The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a country in Western Europe with 607 720 residents, the capital is Luxembourg.
Landscape
Luxembourg is bordered to the northeast and east by Germany, on the south by France, the west and north of Belgium.
Luxembourg is divided into two different landscapes. The Ösling (Éisslek, Islek) in the north is part of the Ardennes and covers 32% of the country. It is a hull landscape made up of Devonian sandstones and slates (generally 400–500 m above sea level, highest point, Kneiff, 560 m above sea level) with deeply carved, winding valleys of the Sauer, Clerf, Wiltz and Our.
The southern part (68% of the country), the Gutland drained by the Alzette with strata from the red sandstone to the Dogger, forms part of the Trier-Luxemburger-Bucht, the northeastern Paris basin and the Lorraine plain land.
The iron ore (Minette) bearing limestone layers of the Dogger run from northwest to southeast, from Dudelange to the south. The Moselle flows on the border with Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate.
Climate
The climate belongs to the maritime-continental transition type. The harsh Ösling has average temperatures of 1 ° C in January and 17 ° C in July in the central and southern parts of the country.
Vegetation
The Ösling has extensive coniferous and mixed forests as well as green areas and grassland areas. The German-Luxembourg Nature Park was established across borders. In the Ösling, the climatic vegetation period is shorter than in the Gutland. The heights of the layers of the Gutland carry oak and beech forests, otherwise arable and grassland areas are characteristic. Fruit and wine thrive in the Moselle valley.
Population
According to iamhigher, Luxembourg has (2018) with 49.9% the highest proportion of foreigners of all EU countries. Of these, 15.7% are Portuguese, 7.5% French, 3.2% Italian, 3.3% Belgian and 2.1% German as well as some Spaniards, British and 14.6% of other origins. The population density is 231 residents / km 2. The focus of the settlement is the district of Luxembourg with the capital and the old industrial areas around Esch an der Alzette. Overall, 91% of the population live in the cities, the majority of them in the capital.
The country has three official languages: Luxembourgish (Letzebuergesch), a Moselle-Franconian dialect (German dialects), as well as French as the legal language and (high) German as the written language. Cross-border commuters and European and bank employees also contribute to the multilingual character of the Grand Duchy.
The biggest cities in Luxembourg
| Biggest Cities (Inh. 2019) | |
| Luxembourg (Luxembourg) | 119 200 |
| Esch an der Alzette (Esch-sur-Alzette) | 35 400 |
| Differdange (Differdange) | 26 800 |
| Dudelange (Dudelange) | 21 100 |
| Petingen (Pétange) | 19 100 |
Culture
The oldest evidence of Luxembourg culture is the Lützelburg (968) in the capital Luxembourg, the ancestral seat of the Counts of Luxembourg. Before that, the Celts, Romans and Franks left their mark on today’s Grand Duchy. The country’s architectural heritage covers all European styles, from medieval castles such as Vianden Castle (from 11th century) to Gothic and Baroque churches such as the Notre Dame Cathedral (Church of Our Lady, 1613-15) to contemporary architecture.
Literary languages are German, French and Luxembourgish. A separate literature in Luxembourgish emerged in the 19th century. Michel Rodange (* 1827, † 1876) wrote “Renert” in 1872, a sharp satire of the political, social and cultural circumstances of his time, which became the Luxembourg national epic. After World War II, Luxembourgish literature turned from entertaining and popular subjects to modern social criticism. The best- known representatives are Guy Rewenigs (* 1947) with the novel “Hannert dem Atlantik” (1985) and R. Manderscheid with the educational romance trilogy (1988–95) »schakko klak«, »de papagei um käschtebam« and »celebrate a flam«. One difficulty for the literary business lies in the small area of circulation of the works, which inevitably have low editions.
One of the most famous Luxembourg painters is the expressionist Joseph Kutter (* 1894, † 1941). The photographer François Besch (* 1963) is considered a pioneer of artistic smartphone photography. Lucien Wercollier (* 1908, † 2002), one of the most important sculptors in the country, created abstract sculptures that can be seen in international museums.
Music is an integral part of Luxembourg culture, every village has a brass band, choirs and music clubs. The Conservatory of Music (1906) and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra (1933) are important for classical music. Radio Luxemburg (from 1931), the forerunner of today’s RTL Group, made the small country known far beyond its borders, among other things as a pioneer in the spread of rock and pop music. The Grand Duchy has won the Eurovision Song Contest five times, in which it has not participated since 1994 due to a lack of funding and a lack of chances of success.
The cosmopolitan country also has its own traditions. This includes the Echternach jumping procession that has been going on for over 600 years from the basilica to the grave of St. Willibrord on Whit Tuesday, during which the participants “jump” two steps forward and one backward in rows.
Sports fans associate cycling with Luxembourg. Several Luxembourgers are already on the Tour de France winners list.
World Heritage Site
- Old town district and fortifications of Luxembourg (since 1994)
