From Pope visit to politics: the year in pictures

Day after day, photographers for this newspaper and its sister brands – the Luxemburger Wort, Virgule and Contacto – are at the forefront of the news, capturing current affairs in pictures. Here they have chosen some of their favourite pictures of the year.

Working under time pressure and sometimes in difficult conditions – whether in freezing cold or extreme heat, in the middle of crowds or isolated locations – the eye for detail of a photographer and sense for the right moment can bring a story to life in a whole new way.

People

It’s not every day the Pope comes to town and the pontiff’s visit provided a new motif for Luxembourg’s photographers. The last time a sitting head of the Catholic church visited the country was Pope John-Paul II in 1985.

In a whirlwind tour of just a few hours, Pope Francis met with members of the royal family. He gave a speech to assembled members of the government, parliament, judiciary and diplomatic corps – urging the people of Luxembourg to make more babies – and ended his tour at Notre Dame Cathedral.

The Pope did not hold mass in Luxembourg. He did, however, stop at a local café for an espresso.

Crown Prince Guillaume in October became the lieutenant representative of his father, Grand Duke Henri, granting him more powers and taking on more responsibilities en route to becoming Luxembourg’s monarch himself.

Henri on national day in June had announced that he would be slowly stepping down and during his Christmas speech confirmed that Guillaume would fully succeed him on 3 October next year.

After Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume is sworn in as lieutenant representative, he is greeted and congratulated by numerous onlookers at the palace in Luxembourg City  © Photo credit: Gerry Huberty

Extreme weather and nature

Luxembourg was also hit by floods in 2024. The picture shows the situation in Mersch at the beginning of October © Photo credit: Gerry Huberty

After the catastrophic flooding in 2021, Luxembourg has seen water levels rise on a regular basis as torrential rains poured down on the country causing flooding in January 2022, November 2023, and May and October this year. Photographers capture these events up close, with one of the pictures of the year chosen by Gerry Huberty giving a bird’s eye view of the inundations in Mersch.

A more peaceful side of nature was captured by photographer Anouk Antony, whose keen eye caught this leaf, seemingly suspended in the air, hanging by the thread of a spider’s web.

A leaf literally hangs by a thread © Photo credit: Anouk Antony

For a feature on the invasion of the Asian hornet and the dying of Luxembourg’s bees, photographer Marc Wilwert visited a beekeeper, Philippe Thill, who is trying to protect is hives. He has already lost many bees but is putting up a fight, devising traps for the Asian hornets. After all, bees are needed as pollinators for 70% of the fruits and vegetables that humans eat.

Not an astronaut or an actor shooting a film, but a beekeeper at work. © Photo credit: Marc Wilwert

Sport

Shot putter Tom Habscheid, pictured with wheelchair racer Katrin Kohl, won a bronze medal in Paris this summer. He is the fifth Luxembourg para-athlete to achieve such a feat © Photo credit: Gerry Huberty

All eyes were on the Paris Olympics this year, but it was Luxembourg’s paralympians who carried home a medal for the country. Shot putter Tom Habscheid won bronze in his discipline, earning him Luxembourg’s athlete of the year gong in December. Habscheid at the last Paralympics in Tokyo had narrowly missed out a medal, landing in fourth place.

Politics

Up close and personal. Christophe Olinger accompanied LSAP politician Nicolas Schmit as the lead candidate of the Party of European Socialists on his election campaign tour © Photo credit: Christophe Olinger

June saw millions of citizens across the European Union vote for their representatives in the European Parliament. But more was at stake for one Luxembourger. Nicolas Schmit was named the top candidate of the Socialist parties in Europe. That put him first in line to become the next European Commission president if the Socialists were to win the election.

However, with the Christian Democrat European People’s Party carrying most of the votes – and securing a second term for commission president Ursula von der Leyen – Schmit was pushed out of Brussels politics.

Donald Trump in November secured a second term as US president in his race for the White House against Democrat candidate Kamala Harris.

The US embassy in Luxembourg hosted an elections breakfast to watch results come in but by the time it started it was already clear that Trump had won the vote. Photographer Marc Wilwert captured US ambassador Thomas Barrett during the breakfast.

The outcome of the US election was also closely followed in Luxembourg. The picture shows the US ambassador to Luxembourg, Thomas M. Barrett © Photo credit: Marc Wilwert