News

Dear Members,

As we approach the halfway point of the year, I would just like to outline what we have done and what we will be doing. We started the year with a visit to Villa Pauli, the Gestapo head quarters here in Luxembourg during WW2. We followed this by two day trips to the battlefields of Northern Luxembourg led by David Heal, a long standing resident who has a vast knowledge of the wartime history of Luxembourg. The weather proved sufficiently wet to provide an evocatively muddy terrain. In March we held our AGM at the Headquarters of Lalux, one of our sponsors, who also very kindly hosted a vin d’honneur to close the evening. After the Easter break we had an excellent lecture given by historian and museum director Professor Guy Thewes. This was the second and concluding part of a series prepared for the BLS by Professor Thewes. I think the series gave us an incredible insight into Luxembourg history and the country’s relationships with its neighbours France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and also with the United Kingdom concluding with signing of the Treaty of London. We hope that the text will become available to members in due course. In addition to the BLS activities cited above we were invited to participate and /or share in a number of other events which were initiated by other organisations ; lectures, musical events and a couple of parties, enjoyed by all those who joined. Now nearly at the halfway point through the year and I would like to outline to you what we have coming up, which is slightly lighter than the first half with its largely historical focus. Please note that unless otherwise stated events are open only to all paid up members. Registration is via our web site. Some events have limits due to the nature of the event, so if something catches your eye do register as soon as you receive the email announcing that bookings are open.

Dates for your diary Friday 14th June

Hoping for a lovely summer evening we are hosting an evening at the Villa Vauban. We will be guided through the Villa’s collection of Italian art and conclude with an Italian wine tasting workshop

Thursday 20th June

Our ever popular Summer Party is being held at the Residence of the British Embassy . We extend our thanks to the Embassy for its generosity for allowing us to hold our party in the beautiful Embassy gardens and to our sponsors for their support. We are just hoping for a sunny evening allowing us to share a glass of cremant and meet our members.

July and August

July and August are normally quite quiet as most of us are on our summer break, however this year we have managed to reserve 4 tours of the State Rooms of the Grand Ducal Palace for the BLS.

Sunday 21st July 14.15

Sunday 28th July 14.15

Sunday 11th August 14.15

Sunday 18th August 14.15

The palace is only open in the summer when the Royal family are away on their summer holiday, so this is a great opportunity to see behind the beautiful iconic facade.

Please note this event is open to members and their families.

September – October

Our first events after the “rentrée” are at the end of September early October.

We have another two tours that we entitle “Hidden Luxembourg” and these will be led by our wonderful guide Patrick Schaul.

Saturday 28th September 14.00 will allow you to discover the underground galleries of Fort Royal where the ”LUGA 2025 Cuvee Millesime” Cremant is stored. It will also include a visit to Fort Vauban and the underground tunnels. Duration 2 hours.

Saturday 5th October 14.00 will investigate the counterscarp wall surrounding Fort Rumigny and the entrance to the defensive mining galleries, part of the Plateau du Rahm. Duration 2 hours.

A point of information, these tours involve walking over uneven surfaces and a number of stairs.

Open to members

If you would prefer something a little less strenuous we will be offering two wine tasting sessions down on the Moselle at the Domaines Vinsmoselle.

Dates Saturdays 28th September and the 5th October at 14.00 each day at the Caves Cremant Poll-Fabaire,

115 Rte du Vin Wormeldange Duration 2 hours.

Open to members

Tuesday 15th October

The annual Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture which will be given by Allen Packwood Fellow of Churchill College Cambridge and Director of the Archives Centre.

Open to members and invited guests. Venue tbc

Tuesday 13th November

We are offering a private tour of the European Court of Justice, the judicial seat for the EU.

I am very grateful that Sir Nicholas Forwood, one of our patrons, will accompany us and add some extra insight into the workings of the Court where he presided. We will be attending part of a hearing as well as seeing other aspects of the functioning of the Court.

I will post this relatively early for registration because, as of necessity the tour needs to be on a working day, I know that some of you would find this helpful. I would underscore this is not a tour specifically for jurists, it is open to anybody who is interested in the democratic legal functioning of the European Union. Duration 3 hours

The tour is open to members and will be conducted in English.

Saturday 23rd November

End of year Gala Dinner at the Hotel Royal

We sadly decided to leave the Cercle Munster where we have held our gala dinner for the past two years. Increasing membership has required us to find a bigger venue and so the 2024 dinner will be held at the Royal which has greater flexibility.

In addition to the one off events the BLS education programme, under the leadership of Vice President Chris Atkinson, continues to offer its ever popular English languages courses as well as courses in Art and Luxembourgish.

All members of the Council contribute to success of our activities, but I would like to extend a special thanks to Debbie McDonnell who has taken the main responsibility for the summer party and Louise Benjamin who is working hard on setting up the Churchill lecture.

The Council has lots of ideas and if you have anything that you particularly would like to propose, please contact me I am always very happy to explore new ideas.

We wish you a wonderful remainder of 2024 and look forward to seeing you at some of the events we have planned.

Warm wishes

Jacqui Spence

Vice President Events

British Luxembourg Society