Der Deutsche Bund und das Großherzogtum Luxemburg (1814–1866). Eine komplexe Beziehungsgeschichte in luxemburgisch-niederländischer Perspektive

The German Confederation and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (1814-1866).
A complex entanglement from a Luxembourgish-Dutch perspective. [Der Deutsche Bund und das Großherzogtum Luxemburg (1814–1866). Eine komplexe Beziehungsgeschichte in luxemburgisch-niederländischer Perspektive]

After the Napoleonic Wars, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg became a member state of the German Confederation, co-shaping its policy for around 50 years. In Luxembourg historiography this period – up to 1867, the year in which Luxembourg's perpetual neutrality was declared – is generally studied in terms of state-formation and nation-building. The significance of the German Confederation, however, has been overlooked. The aim of this article is to reassess the membership and active contribution of the Grand Duchy based on a close reading of the minutes of the Diet of the German Confederation. The relationship between Luxembourg and the German Confederation is thus subjected to a change of perspective, looking at it from the viewpoint of the Confederation. It also reevaluates the part Dutch interests, represented by the King of the Netherlands (in personal union Grand Duke of Luxembourg), played until the end of the ‘United’ Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1830-39. In this framework of interpretation, Luxembourg’s ambassadors to the federal assembly in Frankfurt, appointed by the King-Grand Duke, are no longer viewed as facilitators of a 'foreign rule' but as royal agents working in Luxembourg's interests within a federal (German) framework.