Luxembourg City Hall (french: Hôtel de ville de Luxembourg) is the city hall of

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 Gr ...

, 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 ...

. The city hall is the centre of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

, including being used as the private office of the

Mayor of Luxembourg City The Mayor of Luxembourg City is the mayor of Luxembourg's capital and largest city, Luxembourg City. The officeholder, like other mayors in Luxembourg, is appointed by the Grand Duke amongst council members. Due to the city's importance within the ...

. Because of its position in Luxembourg's capital, it regularly hosts foreign dignitaries. It is located on the southwestern part of

Place Guillaume II Place Guillaume II is a town square in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The square lies to the west of Krautmaart and to the north of Boulevard Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the heart of Luxembourg's historic Ville Haute quarter. It ...

(nicknamed ''Knuedler''), the main square in the centre of the city. The two-storey building is built in neoclassical style.

History

Until 1795, the Place Guillaume II was home to a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

friars, At the time, Luxembourg's town hall was the current Grand Ducal Palace, located just to the east of Place Guillaume II, 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 his ...

. The French invasion during the

French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

heralded a seizure of the monastery, and the beginning of the use of the Grand Ducal Palace for central government purposes. As a result, for three decades, the municipal headquarters were moved around the city, without adequate accommodation. Ever since

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

had given the site of the monastery to the city, plans had been afoot to build a purpose-built city hall. These plans finally came to fruition in 1828, when a design by Liège-based Justin Rémont was given the go-ahead. The following year, the old monastery, which had fallen into disrepair, was deconstructed, with much of the material going towards building the new city hall, construction of which began in 1830. Construction continued through the Belgian Revolution, with Luxembourg City (protected by its

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

garrison) remaining the only part of the Grand Duchy outside the control of the rebel forces. The building was completed in 1838, and first used for a

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, chaired by

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

François Scheffer, on 22 October 1838. Due to the ongoing Belgian Revolution, the city hall could not be opened by the

King-Grand Duke The designation of King-Grand Duke was held by the three monarchs of the House of Orange-Nassau that ruled Luxembourg and the Netherlands in personal union, between 1815 and 1890. These monarchs thus held the titles of King of the Netherlands and G ...

. Consequently, the official unveiling had to wait until 15 July 1844, when William II also unveiled the

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...

to himself on the same Place Guillaume II (which is named in his honour). In 1848, the City Hall hosted the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

(from 29 April onwards), which wrote the new national constitution. The building went without major changes until 1938, with the addition of two

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

s of lions, which flank the entrance, designed by Luxembourger

Auguste Trémont Auguste Nicolas Trémont (31 December 1892 – 23 October 1980) was a Luxembourger painter, sculptor, and medallist. He specialised in sculptures of animals, with a particular emphasis on big cats. Life After spending his childhood in Luxembourg ...

. 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 ...

of 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 opposi ...

, the

occupiers converted the basement from market halls into offices, greatly increasing the amount of office space in the building. After the war, the building played host to the first meeting of the High Commission of the European Coal and Steel Community, chaired by Jean Monnet on 8 August 1952.

Footnotes

References

* {{Luxembourg City buildings and structures City Hall Government of Luxembourg City City and town halls in Luxembourg Neoclassical architecture Government buildings completed in 1838 Constituent Assembly of Luxembourg Architecture in Luxembourg