Religion, Tradition, Culture & Calendar

Religion

It’s impossible to give an exact figure of religious diversity in Luxembourg as it’s been illegal for the government to collect statistics on religion since 1980, but it’s estimated that around 70% of Luxembourgian nationals are Christians (mainly Catholic), around 2% are Muslims, around 27% are Atheists and the last 1% follow other religious beliefs or practices.

The Grand Duchy recognizes and supports several dominations but in exchange has a hand in their affairs but today sees little interference from the government, if at all, in any religious branch, mainstream or not. Today, the state recognizes Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Greek and Russian Orthodox Christianity and Protestantism as officially mandated religions, other groups are also engaging in talks to become officially mandated religions as well including Anglicanism, Islam, and both Romanian and Serbian Orthodox Christianity.

Museums, Galleries & Architecture

Luxembourg’s architectural styles can be broken down into roughly six eras; Celts (2^nd Century BC-1^st Century AD), Roman (1^st-5^th Century AD), Christian (5^th-11^th Century AD), Medieval (11^th-15^th Century AD), Renaissance (15^th-20^th Century AD) and Contemporary (20^th Century AD-Present).

The Treveri are mainly responsible for the earliest architecture in the region, a prosperous Celtic Tribe, the Treveri built small, low down, round buildings in small clusters all across the country. As the Romans moved into the country in the 1^st Century AD, we see Bathhouses, Villas and even Mansions begin to be built around the country, this persisted until the fall and recall of the Romans later on that century. Soon afterwards, Christianity, first brought in by the Roman predecessors, began to sweep across Europe and a wide array of Churches began to be constructed, these were often revamped and restructured in the 14^th and 16^th Centuries with Gothic-style additions.

During the Medieval period, warring became commonplace between various factions fighting for control over the country as it became fair ground for claims by modern-day France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Both interior and exterior factions began to build large castles and fortresses, these include the Castle of Vianden and Bourscheid Castle, both built in the 11^th Century, as well as Beaufort Castle and Clervaux Castle, both built in the 12^th Century, among others.

The Renaissance era saw a slightly more modern look to its buildings but also kept a Gothic theme, perhaps to keep the country’s culture alive, and include structures such as the Grand Ducal Palace build in the 16^th Century, Neumunster Abbey built in the 17^th Century, Fort Thungen built in the 18^th Century and both the Cercle Municipal and the Hotel de la Caisse built in the early 20^th Century. This era also saw the birth of many bridges across the country which have rapidly become national symbols and include the Pont Du Chateau built in the 18^th Century, the Passerelle built in the 19^th Century and both the Adolphe Bridge and the Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge completed in the 20^th Century.

In recent years the country has also seen a string of new developments with more efforts to accommodate the arts, sports and the financial industry. Most prominent are the National Sports and Cultural Centre built in 2001, the Philharmonie Concert Hall built in 2005, the Museum of Modern Art built in 2006 and the European Investment Bank built in 2008.

  Clothing, Dress Style & Etiquette

Today Luxembourgish citizens wear western-style clothing enjoyed all across Europe, but historically the country took many of its trends from France and Germany, and to a lesser extent, Belgium. The country was also influenced by Italian fashion frequently and saw men wear hats more consistently than that anywhere else in Europe, and women wear skirts and dresses more often than slacks or trousers. A general note of most Luxembourgian citizens is to always be well-dressed in public and to reserve other clothing for the home or for use whilst practicing sports.

Literature, Poetry, Music & Dance

Culturally, Luxembourg’s music scene is derived from Germanic music styles and has seen many variations of music within the country have a strong impact on the discipline’s development. Classical music in particular had a strong developmental cycle within the country and saw influential musician Laurent Menager produce masterful pieces throughout the 19^th Century. Other prominent classical musicians (many contemporary) include composers Camille Kerger, Georges Lentz, Claude Lenners, Marcel Wengler and Alexander Mullenbach, pianists Francesco Tristano Schlime and Jean Muller, violinist Sandrine Cantoreggi, cellist Francoise Groben and singer Mariette Kemmer.

Other contemporary musical styles are also incredibly popular with Jazz, Folk, Pop, Protest and Rock genres being widespread across the country, these include trumpeters Gast Waltzing and Ernie Hammes, percussionist Pascal Schumacher, pianist Michel Reis as well political-pop Serge Tonnar and the Legotrip and indie-folk band Kate.

Calendar & Events

As always, Luxembourg begins its first public holiday on New Year’s Day, January 1^st but doesn’t take another public holiday until Easter when Good Friday and Easter Monday are celebrated in mid-April. Then on the first day of May, Labour Day allows for another public holiday and in late May another public holiday is taken to celebrate the Ascension of Jesus in the Christian faith. Two more days are taken in June at the beginning and the end of the month to celebrate Whit Monday and Luxembourg’s National Holiday respectively, then another holiday is taken a whole month later in the middle of August for Assumption. The first day of November sees another public holiday for All-Saint’s Day and three more holidays are taken in December for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, although Christmas Eve is simply a half-day.