Polishing the Image of a Nation-State: Luxembourg and the Uses of the Past since the 1990s

Scientific Conference (2022, August 18)

Since the 1990s the Luxembourg government has increasingly used the past to improve the country’s image. Though this use of history was not new, it has evolved significantly from the 1990s onward, both ... [more ▼]

Since the 1990s the Luxembourg government has increasingly used the past to improve the country’s image. Though this use of history was not new, it has evolved significantly from the 1990s onward, both due to international influences and to specifically Luxembourgish developments. The transformation of the cultural landscape, the organisation of large events, and the European integration process are some examples. The contribution will analyse the uses of the past by public authorities in Luxembourg within this context. The paper will cover a series of key events and initiatives since the 1990s. It aims to understand how history has been used and shaped to promote a national identity and improve Luxembourg’s image, from the 150th anniversary of independence in 1989 to the more recent nation-branding initiatives. It investigates what kind of narratives were disseminated, who the involved stakeholders were, and whether tensions existed in this process. [less ▲]

Une « idée hautement civilisatrice »: Quelques réflexions sur l’histoire de la propriété au Luxembourg

Article for general public (2022)

Une histoire à huis clos: Joseph Meyers et le Musée de l'Etat pendant l'occupation

Article for general public (2021)

"Nécessité fait loi": La crise du logement et la protection des locataires dans les années 1920

Article for general public (2021)

Staging the Nation in an Intermediate Space: Cultural Policy in Luxembourg and the State Museums (1918-1974)

Doctoral thesis (2020)

Cultural policy has been analysed from various perspectives, ranging from sociology over cultural studies to political science. Historians have also been interested in cultural policy, but they have ... [more ▼]

Cultural policy has been analysed from various perspectives, ranging from sociology over cultural studies to political science. Historians have also been interested in cultural policy, but they have barely reflected on a theoretical framework. In addition, cultural policy has not been thoroughly researched in Luxembourg. The present thesis aims to contribute to this gap and examines how national cultural policy in Luxembourg evolved from the 1920s to the early 1970s. It investigates the presence of the national idea in cultural policy, and possible tensions and connections between the idea of the nation and the use or inclusion of foreign cultural references. Drawing on the concept of Zwischenraum (intermediate space) coined by the historian Philip Ther, the study considers Luxembourg as a nationalised intermediate space with the tensions that this status entails. Furthermore, it investigates how the State Museums, particularly the history section, evolved in the cultural policy context. To analyse the evolution of cultural policy, three interconnected aspects are considered: structures, actors and discourses. Three main periods are considered in a chronological fashion: the interwar period marked by efforts of nation-building and an increasingly interventionist state; the Nazi occupation of Luxembourg (1940-1944), when the idea of an independent nation-state was turned into its opposite; the post-war period until the early 1970s, subdivided into an immediate post-war period marked by restitution and reconstruction, and the 1950s and the 1960s characterised by a state-administrator and a conservative cultural policy. These periods, however, are not always neatly separable and reveal continuities. For each period, the State Museums are analysed in their cultural policy context: from their construction in the age of nation-building, over their ambiguous situation during Nazi occupation, to their new missions in the post-war period. [less ▲]

Lëtzebuerg op d’Weltkaart setzen – Kulturpolitik vum nation building zum Nation Branding

Conference given outside the academic context (2019)

D'Europaparlament an de politeschen Ëmgang mat der Geschicht

Diverse speeches and writings (2019)

A small country in a global context: the case of Luxembourg’s cultural policy

Scientific Conference (2019, June 27)

This paper focuses on a small nation state instead of a big country to provide a different perspective on cultural policy history. Due to its small size, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has been influenced ... [more ▼]

This paper focuses on a small nation state instead of a big country to provide a different perspective on cultural policy history. Due to its small size, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has been influenced by the cultures of its neighbouring countries and looked beyond its national boundaries for inspirations. Members of the political, cultural and economic elite studied abroad and brought ideas and transnational contacts to Luxembourg. Hence, Luxembourg’s national cultural policy needs to be examined within the international context. Throughout the cultural policy of the 20th century, we discover numerous examples of how European and international developments have affected Luxembourg’s cultural policy. During the interwar period, a national era initiated by the First World War, the increasingly interventionist state promoted a national culture alongside a high culture imported from France and Germany. Intellectuals developed the idea that Luxembourgish culture was created by the mixture of French and German cultures. For its cultural policy, the government took inspiration from examples abroad: Luxembourg’s first law on the protection of national monuments and sites (1927) was influenced by a French law of 1913. In the 1970s, the development of a new cultural policy around concepts such as democratization of culture cannot be understood without the developments in other countries. From the 1980s onwards, European and global developments have increasingly influenced Luxembourg’s cultural policy. The promotion of the creative industries, for instance, is the most recent example of how Luxembourg follows a global trend. This paper has several aims. First, it wishes to analyse how Luxembourg has adapted models and reacted to developments abroad. Second, it wants to investigate to what extent Luxembourg has shifted its geographic horizon when looking for models and ideas. Third, it advocates for a cultural policy history that does not limit itself to national borders. [less ▲]

Combining Cultural Policy History and Public History: Clearing epistemological blind spots?

Poster (2018, August)

Du « Plakert » au cerf bleu

Article for general public (2017)