Edutainment

Walking the Past

History tours of the city of Luxembourg

Walking tours are a great way to learn about an area. Together with the students of their public history seminars “The City of Luxembourg in Public Presentation”, historians Michel Pauly and Marie-Paule Jungblut work out mobile historic tours, which lead users to points of interest of the city of Luxembourg from the 10th to the 20th century.

The tours use the online platform izi.TRAVEL, which is available free on the Web (PC), with a smart phone or tablet in the AppStore, on GooglePlay or Microsoft.  The app created by the students includes a current map of Luxembourg and integrates sound, text and film.  Importantly, it presents current historical thinking, which may present a different perspective on the past than is widely held by the public. With their smartphones users may learn about the past by walking five km routes.  Other users may use the app at home learning from numerous illustrations and video clips.  On foot or at home, the app is nothing less than a digital history book.

The city of Luxembourg around 1600, G.Braun / F. Hogenberg, 1598.

The Octave Procession 1893

In 1893, the Luxembourg artist Michel Engels published an album of 31 collotype prints under the title The Solemn Final Procession of the Octave of Our Lady of Luxembourg. His depiction of the religious event is a mixture of reality and fantasy. In addition, each of his pictures tells stories of urban life.

*Storymap available in German.

Follow us into the social and religious life of the city of Luxembourg at the end of the 19th century.

Walking World War I

On August 2, 1914, German troops invaded Luxembourg, a neutral nation. From this point on, the Allies therefore considered the Duchy to be hostile occupied territory. Luxembourg was cut off, leading to a shortage of foodstuffs and other provisions. Political life continued, yet the critical supply situation sparked social and political unrest that found its expression on the streets of the capital. On account of its central location within the international railway network, the city was repeatedly targeted by Allied bombers.

Our guided tour Walking WWI takes you to both familiar and lesser-known places that figured in the history of the capital during WW1. Students of history at the Historical Institute of the University of Luxembourg share their knowledge with you, bringing to life the story of the city and its inhabitants during the period 1914 to 1918.

In the course of your tour, you will be guided principally by postcards taken from both the archives of the Luxembourg National Library and private collections. Some pictures come from the holdings of Luxembourg City’s two museums. By linking to the website www1.lu of the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History, you can broaden and deepen your knowledge still further. The MEDIAcentre of the University of Luxembourg has also assembled historical footage to produce a film clip.

City guide created by: Marie-Paule Jungblut, edutainment.uni.lu, Institute for History of the University of Luxembourg; historical adviser: Prof. Dr. Michel Pauly,  Institute for History of the University of Luxembourg.

Offered languages: German, French, English.

The medieval City of Luxembourg

Luxembourg City was a fortress renowned throughout Europe for several centuries, and countless remains still to be seen around town remind visitors of the city’s rich heritage in the field of military history. Medieval Luxembourg, for its part, would appear to have left fewer traces of its past.

Our tourguide takes you to lesser-known spots in the mediaeval city. History students from the Institute for History at the University of Luxembourg share their knowledge with you, bringing to life the city and its inhabitants between the tenth and sixteenth century.

In the course of the tour, you will encounter exhibits taken from the exhibitions “Urban Archaeology” at the Musée national d’histoire et d’art and “The Luxembourg Story” on display at the Lëtzebuerg City Museum . These exhibitions are an excellent way in which to complement this tour.

The items as shown were recovered from excavations which (unless otherwise stated) were conducted by the Centre national de Recherche archéologique (CNRA) and the former Fonds national de renovation de la vieille ville. City guide compiled by: Marie-Paule Jungblut, edutainment.uni.lu, Institute for History; Historical advisor: Prof. Dr. Michel Pauly, Institute for History; Archaeological advisors: Christiane Bis-Worch, CNRA, Isabelle Yegles-Becker.

Offered languages: German, French, English.

Medieval cellar of House Rue Wiltheim, no. 8 in the Musée national d’Histoire et d’Art. It acts as showcase for the city’s permanent archaeology exhibition.
The tower behind Place St-Maximin forms part of the first stone city wall, which was built in the final quarter of the 12th century (post-1171).

Dalheim, a former Roman town

20 km from the city of Luxembourg lies the village Dalheim, called Ricciacum at the time of the Romans. In those days, if one wanted to travel from the Mediterranean coast to the north of Gaul, one could take the Via Agrippa ancient variant of today’s Autoroute du Soleil. Along this important traffic axis, a large number of smaller and larger towns offered travellers the opportunity to spend the night and supply themselves with fresh horses. Dalheim, the ancient Ricciacum, owes its origins to this important traffic artery. Discover the small town settlement of supra-regional importance via a guided tour that has been developed by students of the Institute for History of the University of Luxembourg and the Centre national de recherche archéologique  (CNRA) with the support of the association Ricciacus Frënn.

City guide created by: Marie-Paule Jungblut, edutainment.uni.lu, Institute for History of the University of Luxembourg; historical adviser: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andrea Binsfeld, Institute for History of the University of Luxembourg.

Offered language: German.

The eagle monument is located on the road in the direction of Filsdorf. The huge stone blocks of the pedestal date from the 3rd century and were found not far from their present location. (Photo: A. Halter, 2018).
Excavation picture from August 2008. On the left you can see the cold bath with water basin (top) (Photo: P. Henrich © CNRA).

In the Footsteps of Migration in the City of Luxembourg

Migrant workers‘ contribution to Luxembourg’s economic boom since the last third of the 19th century until the 21st century is undisputed. Italians,

The tour guide, drawn up by students of the Historical Institute of the University of Luxembourg, reveals well-known and less well-known venues of municipal and national migration history. Several stories, that you will discover during your discovery journey through the city tell success stories, others tell of everyday life, conflicts and struggles for recognition. The aim of the city guide is to introduce you to the realities of life facing migrants through the centuries and thus to contribute to the perception of migration history as an essential part of Luxembourg’s history.

On the tour you will come across photographs and films from the collections of the municipal Photothèque, from private collections as well as from the Centre national de l’Audiovisuel (CNA).

Creation of the city guide: Marie-Paule Jungblut, edutainment.uni.lu at the Institute for History-Uni.lu; Historical consulting: Prof. Dr. Michel Pauly, Institute for History-Uni.lu. Our thanks also go to ASTI for their moral support and for the French and English translations.

The tour is available in English, French and German.