Postcard no. 8 Weltentdeckung: Luxemburg

Categories: luxemburg, germany, postcards

Date: 17 July 2008 13:36:50

When the Lödgerin was living in the humble abode, we would occasionally go on an excursion. If neither of us had ever been to the destination before we would call it a Weltentdeckungsreise - a world exploration trip. Even though the country of Luxemburg* is only about 11 miles from Trier and the city of the same name only about 45 miles away, the Lödgerin had never been there before. As my own experience of the country was restricted to running around the city's railway station, I was happy to make its acquaintance properly. So armed with bargain return tickets costing a mere 8 euros (that's about a fiver in real money), the intrepid two set off on a Weltentdeckungsreise.

The day we picked just happened to be Luxemburg's national day (June 23). Above the streets on wires hung national flag flapping lazily in the breeze. I couldn't help but think that they looked a bit like slightly over-sized bunting. We walked down one of the main boulevards where earlier in the morning there had been a military parade. We couldn't imagine that the parade had lasted very long as the country doesn't have an airforce or a navy - and the army, even at full strength, must be pretty small. All that was left were the people barriers down each side of the boulevard. I don't know where all the crowds had dispersed to but we felt to be almost the only people in the city. It was almost like a ghost town....
We went to visit the Cathedral de Notre Dame but it too largely cordoned off to visitors as there had been a service there that morning. I wondered at what time the celebrations had kicked off as we had arrived by 11 ish and everything was already over.

Undeterred in our explorations we went to visit the Kasematte, a warren of underground barracks built inside the original castle. The castle was essentially built into a large rock. It was meant to be similar to Gibraltar - and has the nickname “Gibraltar of the North” but having never been to Gibraltar I can't say if this is an accurate comparison or not. A thousand years ago, the original castle was called Lucilinburhuc - meaning, I understand, “little castle”. There wasn't a great deal to see or even many signs explaining what we were looking at, but it was quite amazing to think that a whole community of people, horses and equipment had been accommodated in these narrow tunnels. The citizens of Luxemburg had also taken refuge there during the bombings of WWII. Looking down from the “windows” we could see the Alzette, the small river which runs through the city and how the steep sides of the gorge had been used for growing plants and flowers - which we dubbed the “Hanging Gardens of Luxemburg”.
Later on a meander along the remains of the city walls we came across a few information boards about the flora and fauna to be found in and near the slow moving, green Alzette. It is for the average European all very small scale as the main features were snails and nettles - and mention of the fact that buttercups had died out. Had I known in advance, I could have arranged some deal between the authorities of Luxemburg and Dith's allotment. Who knows? Her song might have received a wider audience.

Our explorations included a visit to the Gelle Fra, Luxemburg's national war memorial and the Palace of the Grand Duke which was almost entirely unguarded. There were no grand courtyards or fences in front of it, just a solitary soldier marching up and down, ignoring the tourists and enduring their attempts to capture him on film. We sat outside a café directly opposite the Palace (literally about 12 yards from the front door of the palace) and watched the soldier, and the tourists, go by as we drank our tea and listened to some tinkly bells chime out the hour and quarter hour.

And what of the language in this tiny country? French, German and Lëtzebuergesch are the official languages. French is used for parliamentary matters but the newspapers are largely printed in German.
Lëtzebuergesch was primarily a (West Central German) dialect until Nazi occupation in WW2 when it gained in popularity and was used by the Resistance to print pamphlets. Their motto Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn [German for comparative purposes: Wir wollen bleiben was wir sind] “We want to remain what we are” became all the more poignant. As found in other languages at the point of the printing press, the standardisation of orthography imposed certain restrictions and whereas previously one could spell words in the way they were spoken in one's own village, Luxemburgers now found that they could be accused of making spelling mistakes!

Later, at another café, the waitress addressed us in English, which I thought was a little odd as the Lödgerin and I had been conversing in German. How did the waitress know we could speak English? She didn't - but I was reminded that everyone of a certain generation is more or less expected to speak it. It turned out that the waitress was Finnish and didn't speak French or German (or Lëtzebuergesch)so she spoke to all her customers in English.