The National Museum of History and Art ( lb, Nationalmusée fir Geschicht a Konscht, french: Musée national d'histoire et d'art, german: Nationalmuseum für Geschichte und Kunst), abbreviated to MNHA, is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

located 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 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 ...

. It is dedicated to displaying

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

s and artefacts from all epochs of Luxembourg history. The museum is situated in

Fishmarket Fishmarket ( lb, Fëschmaart, french: Marché-aux-Poissons, german: Fischmarkt), also spelt Fish Market, is a street in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg, that shares its name with the neighbourhood directly surrounding it. It lies in the ...

, the historic heart of the city, in the

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 ...

History

The first proposal for such a museum was made during the French occupation of the Revolutionary Wars, when Luxembourg was annexed into the

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

Forêts Forêts was a department of the French First Republic, and later the First French Empire, in present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. Its name, meaning 'forests', comes from the Ardennes forests. It was formed on 24 October 1795, after t ...

. However, the museum was never opened, despite the expropriation of a number of artefacts from the church. With the affirmation of Luxembourg's independence under the 1839 Treaty of London came a greater interest by native Luxembourgers in promoting the history of their country. In 1845, historians and archaeologists formed the 'Society for the Study and Preservation of Historic Monuments in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg' (french: Société pour la recherche et la conservation des monuments historiques dans le Grand-Duché de Luxembourg), regularly known as the 'Archaeological Society' (french: Société archéologique). The society took over the responsibility of maintaining a collection of historic antiquities from Luxembourg City's

Athenaeum Athenaeum may refer to: Books and periodicals * ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798 * ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921 * ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...

. In 1868, the Society received a boost from the establishment of the Royal-Grand Ducal Institute (french: Institut royal grand-ducal), amongst the responsibilities of which was the conservation of archaeological collections. In 1939, with

World War II 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 ...

beginning, the museum moved its collections to secure them. When the German army invaded Luxembourg on 10 May 1940, the museum was used as a temporary shelter by the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

and

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

for several months. At the end of 1940, the museum was placed under

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

control. The Nazis planned to add to the museum's collection to promote their idea of German culture. During the Nazi occupation, from 1940 to 1945, the museum acquired 3,500 items-mostly folk objects. In 1946, the museum reopened as the Luxembourg State Museums; its collections were moved back. In 1988, the museum was separated into the National Museum of History and Art and the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

, which moved to a new building in 1996. The museum has been expanded with a new building designed by Christian Bauer et Associés, opened in 2002.National Museum of History and Art: Restructuration
, retrieved 25 March 2010

References

External links

National Museum of History and Art official website

Collections page of the National Museum of History and Art

Christian Bauer et Associés
- architect's website Museums in Luxembourg City History and Art Art museums and galleries in Luxembourg History museums Convention centres in Luxembourg {{Europe-art-display-stub