Guillaume Konsbruck (3 September 1909 – 3 October 1983) was a

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 military officer, politician, and manager of the steel company

Arbed The Aciéries Réunies de Burbach-Eich-Dudelange ( French; literally "United Steelworks of Burbach-Eich-Dudelange"), better known by its acronym ARBED, was a major Luxembourg-based steel and iron producing company. Created in 1911 after the merge ...

Early life

Guillame Konsbruck was born on 3 September 1909. He studied at the cavalry branch of the

Saint-Cyr Military Academy Saint-Cyr refers to the popular child-saint Saint Quiricus (Cyriacus), whose following was strong in France because relics were brought back from Antioch by the 4th-century Bishop Saint Amator of Auxerre. Saint-Cyr may refer to: Places Franc ...

from 1931 to 1933, subsequently joining the

Luxembourg Army The Luxembourg Armed Forces (; french: Armée luxembourgeoise) are the national military force of Luxembourg. The army has been a fully volunteer military since 1967. , it has 939 personnel. The army is under civilian control, with the grand ...

. By 1940 he held the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and acted as an aide to Prince Felix.

World War II

On 10 May 1940 Germany invaded Luxembourg. Konsbruck accompanied Hereditary Grand Duke Jean, Princess Marie Gabrielle, and Princess Alix as they fled to France. Konsbruck served as '' aide de camp'' to

Grand Duchess Charlotte Charlotte (Charlotte Adelgonde Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine; 23 January 1896 – 9 July 1985) reigned as List of monarchs of Luxembourg, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 14 January 1919 until her abdication on 12 November 1964. She acceded to th ...

during her exile in

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 ...

. After arriving in Bordeaux, Guillaume Konsbruck and his family were granted transit visas from the Portuguese consul

Aristides de Sousa Mendes Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches () GCC, OL (July 19, 1885 – April 3, 1954) was a Portuguese consul during World War II. As the Portuguese consul-general in the French city of Bordeaux, he defied the orders of Antóni ...

, in June 1940. They travelled to Portugal along with the rest of the government and the

Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg 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 ...

. Guillaume, along with his wife Nelly, and their sons Guy and Carlo, followed the Grand Ducal family through Coimbra and Lisbon. They settled at Praia das Maçãs after the Grand Ducal family moved to

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

. By August, the entire entourage had moved to Monte Estoril and the Konsbruck family stayed at Chalet Posser de Andrade with the Grand Ducal family. They left Portugal with the

and the Dowager Grand Duchess Anne Marie on 3 October 1940 aboard the Pan Am Yankee Clipper headed for New York City. As a major he returned to Luxembourg late in the afternoon of 12 September 1944. Representing Prime Minister

Pierre Dupong Pierre Dupong (1 November 1885 – 23 December 1953)Thewes, Guy"Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché depuis 1848." Service information et presse. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Centrale, 2011. was a Luxembourgish politician and statesman. He was the 16th ...

, he inspected 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 ...

and several government buildings before taking part in conferences with Allied leaders in the country. He welcomed the Grand Duchess at the border upon her return to the country on 17 April 1945.

Post-war career

After the war Konsbruck became involved in creating an official orthography for the

Luxembourgish language Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...

. On 29 August 1946 Konsbruck was appointed via Grand Ducal Decree to be Minister of Supply and Economic Affairs. He was made a Commander of the

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne de chêne, german: Eichenlaubkronenorden, lb, Eechelaafkrounenuerden) is an order of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by Grand ...

and Grand Officer of the

House of Orange The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current dynasty, reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the Politics and governm ...

in 1951.

Citations

References

* * * 1909 births 1983 deaths Luxembourgian soldiers Luxembourgian politicians Luxembourgian military personnel of World War II Ministers for Agriculture of Luxembourg {{Luxembourg-politician-stub

Early life

World War II

Post-war career

See also

Citations

References