Luxembourg tourist information

In the Roman era, a fortified tower guarded the crossing of two Roman roads that met at the site of Luxembourg city. Through an exchange treaty with the abbey of Saint Maximin in Trier in 963, Sigfrid I of the Ardennes, a close relative of King Louis II of France and Emperor Otto the Great, acquired the feudal lands of Luxembourg. Sigfrid built his castle, named Lucilinburhuc ("small castle"), on the Bock, mentioned for the first time in the aforementioned exchange treaty.

In 987, the Archbishop of Trier, Egbert (977-993), blessed five altars in the Church of the Redemption (today St. Michael's Church). At a Roman road intersection near the church, a marketplace appeared around which the city developed.

The city, for reasons of its location and natural geography, has through history been a place of strategic military significance. The first fortifications were built as early as the 10th century. By the end of the 12th century, as the city expanded westward around the new St. Nicholas Church (today the cathedral of Notre Dame), new walls were built that included an area of 50,000 m².

In about 1340, under the reign of John the Blind, new fortifications were built that stood until 1867. This neutrality was disregarded by Germany on the occasions of both World War I and World War II when Luxembourg was invaded.

In 1443, the Burgundians under Philip the Good conquered Luxembourg. Luxembourg becomes part of the Burgundian, and later Spanish and Austrian empires. By the 16th century, Luxembourg was one of the strongest fortifications in Europe. Subsequently, the Burgundians, the Spanish, the French, the Spanish again, the Austrians, the French again, and the Prussians conquered Luxembourg.

In the 17th century, the first casemates were built; initially, Spain built 23 km of tunnels, starting in 1644. These were then enlarged under French rule by Marshal Vauban, and augmented again under Austrian rule in the 1730s and 1740s. By the late eighteenth century, Luxembourg's fame as an impregnable fortress was such that it became known as the Gibraltar of the North, second to only Gibraltar itself.

In 1795, Luxembourg was annexed into the French Republic as part of the département of Forêts, with Luxembourg City as its préfecture. Under the 1815 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Napoleonic Wars, Luxembourg City was placed under Prussian occupation as a part of the German Confederation, although sovereignty passed to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

After the Luxembourg Crisis, the 1867 Treaty of London required Luxembourg to dismantle the fortifications in Luxembourg City. Their demolition took sixteen years, cost 1.5m gold francs, and required the destruction of over 24 km (15 miles) of underground defences and 40,000m² (10 acres) of casemates, batteries, barracks, etc. Furthermore, the Prussian garrison was to be withdrawn.

When, in 1890, Grand Duke William III died without any male heirs, the Grand Duchy passed out of Dutch hands, and into an independent line under Grand Duke Adolphe. Thus, Luxembourg, which had hitherto been independent in theory only, became a truly independent country, and Luxembourg City regained some of the importance that it had lost in 1867 by becoming the capital of a fully independent state.

Despite Luxembourg's best efforts to remain neutral in the First World War, Luxembourg was occupied by Germany on 2 August 1914. On 30 August, Helmuth von Moltke moved his headquarters to Luxembourg City, closer to his armies in France in preparation for a swift victory. However, the victory never came, and Luxembourg would play host to the German high command for another four years. At the end of the occupation, Luxembourg City was the scene of an attempted communist revolution; on 9 November 1918, communists declared a socialist republic, but it lasted only a few hours.

In 1921, the city limits were greatly expanded. The communes of Eich, Hamm, Hollerich, and Rollingergrund were annexed into Luxembourg City, making the city the largest commune in the country.

In 1940, German occupied Luxembourg again. The Nazis were not prepared to allow Luxembourgers self-government, and gradually integrated Luxembourg into the Third Reich until it annexed the Grand Duchy, on 30 August 1942. Luxembourg City was liberated on 10 September 1944.

After the war, Luxembourg ended its neutrality, and became a founding member of several inter-governmental and supra-governmental institutions. In 1952, the city became the headquarters of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community. In 1967, the High Authority was merged with the commissions of the other European institutions; although Luxembourg City would no longer be the seat of the ECSC, it would play host to some part-sessions of the European Parliament until 1981. Luxembourg remains the seat of the European Parliament's secretariat, as well as the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Auditors, and the European Investment Bank.