.

Eurostat reported on December 15, 2009:

“In 2008, GDP per capita in Luxembourg, expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS), was more than two and a half times the EU27 average, while Ireland and the Netherlands were around a third higher. Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom and Belgium were between 15% and 25% above the EU27 average. "

The gross domestic product per head of the population is measured in purchasing power standards in order to enable international comparisons without the differences in price levels . This quotient is biased in the case of Luxembourg because, although a high proportion of the labor force contributes to the country's added value , they are not included in the denominator of the quotient as non-residents. In 2009, of the 335,700 employees in the country, only 188,300 lived in the country itself, the remaining 147,400 as cross-border commuters outside the country. There is another reason why this ratio is only of limited use in order to make a statement about the actual standard of living of the Luxembourg population: The gross domestic product includes expenditures such as gross investments (means of production, government services, ...) that do not directly relate to the consumption of private households have to do.

A more realistic picture results from a comparison of the GDP per capita of the population statistics in relation to economic regions, not to states. In this statistical comparison, too, the commuter flows falsify the picture because here, too, the productive performance of commuters is assigned to the economic centers.

Every January 1st, the official statistics service Statec publishes an annual inventory of Luxembourg companies, on the one hand in alphabetical order, on the other hand sorted by economic sector. The American Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg ASBL (AMCHAM) is a voluntary organization that aims to build a bridge between US companies and the Luxembourg economy.

The income inequality , as measured by the Gini coefficient , which in 2005 was in accordance with OECD study around 0.26, was (2007?) Than that of Denmark and Sweden and the inequality in the EU and OECD -average.

In autumn 2008 an economic crisis began in many industrialized countries around the world . It was triggered or caused by the financial crisis from 2007 . This economic crisis exacerbated the sovereign debt crisis in the euro area , because many EU countries each pumped billions of euros into their banking sector in order to avert bank failures. The crisis shows how much the Luxembourg economy is dependent on the financial sector.

Services

There are numerous banks, European institutions and authorities on the Kirchberg plateau (view from Pfaffenthal)

Due to its favorable tax framework and its geographical proximity to Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, Luxembourg is very attractive for international companies in the tertiary sector , especially for banks and insurance companies. The “financial services” sector contributed around 24.9% (1995: 22.1%, 2000: 25%) to national gross value added in 2008 ; the real estate, rental and business services sector 20.6% (1995: 17.2%; 2000: 18.7%).

Most of the large companies established in Luxembourg do not offer their services in Luxembourg, or only to a limited extent, but are mainly active in other countries of the European Union through the free movement of services.

As the seat of several authorities of the European Union, the country is also important as an international administrative center.

Financial center

Founding share of the National Bank Grand Duchy of Luxembourg dated June 1, 1873

The main focus of the Luxembourg economy is the financial sector. The emergence of the Luxembourg financial center was primarily due to advantageous legal framework conditions, an international orientation and attractive tax rates (“niche strategy”). Since 1963, Banco Ambrosiano had a holding company in Luxembourg. As early as 1970 the weight of the financial sector in the Luxembourg economy was slightly higher than elsewhere, but in the following period the financial sector became the main engine of the Luxembourg economy and the Greater Region.

The German bank founded in 1970 as the first foreign subsidiary, the German Bank Luxembourg SA , other German banks such as Postbank , as well as international banks followed and offered special financing instruments to. In 1972 the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was founded.

As of June 30, 2010, there were 149 banks registered in Luxembourg, almost exclusively subsidiaries or branches of large foreign banks from 25 countries. The banks of German provenance were by far the largest group with 44 units. One of the main pillars of the Luxembourg financial center are the funds. At the end of May 2010, more than 3,500 investment funds ( organismes de placement collectif, or “OPC” for short) had their registered office in Luxembourg . They managed a total of more than EUR 2 trillion in investment funds. This makes Luxembourg the largest fund location in Europe; worldwide it ranks second behind the USA. Fund providers from the USA, Germany and Switzerland have the largest market share in terms of investment volume. In 2011, Luxembourg was in third place in the Tax Justice Network's shadow financial index, behind the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, and was therefore a tax haven .

The dependency on financial institutions also represents a major risk for the Luxembourg economy, as in the event of a crisis in the financial sector it will also have a greater impact on the economy as a whole. The European Central Bank and the European Commission warned Luxembourg about this on October 1, 2010. While the profits of the Luxembourg banks continued to rise in 2009 despite the financial crisis, the number of employees and the number of banks operating in Luxembourg decreased. According to the central bank chief, profits in the banking sector fell by 19 percent in the first nine months of 2010 and there were around 1,000 layoffs.

Luxembourg is a location for reinsurance companies that does not play an important role in international relations.

According to an analysis by the Comité pour le développement de la place financière , the financial sector accounted for 25 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 2008. The financial center directly employed around 47,700 people - this corresponded to 14 percent of total employment - and directly contributed 25 percent to the state's tax revenue.

In November 2014, in the so-called Luxembourg Leaks scandal, 28,000 original pages of confidential documents were made public, which document the tax avoidance models of global corporations. The publication had been prepared for months by 80 journalists in 26 countries.

logistics

In order to coordinate the cooperation between the actors in this area, the Cluster for Logistics Luxembourg asbl. founded.

Like the entire industry, the expansion of the Eurohub logistics center in Bettembourg is struggling with the effects of the economic crisis. New market niches such as a free trade zone or the transport of biomedical materials are discussed ; the latter also with regard to the newly founded Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg (IBBL).

Information and communication technology, media

In 2001 the government adopted the eLuxembourg action plan to pave Luxembourg's way into the information society . As part of the diversification policy pursued since the mid-1970s , Luxembourg has successfully endeavored to attract high-tech companies such as SES Global ( ASTRA satellites) in Betzdorf . Private and public research are funded by the state with substantial funds.

In 2008, the Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten set up a central coordination unit in Luxembourg. The US satellite operator Intelsat relocated its headquarters to Luxembourg in December 2009.

In addition to several sole proprietorships in the information and communication technology sector, multinationals such as Amazon , eBay , iTunes , PayPal and Skype have set up their branches in Luxembourg. AOL finally gave up this location in 2010 after ten years of pioneering work in Luxembourg.

Artec 3D , a professional manufacturer of 3D scanning solutions , is another company that started operations in Luxembourg. It opened its office in 2011.

In March 2009 LU-CIX ( LUxembourg Commercial Internet eXchange ) was created to develop a platform for electronic commerce . The branch-specific laws and regulations were brought together under the title "E-Commerce".

LuxConnect S. A. was created on the initiative of the government in October 2006 to create a direct, redundant high-speed connection using fiber optic broadband technology with London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris and Strasbourg. At the end of 2008, the glass lines to other European countries were in operation.

In order to cover the access of existing and future Internet companies and to meet customer requirements, P&T Luxembourg completed work on its own new international broadband connection TERALINK at the beginning of 2007. TERALINK connects the backbones in Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Paris, Frankfurt am Main, Strasbourg and Luxembourg with a length of more than 4,500 kilometers and allows a speed of 88 × 100 Gbit / s (approximately 9 Terabit / s). TERALINK is based on Dense Wavelength Multiplexing (DWDM) and uses "Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop-Multiplexer " ( ROADM ) for this purpose. Luxembourg is connected directly to the most important Internet network nodes in Europe such as AMS-IX , DE-CIX , BNIX, France IX and LINX via Teralink. On the basis of this expansion, the speed rates for downloading and uploading data for private users were increased free of charge from May 2007.

Luxembourg currently (2011) hosts around 20 data centers. Two of these data centers are Tier IV certified by ebrc. The Tier IV certificate is the highest distinction there is for a data center.

Luxembourg was the first country in the European Union to implement the directive on electronic signatures . For this purpose, LuxTrust SA was created as a certification body.

Heavy industry and manufacturing industry

Steel mill in Differdange

Heavy industry, which dominated until the 1970s and had been founded with German capital since the middle of the 19th century, was the cornerstone of Luxembourg's prosperity and was based on the rich ore deposits in the south-west of the country. Since the great structural crisis in the 1970s, it has only made up around 30 percent of industrial production and has continuously lost its importance. The iron and steel industry only generate 2.7 percent of gross value added. The main employer was the steel company ARBED , which was able to survive the steel crisis at the cost of downsizing the workforce (from 27,000 in the early 1970s to around 6,700) and rigorous modernization. In January 2002, Arbed merged with Usinor (French) and Aceralia (Spanish) to form Arcelor , the second largest steel group in the world at the time , which in 2006 merged with Mittal Steel to form the world's largest steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal .

Since the mid-1970s, other industries have been added, such as chemicals, in particular car tires ( Goodyear ) and other rubber products, as well as plastics and synthetic fibers, machine and vehicle construction, the ceramic industry, glass, textile production and food production. Their share in gross value added is 6.6 percent. The main location of the manufacturing industry is still the former heavy industrial area in the south-west of the country with the center near Esch an der Alzette ("Minette").

construction industry

With a 6.3% (in 2008; 2000: 5.7%; 1995: 6.5%) share of gross value added, the construction industry is of secondary importance as an economic sector. In the economic cycle it benefits on the one hand from the settlement of new industries, banks and insurance companies and the associated demand for office and living space. On the other hand, state investments in the road and motorway network as well as further investments to improve the country's infrastructure are of fundamental importance for the industry.

With the Institut de formation sectoriel du bâtiment SA (ISFB), this economic sector has a specific training facility for professions within the construction industry.

Agriculture

The importance of agriculture (share of gross value added: 0.5 percent) is declining, the number of people living in rural areas, like the number of farms, is continuously decreasing (1980: 5173; 1990: 3803; 2003: 2450; 2010: 2201). The average farm size is increasing (1980: 29.63 ha; 1990: 38.37 ha; 2002: 57.18 ha; 2010: 59.6 ha). Nevertheless, the family business dominates. 4,489 people work on the farms and wineries (Eurostat 2009); compared to 2000 this is a decrease of 20 percent.

Of the total agricultural area of ​​128,157 hectares (2003), 43.8% are used for arable and horticultural and 50.7% as pasture land. The agricultural income is mainly obtained from milk production and cattle breeding. Only 1.0% of the agricultural area is used for viticulture .

Research, environment, health

According to its own statements, the environmental and infrastructure policy of the Luxembourg government is geared towards sustainable development . The national plan for the protection of the environment is based on three pillars:

  • Biodiversity , forest, soil, water, atmosphere, waste
  • Economic efficiency (industry, agriculture, energy, transport)
  • Social cohesion (preservation of social peace, national and international solidarity)

A water GIS was co-financed by the InterregIIIC program as part of the European AquaFil project.

There is a warning against the consumption of fish from domestic waters due to excessive PCB contamination. In the south of the Grand Duchy, especially around Esch an der Alzette, there are still considerable risks from pollution of the soil and the air , especially lead and dioxins . The consumption of vegetables from the affected areas is often prohibited by the authorities. Most rivers do not allow bathing due to the lack of or inadequate sewage treatment plants, and only 7% of Luxembourg's national waters are in good condition. For this reason, Luxembourg was sentenced to a heavy fine by the European Court of Justice in 2013 .

According to the OECD report Health at a Glance 2011, Luxembourg's health system is one of the most expensive of all OECD countries in terms of expenditure per person insured. Life expectancy at birth is 80.7 years. At the top is Luxembourg with the lowest infant mortality rate. The suicide rate has fallen sharply (-42% between 1995 and 2009). The death rate from myocardial infarction is three times higher for men than for women. In 2009, 35% of the cost of dental treatment was borne by patients; this is a higher rate than in neighboring countries and Switzerland.

The Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg (IBBL) was opened on February 25, 2010 . The independent, not-for-profit foundation is expected to employ up to fifty researchers in the field of biomedicine over the next few years . They account for 55 million euros out of the 140 million euros to be invested in this area over the next five years.

The Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) in Strassen , near the capital, researches diseases with the aim of developing new, patient-specific therapies as well as innovative approaches in prevention and diagnostics.

energy

In 2016, Luxembourg had a final energy consumption of 4,042,000 tonnes of oil equivalent, of which 60.3% was used for the transport sector. Industry needed 16.7% of this, households 12.2% and the service sector 10.7%. Agriculture accounted for the remainder of just under 1.5%. For energy generation, Luxembourg still relies heavily on oil products, which covered 64.2% of the final energy demand in 2016.

In 2019, 84% of the electricity demand was covered by imports, mainly from Germany. Another 12% of the demand in Luxembourg was generated by renewable energies.

Foreign trade

The main export goods are metals and metal products, machines and devices, plastic and rubber products, transport materials, products made of stone, glass, ceramics, chemical products.

The most important import goods are machines and apparatus, products of the iron and steel industry, transport material, minerals including mineral oil products, chemical products, textile products and clothing, plastic and rubber products.

Luxembourg's main trading partners are Belgium, Germany and France. Around 60 percent are exported to these countries and almost 80 percent are imported from these countries. The trade balance is negative, but the services balance is larger than the negative balance of the trade balance, so that the current account is positive.

labour market

Compared to its neighboring countries, the labor market in Luxembourg has particular characteristics. It is socio-politically oriented on the so-called “Luxembourg model” of social dialogue and largely regulated by the applicable labor law. The small size and openness of the economy as well as its multilingualism result in structures that differ from the European average, which are often expressed in a segmentation of economy and society. In Luxembourg, as of January 1, 2009, the labor and social law differentiation between “workers” (ouvriers) and “employees” (employés privés) has been abolished; from now on there are only “ salaried employees ” ( salariés ). A minimum wage is stipulated by law for all employment relationships. Since August 1, 2018, the minimum wage for salaried employees over the age of 18 has been € 2,048.54 per month (unqualified) or € 2,458.25 (qualified). At the beginning of 2018, the statistical office stated the monthly salary of 4079 euros that a family with two children in Luxembourg needs in order to be able to live a decent life.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was the only state in the European internal market, made up of the European Union, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation, that did not include cross-border commuters in its unemployment rate. Because of the large number of cross-border commuters, the unemployment rate in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was therefore much higher than indicated in the official unemployment rate for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Since May 2012, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, like all other countries in the European single market, has had to take cross-border commuters into account in its unemployment rate. At the end of 2018, the unemployment rate was 5% and the youth unemployment rate in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 2015 was 12%.

company

A cargo plane ( Boeing 747-8F ) from Cargolux

The largest employers in the country by number of employees are (as of January 1, 2021): public service (31,049), Post Luxembourg (4,620), CFL (rail) (4,580), Cactus (4,460), Dussmann Group (4,390), Luxembourg City Council (4,333), BGL BNP Paribas (4,050), ArcelorMittal (3,660), Goodyear (3,570), Amazon (3,280), PwC (2,980), Luxair (2,840), Center Hospitalier de Luxembourg (2,600), Fondation Hôpitaux Robert Schuman (2,310 ) and Groupe Deloitte (2,180).

Unions

In 2010 an estimated 41% of the resident employees were members of a trade union. By comparison, immigrants are less unionized; On the one hand, they work in sectors that are less covered by the trade unions, and on the other hand, they are less involved in Luxembourg's club life at all.

According to the Labor Code ( Code du travail ), a trade union can be recognized as “representative” at three levels: a) at national level, b) in an important economic sector, c) in a company, if at least 50% of its employees Have given a union an order to negotiate a collective agreement. In November 2008, both the OGBL and the LCGB met the condition of national representativeness for the following five years; the ALEBA the representativeness for the financial sector. Only these three unions can negotiate, sign and enforce collective agreements in the private sector. Since the trade unions in the so-called tripartite work together with the government and patronage in the economic, social and employment policy of the country, trade unions or their top representatives should be independent of parties and government in order to represent their members as best as possible, which the OGBL recently stated so explicitly has incorporated the statutes.

The Chambre des Salariés emerged from the merger of Chambre du Travail and Chambre des Employés Privés following the introduction of the uniform statute ( statut unique ) . A total of 60 representatives at the General Assembly are spread across nine socio-professional groups. The members of the general assembly according to union membership are based on the social elections made by the employees of the companies. Eight effective seats are in the financial sector; Four of them are sent by the ALEBA. The other unions send: OGBL 38, LCGB 15, FNCTTFEL two and Syprolux one representative. Those employed in the public service according to a special statute belong to an independent professional chamber, the Chambre des fonctionnaires et employés publics .

The list of unions:

State budget

The state budget foresees expenditure of 25.042 billion euros for 2018, compared to income of 25.689 billion. This will result in a budget surplus of 1.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) of 58.494 billion.

The national debt for 2018 is € 13.296 billion or 22.7% of GDP.

Growth is estimated at 4.6% for 2018 with inflation of 1.4%.

Rankings

The Research Center Generation Contracts at the Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg, under the direction of Bernd Raffelhüschen , has been publishing a generational balance sheet on behalf of the Market Economy Foundation since 2006.

The following table shows an international comparison of the national debt calculated with the sustainability ranking, namely national debt including the hidden national debt (base year 2010).

Luxembourg is at the bottom of the list and comes in penultimate place, even behind Greece.

In the press release “European sustainability ranking: Italy hui, Luxemburg ugh” of December 7, 2011, the Market Economy Foundation advocates adding hidden public debt to the list of stability criteria in future, given the high total debt of most countries in the euro zone .

Luxembourg's sustainability deficit has worsened further since 2011 and is now around three times as large as Greece's sustainability deficit.

Euro
member state
Explicit
public debt
Implicit
public debt
Sustainability
gap *
Consolidation
need
ItalyItaly Italy 118.4 27.6 146.0 2.4
GermanyGermany Germany 83.2 109.4 192.6 4.0
FinlandFinland Finland 48.3 146.9 195.2 2.7
AustriaAustria Austria 71.8 225.9 297.7 4.8
FranceFrance France 82.3 255.2 337.5 4.3
PortugalPortugal Portugal 93.3 265.5 358.8 6.5
BelgiumBelgium Belgium 96.2 329.8 426.0 5.3
NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands 62.9 431.8 494.6 8.1
SpainSpain Spain 61.0 487.5 548.5 7.0
GreeceGreece Greece 144.9 872.0 1,016.9 17.6
LuxembourgLuxembourg Luxembourg 19.1 1,096.5 1,115.6 12.0
IrelandIreland Ireland 92.5 1,404.7 1,497.2 10.4
(*)Sustainability gap = official (explicit) public debt + invisible (implicit) public debt (all figures in percent of GDP )

Source: EU Commission , AMECO Database , Eurostat , own calculations by the Market Economy Foundation

traffic

Street

Luxembourg has a dense network of national roads ( Route Nationale , RN) of 2,908 km in length (2015), of which 161 km are motorways . The CITA telematics system is installed for camera monitoring of the flow of traffic on the motorways ; the real-time camera images are available online along with the latest traffic information.

The motorway connection to the A 8 to Saarbrücken was completed in 2003 (Luxembourg: A 13). The German A 64 leads further north from Trier to Luxembourg; it is continued there as A 1.

The A7 called Nordstrooss , which connects the Gutland and Minette region with the Ösling (Éisléck) , was opened in September 2015.

Because of the cheap fuel prices, a lively tank tourism across the borders has emerged. It is not uncommon for this to violate the provisions of the Road Traffic Act ( Code de la Route ) on the maximum amount of fuel allowed.

railroad

French TGV in Luxembourg station

Infrastructure and traffic

The entire route network of Luxembourg is 274 km. Passenger traffic is mainly operated by the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL) . In freight transport, CFL Cargo operates as an independent company in the xrail association. Since February 29, 2020, state-operated public transport in Luxembourg has been free of charge for everyone in 2nd class . The Grand Duchy is the first state in the world to introduce this. So far, 90% of the costs for public transport have already been borne by the state, so that the additional expenditure for the loss of income is comparatively low at 41 million euros annually. The exception to this is the use of 1st class on the railroad.

In 2002, an agreement was signed with France to connect to the TGV network. According to this, Luxembourg is contributing 117.4 million euros to the construction of the new TGV route from Paris to Metz. At the same time, the line between Metz and Luxembourg was upgraded. Since June 2007, five TGV trains have been running daily on the new TGV route (" LGV Est européenne ") since December 2009 . This reduced the travel time between the Luxembourg and French capital from around three and a half hours to just around two hours and 15 minutes.

After Germany no connections are made over long distances more. Local transport connections have been increased since December 2019. A regional express Luxembourg - Trier - Koblenz (one pair of trains daily further than Intercity to Düsseldorf) and a regional train Luxembourg - Trier (working days further to Wittlich) run every hour . In addition, instead of a train connection under the responsibility of CFL, there is a bus connection Luxembourg - Saarbrücken.

future

For a number of years now, the so-called Eurocaprail has been planning a high-speed connection between the EU capitals of Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg. On the Belgian side, line improvements are under construction or planned on some sections of the Brussels – Luxembourg route. The introduction of high-speed services is planned after the opening of the TGV line between Metz and Strasbourg. In the long term, a connection to Germany's high-speed network is also planned.

buses

In addition to the CFL trains and buses, regional buses operated by the Régime général des transports routiers (RGTR) also operate in Luxembourg . These lines usually run every hour and connect all places. In the canton of Esch -sur- Alzette , buses run by the Transport intercommunal de personnes dans le canton d'Esch-sur-Alzette (TICE; in German, for example: inter-communal passenger transport in the canton of Esch -sur- Alzette). The regional buses are operated by subcontractors on behalf of these two authorities.

In the capital itself, the city ​​buses run by the city's bus company Autobus de la ville de Luxembourg (AVL).

These buses can also be used free of charge since February 29, 2020.

tram

To improve the local public transport in the capital Luxembourg , a modern tram line called Stater Tram has been in operation since January 2018 , at both ends of which a route extension is taking place. Like trains and buses, this can be used free of charge since February 29, 2020.

air traffic

The Luxembourg international airport in Findel has seen a considerable increase in traffic in recent years. Findel is served by 16 scheduled and German charter companies. The Luxembourg passenger airline is called Luxair . Its counterpart in the freight sector is the Cargolux , whose location has a direct connection to the motorway and is integrated into Findel Airport.

shipping

After the completion of the Moselle canalization and since the opening of the Moselle port in Mertert in 1964, inland shipping has also played a key role in supplying Luxembourg.

After the law on the establishment of a Luxembourg shipping register (pavillon maritime) was passed in November 1990 , 205 seagoing vessels with a total tonnage of 1.6 million sailed under the flag of the Grand Duchy in 2009. This includes the Samson work platform from the Belgian company Deme, the Bourbon Liberty 115 from the French company Bourbon and five supply ships from the Belgian Jan de Nul Group. Leisure yachts are not included in these figures (according to the Commissariat aux affaires maritimes ). Around three hundred shipping companies have offices in Luxembourg. The industry currently generates an annual turnover of four billion euros. The president of cluster maritime is Freddy Bracke.

media

Press

In its political diversity, Luxembourg's press landscape traditionally portrayed the political landscape. Currently, of the four multilingual daily newspapers, with the only exception of the newspaper vum Lëtzebuerger Vollek , the newspaper organ of the KPL , they are all assigned to either the Editpress group or the Saint-Paul media company . Due to the generally more difficult economic situation (rising production costs, overall declining readership for the print media), the publishers are increasingly dependent on advertising income, which has led to a deterioration in journalistic quality. Through the system of press aid introduced in 1976, the state subsidizes the daily press with around 1.5 million euros a year and the weekly press with 200,000 to 300,000 euros. Part of this is paid in proportion to the number of editorial pages.

With around 82,000 copies, the newspaper with the highest circulation is the Luxemburger Wort , which was founded in 1848 and appears almost exclusively in German . It is closely related to the Roman Catholic Church and the CSV . The second largest circulation is the Tageblatt, which is related to the trade unions OGBL and FNCTTFEL as well as the LSAP party . There is also the DP near Lëtzebuerger Journal , which has recently entered into a cooperation with Editpress.

Weekly newspapers include woxx and the independent d'Lëtzebuerger Land , which is more oriented towards business associations . A tabloid is published weekly as a private newspaper.

Two weekly magazines, Télécran and Revue , offer a detailed television program tailored to the special language conditions in the country and report on current events in Luxembourg. In addition, the celebrity magazine Promi appears every two weeks .

The satire division was represented by Den neie Feierkrop with a weekly publication, which was discontinued in 2018. The magazine d'Wäschfra appeared on a monthly basis . A popular comic series has the superjhemp as its hero.

The Forum for Politics, Society and Culture is a Luxembourg magazine that appears in eleven issues per year and each issue deals with a special, mostly socio-political focus. The Luxembourg-German magazine Grenzlos is also published once a month .

In 2007, two free newspapers, Point24 and L'essentiel, came onto the Luxembourg market for the first time . Point24 was discontinued in December 2012. L'essentiel, on the other hand, was the medium with the highest reach in the print sector in May 2021, according to a TNS-Ilres study.

A purely digital magazine, reporter.lu , has existed since 2017 . The internet newspaper was z. B. Involved in the research on the Pandora Papers .

Most Luxembourg newspapers and magazines are multilingual. Most of the articles are written in German, but many of them are also in French and only a small part is in Luxembourgish . For some years now, daily and weekly newspapers have been published in French only ( Le Jeudi (discontinued June 2019), La Voix du Luxembourg (discontinued September 2011), Le Quotidien ). Contacto and Correio appear exclusively in Portuguese .

With La Clef du cabinet des princes de l' Europe , the first newspaper in Luxembourg had already appeared in 1704, which was, however, almost entirely destined for the French market. In view of the relatively small population it is surprising that over four hundred different titles have appeared since then; a third of this can be viewed as a newspaper in the narrower sense.

radio

In 2002 there was one international, two national, four regional and around 20 local radio stations in Luxembourg.

The liberalization of radio frequencies began in Luxembourg in 1992. New stations were added to the radio station RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg , of which the station Eldoradio , the Portuguese-speaking Radio Latina as well as the free and alternative radio ARA and Radio Aktiv are the most successful. In addition, since 1993 there has been a public radio station with a cultural program mandate for the first time with radio 100.7 .

The most popular radio station in Luxembourg is RTL Radio Letzebuerg with an audience of 65% of all Luxembourgers over 12 years of age. Especially 'de Journal', at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., with national and international news, is very popular.

The German-language radio station RTL Radio 93.3 and 97.0 , which can be received terrestrially via VHF 93.3 MHz and 97.0 MHz with a regional program for the entire greater Saar-Lor-Lux region, is particularly well known beyond the borders of Luxembourg . The oldie broadcaster RTL Radio has no regional reference and can be received throughout Germany via satellite, cable and an Internet stream. The broadcasts via medium wave 1440 kHz were discontinued on December 31, 2015.

Between 2005 and 2015 were of Junglinster and Marnach from DRM -Versuchssendungen broadcast on short and medium wave.

TV

The private broadcaster and market leader RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg had no competition until 1996. In 1996, at the request of the population from the north of the country, the independent television station Nordliicht TV was established . Since 2001, went to the Parliamentary Television Chamber TV , the oppene channel , RTL Zwee , Luxe TV and T.TV five other television stations at the start, the latter had to cease operations in March of 2007. In the radio and television programs broadcast for Luxembourg's own use, the Luxembourg language predominates. Words uttered by German or French speakers, however, are reproduced in the original language; they are not translated, as knowledge of German and French is required of the audience.

Most Luxembourgers also watch the German TV channels (including the RTL Group ), while the Portuguese and French tend to prefer channels in their language.

Since April 4, 2006, television channels in Luxembourg have also been broadcast via DVB-T .

Culture

Blauer Hirsch - Logo of the European Capital of Culture 2007
In the Castle of Clervaux , the exhibition The Family of Man housed

In 1994 UNESCO declared the ensemble of Luxembourg's old town a cultural heritage of mankind. Luxembourg was European Capital of Culture in 1995 and 2007 . In 2007, Luxembourg was European Capital of Culture together with the Greater Region . The Romanian city of Hermannstadt (Sibiu) was also included.

In October 2003, the trinational German-French-Luxembourg cultural institute Pierre Werner (named after the former Luxembourg Prime Minister) was opened.

literature

With his E 'Schrek ob de' Lezeburger Parnassus, Antoine Meyer laid the foundation for an independent Luxembourg literature. Edmond de la Fontaine , known as Dicks, took the next big step towards a Luxembourg “national literature”. Because he was the first author to write plays in Luxembourgish. However, he was best known through poetry and as a singer-songwriter. “Ach du mäin am Kamäin” or “Gëff mer eng Bees, gëff mer eng Bees fir mat op d'Rees” quickly gained the status of folk songs. As the son of a notable, he represents the counterpart to Michel Rodange as a “successful failure” (Romain Hilgert) , who could be described more as a “poor swallower”, who also only sold around a hundred copies of his “Renert” until his death . The National Literature Archive was founded in 1986 and moved into the Servais House in Mersch in 1995 , which was expanded to include the Becker-Eiffes House in mid-October 2009. The literature archive serves on the one hand for research and on the other hand for the general public, in particular through special themed exhibitions. The Luxembourg authors' lexicon has been available online since November 2011 .

The Bibliothèque nationale du Luxembourg is the largest academic library in Luxembourg. All fields of science are represented here. The general inventory comprises around 750,000 volumes and 3,500 international journal titles from all disciplines. Around 30,000 volumes are freely accessible in the reading and reference rooms. The general inventory is expanded by around 10,000 volumes every year. The Luxembourg language situation makes it even more expensive to buy literature. The second most important library is the court library with 30,000 volumes and important collections , which is only open to the public as part of a tour of the palace . It is only about 10 percent developed and therefore still largely unknown.

Important academic libraries are those of the University of Luxembourg , some specialized libraries ( Center national de la littérature, Bibliothèque du Grand Seminaire, Statec , etc.), the libraries of foreign cultural institutes and the libraries of European institutions: the European Commission , the European Parliament , the European Court of Justice and the European Investment Bank etc.

Movie

Films in Luxembourgish are relatively few produced. On the other hand, these are particularly well received by the national audience, such as the feature film Little Secrets (2006) by Pol Cruchten . Internationally better known are the foreign film productions, which prefer Luxembourg because of its landscape or the more favorable production conditions. These productions include the 2003 film The Girl with a Pearl Earring, starring Scarlett Johansson , which was nominated for three Academy Awards; and the film Shadow of a Vampire .

At the Oscars 2014 , a Luxembourg co-production won an Oscar for the first time. Mr Hublot was awarded in the Best Animated Short Film category.

In recent years, some Luxembourg film production companies such as Samsa Film, Delux Film, Minotaurus Film, lucil film and Iris Production have made a name for themselves. In 2010 the state film subsidy (Fonds national de soutien à la production audiovisuelle) supported a total of 23 films with 4.68 million euros. The Center national de l'audiovisuel (CNA) in Dudelange provides an overview of Luxembourg’s filmmaking .

Internationally known Luxembourg actors include: René Deltgen , Thierry van Werveke (as Henk in Knockin 'on Heaven's Door ), Luc Feit and André Jung , who was voted best actor twice (1981 and 2002) by Theater Heute magazine .

Andy Bausch , who made the most popular Luxembourg films, among others with Désirée Nosbusch and Camillo Felgen , was also active in Germany as a director for various series and television films. Most of the time he shot in the three languages ​​used in the country. The young Luxembourg film scene is creative and innovative, as the examples of Filmreakter , Pyramid Pictures and Feierblumm Productions show.

music

The music scene in Luxembourg has been gaining in importance since the 1990s. Although very few music bands are known beyond the country's borders, many school and student bands are formed every year. The Luxembourgish metal / rock / hardcore scene in particular is growing steadily (e.g. Eternal Tango ).

In addition, almost every community has its own village chapel, which performs at many festivals. Well-attended and usually top-class concerts are held in the summer as part of the “Summer in the City” campaign. One of the highlights is the “Blues'n'Jazz Rally” in the old town and a series of concerts on the market square, as well as the “ New Orleans Jazz Festival”, which is held annually at Easter in cooperation with the Luxembourg twin city New Orleans . Another well-known event is the "Blues Express", which takes place every year at the beginning of July in the Fond-de-Gras .

The classical music also has an important role in the cultural life of Luxembourg. The Orchester Philharmonique du Luxembourg (former RTL symphony orchestra) and the Armed Forces Orchestra are important here. Luxembourg has also produced a number of outstanding soloists who appear with the Solistes Européens under the direction of Jack Martin Händler.

Luxembourg won the Eurovision Song Contest five times , including 1972 with Vicky Leandros (Après toi) . The country took part for the last time in 1993. For several years there has been speculation about a return to the contest.

theatre

Theater has a long tradition in Luxembourg. The most important are the city theater (Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg) as well as the Capuchin Theater in the capital, the theater in Esch an der Alzette and the Center des Arts Pluriels Ed. Juncker in Ettelbruck . Across the country, numerous amateur theater groups are active in the communities, and their performances are always well attended.

to eat and drink

Judd mat Gaardebounen and Diekirch beer

Popular local dishes are Judd mat Gaardebounen , smoked pork with broad beans, as well as Bouneschlupp , a bean soup with potatoes, and the so-called Kniddelen , large dumplings made from flour, water, eggs and salt. Desserts are, for example, Quetschentaart and omelette soufflée au kirsch . Regional specialties are Ardennes ham, pork in aspic, Riesling pies, crayfish and pike as well as baked fish from the Moselle and Unter sauer .

The white wines of the Luxembourg Moselle ( viticulture in Luxembourg ) are the fresh, subtly fruity Riesling , the refreshing, light and dry Elbling , the fruity Auxerrois , the gentle fruity Rivaner , the Pinot Gris and the elegant Pinot Blanc . The very spicy white wine Gewürztraminer and the full-bodied red wine Pinot Noir complete the range of Luxembourg wines, which carry the “Marque Nationale - Appellation Contrôlée” quality seal.

Luxembourg agriculture plays its part in good food. In 1994, for example, the “Produit du terroir” quality program was launched, which guarantees that the agricultural products come from the region.

Another famous specialty is the so-called kachkéis , a cooked cheese that is often refined with spices and is often eaten coated with (Luxembourgish) mustard.

Customs and traditions

In Luxembourg, traditions are alive in many secular and religious festivals. The Schueberfouer (Schobermesse), which takes place from the end of August to the beginning of September, is the most important showman festival on Glacis Square, whose origins go back to the 14th century. During the Éimaischen , the traditional Emmaus festival on Easter Monday, many Luxembourgers go to the square by the fish market and in Nospelt to get one of the bird-shaped ceramic pipes , the péckvillchen , that are only available on that day . The castle burning is celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent in many villages .

The most important religious festival in Luxembourg is the octave celebration , which is celebrated from the third to the fifth Sunday after Easter and meanwhile to Our Lady , the patron saint of Luxembourg, is a pilgrimage. The festival is accompanied by a fair, the Oktavmäertchen on Wilhelmsplatz. The Echternach jumping procession is a religious procession that takes place every year on the Tuesday after Whitsun in Echternach. The participants “jump” to polka melodies in rows through the streets of the city to the Echternach basilica with the grave of St. Willibrord.

public holidays

If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, another day can be taken instead. This must be done within three months of the holiday.

The main holiday season is from July 15th to September 15th. Since Luxembourg is very small, there are holidays all over the country at the same time. However, thanks to different holidays, the holiday season can vary up to a week. For example, on St. Nicholas Day, only middle school students go to school.

Sports

Soccer

Football is the most popular sport in Luxembourg.

The Stade de Luxembourg has been the largest football stadium in the country since 2021 (capacity: 9,471 seats). It is the venue for the home games of the Luxembourg national football team ( national stadium ) as well as for the Luxembourg national rugby union team . Before that, the Josy Barthel Stadium, which opened in 1931, was the national stadium and the largest football stadium in the country (capacity: 8054 seats). Jeff Strasser , player with the second most appearances in the national soccer team, was active in the first German Bundesliga for seven years . Internationally, the national team has been able to achieve good results again and again in recent years (Fifa ranking: 83rd place). The national football association of Luxembourg is called Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football (FLF).

The top division in club football is the national division . The most successful soccer teams in Luxembourg are Racing FC Union Luxembourg (28 times champions, 20 times Coupe de Luxembourg ) and Jeunesse Esch (28 times champions, 13 times Coupe de Luxembourg).

Cycling

Cycling is the most successful sport in Luxembourg.

The Tour de Luxembourg stage race has been one of the first preparatory races for the Tour de France since 1935 . In 2009, for the first time in three decades, a Luxembourger was able to win again with Fränk Schleck . One of the winners is Lance Armstrong , who was able to achieve his first success here after having overcome cancer. With François Faber ( 1909 ), Nicolas Frantz ( 1927 and 1928 ), Charly Gaul ( 1958 ) and Andy Schleck ( 2010 ), a total of four Tour de France winners come from Luxembourg. Faber was also the first non-French to win the most important stage race in the world.

Racing drivers Laurent Didier , Jempy Drucker , Ben Gastauer , Alex Kirsch and Bob Jungels are currently in business. Bob Jungels was the 2010 junior world champion in the individual time trial. There are currently two larger cycling teams from Luxembourg: Leopard Pro Cycling ( Continental Team ) and Team Differdange-Losch (Continental Team). The Schleck brothers only narrowly missed their 2011 Tour victory and finished the race at the end of July behind Cadel Evans in second and third place respectively.

athletics

To date, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has produced two Olympic champions in athletics. Michel Théato won gold in the marathon at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris . However, the victory is still included in the medal table of France to this day . The second Luxembourg Olympic champion was the athlete Josy Barthel . He won at the XV. 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki over 1500 m Olympic gold.

In 2013, the city of Luxembourg hosted the Games of the Small States of Europe , a biennial multi-sport event organized by the National Olympic Committees (NOC) of nine European small states.

The city run JPMorgan City Jogging and the Luxembourg Marathon also take place annually in Luxembourg City . The marathon is - accompanied by torches and Bengali lighting - one of the few marathons in the world that takes place in the evening.

Turner and team officials from Luxembourg present their national flag at an international gymnastics event in Czech Republic

Others

Telecommunications and internet

Telephone and cellular

The international code for Luxembourg is +352 . Area codes do not exist. Mobile phone numbers consist of the three-digit network dial-in, whereby the "6" of the network dial-in is part of the phone number and must also be dialed from abroad. This dial-in is followed by a six-digit number. Since September 2006 the numbers have always started with a "6". Before that, a "0" was common. The network dial-in was changed from "0XX" to "6XX" in order to comply with the international agreement on numbering plans.

The regulatory authority is the Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation .

In 2014 there were 271,100 landline connections and 883,100 mobile phone contracts across the country. Mobile phone use is widespread in Luxembourg. According to a survey in 2006 (Statec), 93.8 percent of Luxembourgers have at least one mobile phone.

  • The largest operator is Post Telecom (former name LuxGSM ) (network dial-in 621).
  • The second largest operator is the Tele2 subsidiary Tango (dial-in 691).
  • The third largest operator is Orange (former name Vox ) (dial-in 661).

The total turnover in the telecommunications business of all operators in 2014 was 534.7 million euros.

Internet

In 2018, 97 percent of Luxembourg's residents used the internet .

While Luxembourg ranks among the European leaders for online purchases by private individuals, Luxembourg companies rarely sell and buy online.

A body was created to guarantee network security (cases) and personal data protection was taken care of.

"Hotcity" is a city-wide WLAN in the capital of the Grand Duchy. The project was founded in 2007, the City of Luxembourg holds 51% of the shares in the company, the Post Luxembourg holds 49% of the shares.

Personalities

See also

Portal: Luxembourg  - Overview of Wikipedia content on Luxembourg

literature

Bibliography, documentation

Atlas

statistics

Movie

  • Routes Luxembourg - castles, banks, bastions. - Documentation, 45 min., Film by Wolfgang Felk, first broadcast: April 26, 2006, production: Saarländischer Rundfunk
  • Go there - Neuerburg / Vianden. Seven in one go - castle tour through the Eifel and Ösling. - Documentation, 30 min., Film by Wolfgang Felk, first broadcast: June 8, 2000, production: Südwestrundfunk
  • Heim ins Reich - Wéi Lëtzebuerg shall start prizes, The Failure of an Annexation - Documentation, 120 min., Film by Claude Lahr, First screening : 2004, Production: Nowhere Land, Center National de l'Audiovisuel

society

  • Christian Wille, Ursula Roos: Cross-border living environments on the Luxembourg border? An empirical approach using the example of cross-border commuters and residential migrants. In: Karina Pallagst, Andrea Hartz, Beate Caesar (eds.): Border Futures - Future Limit - Avenir Frontière. Sustainability of cross-border cooperation. Working reports of the Academy for Spatial Research and Regional Planning 20, 2018, pp. 168–189. more info
  • Christian Wille (Ed.): Realities of life and political constructions in border regions. The example of the greater SaarLorLux region. Economy - politics - everyday life - culture. transcript, Bielefeld 2015, ISBN 978-3-8376-2927-9 .
  • IPSE (Ed.): Doing Identity in Luxembourg. Subjective appropriations - institutional attributions - socio-cultural milieus. transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2010, ISBN 978-3-8376-1448-0 .
  • Norbert Lepszy, Wichard Woyke : Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg: Politics - Society - Economy . Leske + Budrich 1985, ISBN 978-3-8100-0377-5 .

Web links

Further content in the
sister projects of Wikipedia:

Commons-logo.svg Commons - Media content (category)
Wiktfavicon en.svg Wiktionary - Dictionary entries
Wikinews-logo.svg Wikinews - Messages
Wikisource-logo.svg Wikisource - Sources and full texts
Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg Wikivoyage - Travel Guide
Wikimedia Atlas: Luxembourg  - geographical and historical maps

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Everything you need to know about the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. (PDF; 605  kB ) Information and Press Office of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, March 27, 2015, accessed on May 16, 2020 .
  2. a b c Evolution de la population totale, luxembourgeoise et étrangère 1961 - 2018. In: statistiques.public.lu. Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (STATEC), accessed on October 12, 2019 .
  3. Population growth (annual%). In: World Economic Outlook Database. World Bank , 2020, accessed April 19, 2021 .
  4. ^ World Economic Outlook Database October 2020. In: World Economic Outlook Database. International Monetary Fund , 2020, accessed April 19, 2021 .
  5. Table: Human Development Index and its components . In: United Nations Development Program (ed.): Human Development Report 2020 . United Nations Development Program, New York, pp. 343 ( undp.org [PDF]).
  6. ^ Gerhard Köbler : Historical Lexicon of the German Lands. The German territories from the Middle Ages to the present. Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54986-1 , p. 400; as well as Wolf D. Gruner, Wichard Woyke (Ed.): Europa-Lexikon: Lands, Politics, Institutions. Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-49425-0 , p. 286.
  7. Country Codes . In: www.statoids.com .
  8. Luxembourg population 2021 | Population clock. Retrieved August 7, 2021 .
  9. Internet source : The Greater Region Compact, The Greater Region in Figures; http://www.grossregion.net/Die-Grossregion-kompakt/Die-Grossregion-in-Zahlen , accessed on March 27, 2020.
  10. ^ Topographia on Wikisource
  11. Google Maps measurement
  12. Simone Schneider, Christian Ries: Colorful meadows. In: Research. Supplement to D'Lëtzebuerger Land , November 11, 2011, p. 64; Simone Schneider: The grassland societies of Luxembourg . Diss. University of Trier , FB VI. 2011.
  13. The Luxembourg Forest Associations Musée national d'histoire naturelle. Retrieved February 12, 2018
  14. Dries van Nieuwenhuyse, Jean-Claude Génot, David H. Johnson: The Little Owl - Conservation, Ecology and Behavior of Athene noctua . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-88678-9 , pp. 107 .
  15. ^ Loi du 25 may 2011 relative à la chasse. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: fshcl.lu. FSHCL - Fédération Saint-Hubert des Chasseurs du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, May 25, 2011, archived from the original on August 23, 2019 ; Retrieved on August 23, 2019 (French).
  16. What is hunting today? (No longer available online.) In: fshcl.lu. FSHCL - Fédération Saint-Hubert des Chasseurs du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, archived from the original on 23 August 2019 ; accessed on August 23, 2019 .
  17. Norbert Bartsch, Ernst Röhrig: Forest Ecology: Introduction for Central Europe . 1st edition. Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-662-44268-5 , p. 174 ff ., doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-662-44268-5 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).
  18. a b Laurent Schley, Sandra Cellina: Technical report of the nature administration regarding wildlife management and hunting . Ed .: Nature Management - Administration de la nature et des forêts. tape 7 , 2018 ( archive.org [PDF]).
  19. PNDD Luxembourg - A sustainable Luxembourg for a better quality of life. Tageblatt, accessed December 11, 2009 (French).
  20. Plan National Protection Nature. (PDF; 7.8 MB) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 6, 2008 ; Retrieved December 11, 2009 (French).
  21. ^ Haus vun der Natur asbl - Nature Conservation Center Lëtzebuerg: Nature conservation projects , nature trails in and around Luxembourg
  22. Fondatioun Hëllef fir d'Natur : Cornelysmillen nature trail
  23. From Parliament: The districts will be abolished.Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  24. https://me.gouvernement.lu/fr/actualites.gouvernement%2Bfr%2Bactualites%2Btoutes_actualites%2Barticles%2B2011%2B12-decembre%2B29-modifications.html Government communiqué , December 29, 2011.
  25. a b c RELIGION AU LUXEMBOURG ( Memento from April 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  26. PDF at www.legilux.public.lu .
  27. constitution du grand duche de luxembourg
  28. Le SIGI et LuxTrust introduisent la signature électronique pour les utilisateurs de macommune.lu , paperjam, January 30, 2012.
  29. since October 17, 2012.
  30. Philipp Schepelmann: Relief for the environment despite population growth? Ecological aspects of immigration to Luxembourg. ( Memento of July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 293 kB) SERI study on behalf of the Luxembourg Environment Ministry, April 2002.
  31. Population and multiculturalism. In: luxembourg.public.lu. Government Information and Press Office, March 29, 2016, accessed July 17, 2017 .
  32. ^ The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency - WayBackMachine. Retrieved September 12, 2017 .
  33. Guy Berg: "I wëlle bleiwe wat mir sin". Sociolinguistic and language typological considerations on Luxembourgish multilingualism ; Fernand Hoffmann: Languages ​​in Luxembourg: Linguistic and literary historical description of a triglossia situation. (= German language in Europe and overseas. Volume 6). Wiesbaden 1979, ISBN 3-515-02985-0 .
  34. Peter Gilles: The emancipation of the Lëtzebuergeschen from the structure of the German dialects. from “Journal for German Philology” 117 1998, pp. 20–35; Robert Bruch: Foundation of a history of Luxembourgish, Publications scientifiques et littéraires du Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, vol. I. Luxembourg 1953; Robert Bruch: The Luxembourgish in the West Franconian District, Publications scientifiques et littéraires du Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, vol. II. Luxembourg 1954.
  35. a b Eurobarometer survey: Europeans and languages. (PDF; 148 kB) (No longer available online.) Press and information service of the Luxembourg government, archived from the original on January 28, 2007 ; accessed on December 16, 2009 .
  36. Fernand Fehlen, BaleineBis: une enquête sur un marché linguistique multilingue en profonde mutation. The changing language market in Luxembourg, Lussemburgo, SESOPI, 2009
  37. ^ Fabienne Scheer: German in Luxembourg: Positions, functions and evaluations of the German language . Narr Francke Attempto, Tuebingen, Germany 2017, ISBN 978-3-8233-8097-9 , p. 416.
  38. https://brf.be/regional/1117620/ BTF.be - 14th meeting of German-speaking countries in Luxembourg (27.9.2017)
  39. ^ Mémorial du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, Arrêté Ministériel portant fixation d'un système officiel d'orthographe , Règlement grand-ducal du 5 June 1946 . Mémorial du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (Ed.): Réforme du système officiel d'orthographe luxembourgeoise , Règlement grand-ducal du 30 juillet 1999.
  40. gouvernement.lu - The government has hired a sign interpreter to improve deaf people's access to government information . Archived from the original on January 21, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  41. daaflux.lu . Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  42. Art. 6. (1) of the law of August 2, 2002; see Cyril Pierre-Beausse: La Protection des Données Personnelles. Ed. Promoculture, Luxemburg 2005, ISBN 2-87974-063-0 , p. 87.
  43. Événements de l'état civil selon les principaux cultes 1970–2010 Statec data table, status: November 2, 2011. Cultes: Culte catholique; Cult protestant; Cult israélite; Baptêmes + État civil: Enterrements
  44. Les religions au Luxembourg , CEPS / INSTEAD, accessed on February 6, 2014.
  45. ^ Loi du 10 juillet 1998 portant approbation de la Convention du 31 octobre 1997 entre le Gouvernement, d'une part, et l'Eglise Protestante du Luxembourg, d'autre part
  46. ^ Charles, Lehrman, Graziella: La Communauté juive du Luxembourg dans le passé et dans le présent. Esch-sur-Alzette 1953.
  47. Michel Pauly : Only 30%. Visiting the trade fair in Luxembourg (PDF; 378 kB) forum , 01/1978.
  48. Fernand Missing : Church troop show. The mobilization potential of the Luxembourg Church (PDF; 350 kB) forum, 06/1985.
  49. www.kirchenrecht.net (PDF; 152 kB)
  50. La nouvelle Shoura du Luxembourg élue. Le Quotidien, July 6, 2011, p. 5.
  51. wort.lu: Government may sign agreements , accessed on March 22, 2015.
  52. wort.lu: Starting signal for the values ​​lesson , accessed on March 28, 2017.
  53. Majority demands separation of church and state . December 3, 2012.
  54. a b c Sonja Kmec: Female Suffrage in Luxembourg. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 159-173, p. 161.
  55. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 238.
  56. Emile Krier: The Foreign Policy of the Third Reich towards Luxembourg. In: Hitler, Germany and the Powers. Materials on the foreign policy of the 3rd Reich. Düsseldorf 1976, p. 628.
  57. Vincent Artuso: La “Question juive” au Luxembourg (1933–1941): L'État luxembourgeois face aux persécutions antisémites nazies (1933–1941), accessed at: www.gouvernement.lu ( Memento of July 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)
  58. On the 65th anniversary see Commémorations nationales du 65e anniversaire de la bataille des Ardennes. ( Memento of April 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Information from the Luxembourg government, December 16, 2009.
  59. Luxembourg apologizes to Jewish community - Israel News - Chadashoth Israel - חדשות ישראל . June 22, 2015.
  60. tageblatt.lu: Systematic persecution of Jews , accessed on February 17, 2015.
  61. volksfreund.de: The ugly side of the story , accessed on February 17, 2015.
  62. wort.lu: Processing of national history. The myth is crumbling. accessed on February 17, 2015.
  63. wort.lu: Vincent Artuso. "It was a great moment," accessed February 17, 2015.
  64. tageblatt.lu: ARTUSO REPORT. Everyone will have their say , accessed on February 17, 2016.
  65. wort.lu: We are not heroes , accessed on February 17, 2015.
  66. wort.lu: reaction to Artuso report. "Nobody should be denounced" , accessed on February 17, 2015.
  67. wort.lu: List of 280 Jewish children given to Nazi occupiers , accessed on February 17, 2015.
  68. tageblatt.lu: Why did Luxembourg collaborate? , accessed February 17, 2015.
  69. tageblatt.lu: From the taboo zone , accessed on February 17, 2015.
  70. wort.lu: Historians examine Luxembourg complicity in the deportation of Jews , accessed on February 17, 2015.
  71. wort.lu: Nazi collaboration: Liberals call for an independent commission of historians , accessed on February 17, 2015.
  72. wort.lu: Paul Dostert: Denis Scuto rushes too fast , accessed on February 17, 2015.
  73. 480 Names for the Gestapo . Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  74. ^ Gerhard Köbler: Historical Lexicon of the German Lands. The German territories from the Middle Ages to the present. Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54986-1 , p. 400.
  75. Chambre des Députés .
  76. Speaking of ... political institutions in Luxembourg. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Service information et presse, 2005, archived from the original on October 12, 2011 ; Retrieved December 16, 2009 .
  77. ^ Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
  78. www.legilux.public.lu (PDF file)
  79. www.gouvernement.lu ( Memento of May 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file)
  80. webmaster@verfassungen.de: Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (1868) . In: www.verfassungen.eu .
  81. ^ Texts coordonné du 16 septembre 1993 de la loi modifiée du 23 juin 1972 sur les emblèmes nationaux. Codified version of the modified law of June 23, 1972 on national emblems.
  82. "D'Fändelsfro": le gouvernement prend position sur la question du drapeau national (juillet 2007). . Archived from the original on August 2, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  83. ^ Système politique .
  84. webmaster@verfassungen.de: Vienna Congress Act (1815) . In: www.staatsvertraege.de .
  85. Déclaration du Premier ministre sur les implications institutionalnelles en cas de refus du Grand-Duc de thunder son aval à une éventuelle loi sur le droit de mourir en dignité . (No longer available online.) December 2, 2008, archived from the original on July 6, 2009 ; Retrieved December 16, 2009 (French).
  86. rh, consent. D'Lëtzebuerger Land , December 25, 2009, p. 4; on the planned constitutional reform see the articles by Francis Delpérée, Jörg Gerkrath and Rusen Ergec in the Journal des tribunaux, Éd. Larcier, December 5, 2009.
  87. https://www.sr.de/sr/sr1/programm/themen/aerger_in_luxemburg_grossherzogin_100.html , https://www.wort.lu/de/politik/xavier-bettel-fuer-grossherzogin-ist-keine-rolle -provided-5e3a84f2da2cc1784e35578f , https://today.rtl.lu/news/luxembourg/a/1462389.html , accessed on February 20, 2020
  88. government.lu // Le gouvernement luxembourgeois . June 13, 2017.
  89. Composition .
  90. ^ Fragile States Index: Global Data. Fund for Peace , 2020, accessed April 19, 2021 .
  91. ^ The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index. The Economist Intelligence Unit, accessed April 19, 2021 .
  92. ^ Countries and Territories. Freedom House , 2020, accessed April 19, 2021 .
  93. ^ World Press Freedom Index. Reporters Without Borders , 2021, accessed April 19, 2021 .
  94. ^ Transparency International (Ed.): Corruption Perceptions Index . Transparency International, Berlin 2021, ISBN 978-3-96076-157-0 (English, transparencycdn.org [PDF]).
  95. ^ Lionel Fontagné: Compétitivité du Luxembourg: une paille dans l'acier. Report pour le Ministère de l'Economie et du Commerce extérieur du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. ( Memento of July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: eco.public.lu. (PDF; 1.4 MB, p. 130).
  96. 30 Joer ASTI / 30ième anniversaire. ( Memento from April 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: tns-ilres.com. December 15, 2009.
  97. More say for foreigners. In: wort.lu. Luxemburger Wort , accessed February 12, 2015.
  98. Official information page about the referendum. In: referendum.lu. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  99. A threefold no suggests itself. In: wort.lu. Luxemburger Wort , accessed June 5, 2015.
  100. Official election result. In: elections.public.lu. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  101. a b Less deficit due to higher tax revenues. ( Memento of April 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: wort.lu. Luxemburger Wort , March 29, 2011.
  102. a b Chamber of Commerce: Tax rates in the EU countries. Retrieved June 20, 2020 .
  103. The VAT rates in the member states of the European Union (PDF). Chamber of Commerce and Industry Munich.
  104. TVA increase as of January 1, 2015 . March 27, 2014.
  105. ^ NATO Kosovo Armed Forces. (PDF; 356 kB) NATO, accessed on May 13, 2010 (English).
  106. ISAF key facts. (PDF; 342 kB) (No longer available online.) NATO, April 26, 2010, p. 3 , archived from the original on May 8, 2010 ; accessed on May 13, 2010 .
  107. This is what Luxembourg's military transporter looks like. (No longer available online.) In: Luxemburger Wort. December 11, 2009; Archived from the original on December 15, 2009 ; Retrieved May 13, 2010 .
  108. ^ Romain Hilgert: A dream of an air force. (No longer available online.) Letzebuerger Land, December 18, 2009, archived from the original on October 21, 2013 ; Retrieved May 13, 2010 .
  109. Conseil de gouvernement - Résumé des travaux du 18 December 2009. (No longer available online.) December 18, 2009, archived from the original on March 5, 2010 ; Retrieved May 13, 2010 (French).
  110. Police move to the “Findel Business Center” Luxemburger Wort, March 15, 2012.
  111. a b Verbatim reproduction of the country information from the Federal Foreign Office on Luxembourg .
  112. ^ Léon Marx: Living in the border region. ( Memento from April 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Tageblatt, March 25, 2010.
  113. School offer and organization
  114. Éducation nationale / Enfance / Jeunesse / Luxembourg .
  115. More school dropouts again. ( Memento of April 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Luxemburger Wort , December 18, 2009. 2:36 pm / 4e étude sur le décrochage scolaire au Luxembourg. ( Memento of April 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Ministry of Education communiqué, December 18, 2009.
  116. Chiffres clefs du système éducatif en 2010–2011 ( Memento of February 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 871 kB) Communiqué par le ministère de l'Éducation nationale et de la Formation professionnelle, January 6, 2012.
  117. LIH Departments. In: Luxembourg Institute of Health. Retrieved January 4, 2021 (American English).
  118. Sustainably committed to the European idea . Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  119. University education and training in the Greater Region of Luxembourg is facing new challenges . Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  120. Homepage . In: ISEC-AdW .
  121. eufom European University for Economics & Management non-profit company mbH: Eufom University becomes the University of Economics »2016» News Storage »eufom European University for Economics & Management . In: www.eufom.lu .
  122. DTMD - . In: www.dtmd.eu .
  123. ^ Center de Documentation et d'Information sur l'Enseignement Supérieur. Legislation. ( Memento from January 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (French)
  124. ↑ Initial vocational training - organization
  125. Réforme de la formation menant au brevet de maîtrise. (PDF) (No longer available online.) December 17, 2009, archived from the original on July 22, 2011 ; Retrieved December 17, 2009 (French).
  126. a b Luxembourgers are the richest EU citizens. In: welt.de . June 25, 2009. Retrieved December 15, 2014 .
  127. Luxembourgish not the richest ( Memento from February 19, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Luxemburger Wort, May 13, 2011.
  128. a b List of countries according to gross domestic product per capita .
  129. At a Glance: Global Competitiveness Index 2017–2018 Rankings . In: Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018 . ( weforum.org [accessed December 22, 2017]).
  130. Country Rankings: World & Global Economy Rankings on Economic Freedom . In: www.heritage.org .
  131. Affichage de tableau . In: www.statistiques.public.lu .
  132. ^ Criticism of the number game . December 24, 2011.
  133. GDP per capita in purchasing power standards. GDP per capita of the Member States between 41% and 276% of the EU27 average in 2008. (PDF) (No longer available online.) December 15, 2009, archived from the original on November 13, 2010 ; Retrieved December 17, 2009 (STAT / 09/182).
  134. Emploi salarié résidants et non-résidants par mois 2008 - 2009. (Excel; 97 kB) Le Portail des Statistiques du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, accessed on December 11, 2009 (French).
  135. ^ The Luxembourg Economy in 2003-2004. A kaleidoscope. Statec, April 2005, ISBN 2-87988-059-9 , p. 11.
  136. DS: Luxembourg in second place behind City of London. ( Memento of February 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Luxemburger Wort, February 22, 2010.
  137. Le répertoire des entreprises luxembourgeoises - Situation January 2010 .
  138. Home: The American Chamber of Commerce Luxembourg . In: amcham.lu .
  139. OECD: Growing Unequal ?, 2008, p. 25.
  140. Dorle Neumann: The beautiful life becomes more difficult ( Memento from April 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  141. Structure de la somme des valeurs ajoutées aux prix de base (en%) - A11. Statec, accessed December 17, 2009 (French).
  142. ^ Jakob Schmitz: Aufbruch auf Aktien , Verlag Wirtschaft und Finances GmbH, Düsseldorf 1996, ISBN 3-87881-101-2 , p. 472
  143. ^ Données générales sur le système financier au Luxembourg. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 6, 2010 ; Retrieved December 23, 2009 .
  144. on the term see: Fernand Fehlen: Cross-border spatial mobility as a questioning of upward social mobility - considerations on the development of a supranational labor market in Luxembourg. (PDF; 94 kB) 9, p. 3.
  145. http://www.av-finance.com/geldinstitute/newsdetails-gi/seite/412/artikel/267/postbank-luxemburg-in-sieben-monaten-zur-fondsbuchhaltung
  146. https://www.postbank.de/postbank/wu_beteiligungen_lux_diebank_portraet.html
  147. 404: Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) . In: www.cssf.lu .
  148. 404: Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) . In: www.cssf.lu .
  149. 404: Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) . In: www.cssf.lu .
  150. ^ Luxembourg financial center . Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  151. Embargoed 4 October 0.01 AM Central European Times (PDF) Financialsecrecyindex.com. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  152. ^ Informal meeting of euro finance ministers in Brussels. Admonitions for Luxembourg. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 4, 2010 ; Retrieved December 12, 2010 .
  153. ↑ The number of employees at Luxembourg banks is falling - profits are rising ( Memento of July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), FinancialCareers Luxembourg, October 27, 2009.
  154. Mersch denounces the lack of willingness to reform. Retrieved December 12, 2010 .
  155. See also: Reinsurance market with a list of the largest reinsurers
  156. www.cssf.lu (PDF file)
  157. ^ ICIJ, Luxembourg Leaks: Global Companies' Secrets Exposed
  158. ^ Cluster for Logistics Luxembourg asbl - un nouveau site et un logo pour la communauté logistique. (No longer available online.) Chambre de Commerce, archived from the original on April 27, 2011 ; Retrieved December 17, 2009 .
  159. Michèle Sinner: A corner in the niche. D'Lëtzebuerger Land , March 19, 2010, p. 12 f.
  160. guichet.lu - Guide administratif // Luxembourg . In: www.eluxembourg.public.lu .
  161. ^ Portail luxembourgeois de l'innovation et de la recherche . innovation.public.lu. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  162. ^ Luxembourg chosen for Rakuten Inc.'s new Central Coordination Entity. February 7, 2008.
  163. (vb), Intelsat relocates company headquarters to Luxembourg. ( Memento of May 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Luxemburger Wort, January 18, 2010.
  164. ^ Nouvelles technologies and e-commerce. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  165. AOL finally gives up Luxembourg. ( Memento of February 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Luxemburger Wort, February 19, 2010.
  166. Faster, Smarter ..... LU-CIX . In: www.lu-cix.lu .
  167. List of recueils - Legilux . In: www.legilux.public.lu .
  168. Luxconnect - Mission. ( Memento of March 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) / Luxconnect. In: connexion, amcham news report 2nd quarter 2008, p. 14 f.
  169. Luxconnect - The Network. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 29, 2011 ; Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
  170. Luxconnect - International connectivity offer. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 20, 2010 ; Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
  171. International Solutions TERALINK and Cloud services. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 16, 2011 ; Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
  172. ^ Luxembourg, Your European Hub for Online Business and E-Commerce. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 16, 2011 ; Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
  173. Peering Exchange Points. Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
  174. ^ European Datacentres: Luxembourg. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 12, 2011 ; Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
  175. Where state-of-the-art data centers meet green standards. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 12, 2011 ; Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
  176. The future of data centers in Europe (pdf). (PDF) Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
  177. Luxembourg as a Center for Online and ICT Business (pdf) .
  178. ebrc data center facilities. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 11, 2011 ; Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
  179. LuxTrust SA: LuxTrust . In: www.luxtrust.lu .
  180. Structure de la somme des valeurs ajoutées aux prix de base (en%) - A11. statec, accessed on December 17, 2009 (French).
  181. ISFB: mission. In: ifsb.lu. (French).
  182. ↑ Fewer and fewer people employed in agriculture. ( Memento from April 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: wort.lu. Luxemburger Wort , 7 May 2010.
  183. ^ Ministère du Développement durable et des Infrastructures. In: mddi.public.lu. (French)
  184. WasserGIS ( Memento of 4 March 2010 at the Internet Archive ) maps: Origine Administration du Cadastre et de la topography Luxembourg.
  185. Santé: Opgepasst with Fësch from eise Baachen a Flëss. ( Memento of May 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: rtl.lu. May 7, 2010.
  186. wort.lu - Lëtzebuerg - Don't eat any eels fished in Luxembourg! . Archived from the original on May 11, 2010. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  187. ↑ Construction of sewage treatment plants, grade unsatisfactory. In: wort.lu. Luxembourg word .
  188. Old sewage treatment plants block construction projects. In: tageblatt.lu.
  189. pf, health benchmark . D'Lëtzebuerger Land , 25 November 2011, p. 4 / Le ministre de la Santé et de la Sécurité sociale: Conference de presse “Panorama de la Santé 2011” on 23 November 2011. In: mss.public.lu. (French).
  190. ^ Claude Molinaro: Research at the top level. Tageblatt, February 26, 2010, p. 13.
  191. LIH: Research for and with the patients. Retrieved January 4, 2021 .
  192. Luxembourg in Figures 2018. (PDF) Statec, September 2015, accessed on November 4, 2018 .
  193. Christian Muller: Electricity: Luxembourg's dependence on imports remains high. In: Tageblatt Letzebuerg. July 17, 2020, accessed January 6, 2021 .
  194. ^ Lionel Fontagné: Compétitivité du Luxembourg: une paille dans l'acier. Report pour le Ministère de l'Economie et du Commerce extérieur du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. (PDF; 1.4 MB) (No longer available online.) November 15, 2004, archived from the original on July 22, 2011 ; Retrieved December 16, 2009 (French).
  195. a b La Chambre des salariés: une structure indispensable pour défendre les intérêts des salariés. In: csl.lu. (French).
  196. : Social minimum wage and wage indexation. In: guichet.lu. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  197. statistiques.public.lu: Regards N ° 12/2018 - 4 079 euros pour vivre décemment
  198. Transitional regulation in accordance with Article 87 (10) of Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 29, 2004.
  199. statistiques.public.lu: Partager Le nombre de demandeurs d'emploi diminue de 12.1% sur un an
  200. 22 new employees for the Adem. In: wort.lu. Luxemburger Wort , accessed February 13, 2015.
  201. https://statistiques.public.lu/stat/TableViewer/tableViewHTML.aspx?ReportId=13298
  202. ^ Charles Fleury: Les immigrants et les syndicats . Avec la collaboration de Roland Maas et d'Adrien Thomas. CEPS / INSTEAD , Working Papers No. 2011-63 , p. 11.
  203. Legislation - Code du travail. ( Memento of July 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (French) / Jean-Luc Putz: Luxemburgisches Arbeitsrecht. promoculture, 1st edition. 2006.
  204. Mil Lorang: Unions should be politically independent. OGBL aktuell, 2/2009, p. 28 ff.
  205. ^ Les résultats des élections sociales de la CSL 2013. In: elections-2013. (French)
  206. www.stiftung-marktwirtschaft.de (PDF; 164 kB)
  207. Dorothea Siems: Italy is in the best position in Europe on this balance sheet. In: welt.de . December 7, 2011, accessed December 15, 2014 .
  208. www.wort.lu . Archived from the original on February 3, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  209. Comprehensive pension reform necessary . December 14, 2011.
  210. www.wort.lu . Archived from the original on January 10, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  211. www.lejeudi.lu . Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  212. www.tageblatt.lu . Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved on February 12, 2012.
  213. Study on implicit national debt is scary .
  214. Jonas Fehling: Expensive promises for the future: Three times worse than Athens: Luxembourg is the real debt sinner in Europe. In: Focus Online. April 24, 2014, accessed December 15, 2014 .
  215. ^ Administration des Ponts et Chaussées: Statistiques
  216. CITA telematics system. Administration des Ponts et Chaussées.
  217. Les prix des produits pétroliers. ( Memento from June 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Ministry of Economic Affairs (state-set maximum prices)
  218. ^ Department of Transport - Code de la route . In: www.mt.public.lu .
  219. AL, CFL Cargo participates in European alliance. ( Memento from February 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Tageblatt. Fir Lëtzebuerg newspaper , February 19, 2010.
  220. Matthias Kirsch, DER SPIEGEL: Free public transport in Luxembourg: The flagship project - DER SPIEGEL - Mobility is lacking. February 29, 2020, accessed February 29, 2020 .
  221. First country in the world makes buses and trains free. Der Tagesspiegel, December 29, 2019, accessed on February 29, 2020 .
  222. ↑ Local public transport (ÖPNV). Retrieved September 5, 2021 .
  223. Navigation fluvial. Department of Transport.
  224. ^ Christian Muller: Maritime power Luxembourg despises flags of convenience. Trierischer Volksfreund , 19./20. December 2009, p. 7.
  225. Patrick Weber: From advertising contributions and other favors (PDF; 943 kB). In forum, No. 312, November 2011, p. 11ff.
  226. Morgan Meyer: Sous press. Analysis et critique des médias au Luxembourg. In: Supplement research on Lëtzebuerger Land from November 11, 2011, p. 37.
  227. No medium achieves more than «L'essentiel». Retrieved October 5, 2021 .
  228. ^ Three centuries of newspapers in Luxembourg. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 7, 2007 ; Retrieved on December 16, 2009 (French, old newspaper editions that have already been digitized are available on the portal www.eluxemburgensia.lu ).
  229. ^ Romain Hilgert : Newspapers in Luxemburg 1704-2004 . Service Information et Presse, 2004, ISBN 2-87999-135-8 .
  230. ^ Antoine Meyer: E 'schrek ob de'Lezeburger Parnassus. Lamort, 1829, ISBN, p. 1. limited preview in Google book search
  231. The cornerstone of Luxembourg literature. Day sheet. Fir Lëtzebuerg newspaper , December 23, 2009.
  232. Firwat grabs the Dicks ebemol op Däitsch? An interview with Madame Germaine Goetzinger, Direktesch vum Literaturarchiv zu Miersch. Forum for Politics, Society and Culture , No. 292, December 2009, p. 17 ff.
  233. Cléo Thoma: D'Annexe vum national literature center in Miersch. Forum for Politics, Society and Culture , No. 292, December 2009, p. 53 ff.
  234. Dick's exhibition. . Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved on December 23, 2009.
  235. Luxembourg Authors' Lexicon .
  236. ALBAD (Associatioun vun de Lëtzebuerger Bibliothekären, archivists to librarians). . Archived from the original on April 19, 2010. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
  237. Oscar for Luxembourg: Xavier Bettel congratulates . March 3, 2014.
  238. Ali Ruckert: Audiovisual certificates are only available for finished films , Zeitung vum Lëtzebuerger Vollek, December 29, 2011.
  239. ^ Historique du cinéma luxembourgeois . Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  240. Press section of the theater association. . Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved on February 21, 2010.
  241. Theater in Esch. ( Memento from December 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  242. Home - CAPE . In: www.cape.lu .
  243. Michael Kuntz: Labor Day - A holiday given away. In: sueddeutsche.de. May 1, 2011, accessed December 15, 2014 .
  244. ^ La Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN) établit son siège à Luxembourg! ( Memento of April 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) December 10, 2009.
  245. Report statistique des télécommunications du Luxembourg de l'année 2014. (PDF; 1.3 MB) (No longer available online.) In: ilr.public.lu. Institut Luxembourgois de Regulation, 2014, archived from the original on December 11, 2015 ; Retrieved January 14, 2017 (French).
  246. ^ Individuals using the Internet (% of population). World Bank , accessed April 19, 2021 .
  247. ^ Ludivine Martin, Clothilde Guinard: Décollage tardif du e-commerce au Luxembourg: une analyze des barrières perçues par les entreprises . (PDF; 2.9 MB) Retrieved on December 17, 2009 (French, CEPS / INSTEAD : Publications of Entreprises, 2009, Economie & Entreprises n ° 15.).
  248. CASES Luxembourg: home - Cases .
  249. Data protection . Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  250. Luxembourg hots up as WiFi network is extended , Luxemburger Wort , March 21, 2012.
  251. ^ The infrastructure of tomorrow , Den Escher 20, October 2011, pp. 10 and 11.
  252. homepage DTMD University for Digital Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry
  253. Michèle Gantenbein: Multifaceted Grand Duchy. (No longer available online.) Luxemburger Wort , archived from the original on April 25, 2011 ; Retrieved December 17, 2009 .
  254. Ekkehart Schmidt-Fink: Missing draft. Woxx , accessed December 17, 2009 .

Coordinates: 50 °  N , 6 °  E