The Hôtel de la Chambre des Députés ( en, Hall of the Chamber of Deputies) is the meeting place of the

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

ish national legislature, the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

, in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...

, in southern Luxembourg. It is located on

Krautmaart Krautmaart (Luxembourgish) or rue du Marché aux Herbes ( French), is an irregularly-shaped street in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The street, whose name translates into English as Herb Market street, is situated in Ville Haute, the hi ...

, an irregularly shaped street in the historic heart of the city, in

Ville Haute Ville Haute ( lb, Uewerstad, german: Oberstadt) is a quarter in central Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is the historic center of Luxembourg City and is involved in its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. , Ville Haute has a population ...

quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25. Quarter or quarters may refer to: Places * Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town Placenames * Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland * Le Quartier, a settlement ...

. Next to the Chamber is the

Grand Ducal Palace The Grand Ducal Palace ( lb, Groussherzogleche Palais, french: Palais grand-ducal, german: Großherzogliches Palais) is a palace in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is the official residence of the grand duke of Luxembourg, and wher ...

, the

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the

Grand Duke of Luxembourg The Grand Duke of Luxembourg ( lb, Groussherzog vu Lëtzebuerg, french: Grand-duc de Luxembourg, german: Großherzog von Luxemburg) is the monarchical head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it w ...

. Due to the Hôtel's location, 'Krautmaart' has become a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

for the Chamber of Deputies itself.

History

Until 1860, the Chamber of Deputies had no regular meeting place, variably holding sessions in the

Luxembourg City Hall Luxembourg City Hall (french: Hôtel de ville de Luxembourg) is the city hall of Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The city hall is the centre of local government, including being used as the private office of the Mayor of Luxembourg City ...

, and the Hôtel du Gouvernement. For a period after the promulgation of Luxembourg's constitution in 1848, the Chamber met in a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

Ettelbruck Ettelbruck ( lb, Ettelbréck , german: Ettelbrück ) is a commune with town status in central Luxembourg, with a population of inhabitants. History Until 1850, both Erpeldange and Schieren were part of the Ettelbruck commune as well, but both ...

, in the north of the country. By the late 1850s, this was becoming untenable, and to restore the Grand Ducal Palace to the use of the

Grand Ducal Family The Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg constitutes the House of Luxembourg-Nassau, headed by the sovereign Grand Duke, and in which the throne of the grand duchy is hereditary. It consists of heirs and descendants of the House of Nassau-Weilburg, w ...

, plans were laid for the construction of a dedicated home for the Chamber in 1857 by

Antoine Hartmann Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...

. Construction began on 27 July 1858, and the building was inaugurated on 30 October 1860, upon the opening of a new parliamentary session. During the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Chamber of Deputies was suspended and the building's functions made subservient to those of the occupation forces. The building was turned into the headquarters of the Luxembourgish branch of the Gau Propaganda Office (german: Gaupropagandaamt). The

balcony A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony is ...

was decorated with a large sign hailing the ''

Heim ins Reich The ''Heim ins Reich'' (; meaning "back home to the Reich") was a foreign policy pursued by Adolf Hitler before and during World War II, beginning in 1938. The aim of Hitler's initiative was to convince all ''Volksdeutsche'' (ethnic Germans) wh ...

'', while, later on, large Swastika flags were flown on the outside. Between 1997 and 1999, major renovations were undergone, and the building expanded to accommodate the public. The dilapidated wooden decor was replaced by replicas in the original style, with the structural supports strengthened and reconfigured to comply with more stringent health and safety standards. Meanwhile, the expansion, to receive the public and perform ancillary functions, was built in a modern style. During this time, the Chamber convened in the City Hall, just as it had 140 years previously.

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel De La Chambre Palaces in Luxembourg City Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Government buildings in Luxembourg Legislative buildings in Europe Government buildings completed in 1860 Seats of national legislatures