From Luxembourg to America: a shared banner, a shared identity

The first Luxembourgers left for America in three waves, the first one from the 1830s until the 1840s, the second from 1846 until 1860, and the third wave beginning around 1860 until 1900, but emigration peaked in the last one.

In total about 70,000 Luxembourgers journeyed across the Atlantic during this time, with a number of women also emigrating as brides of American soldiers after both world wars.

“Often families had ten children, and they could not be supported by the agricultural economy in Luxembourg. To begin with emigration was to New York and the states around that city,” said Marc Zimer, a teacher at Lycée Lënster International School.

Emigrants worked in ports and greenhouses

When New York became overcrowded, Luxembourgers moved westwards to Ohio, Michigan and finally to Chicago. Many who settled in Chicago worked in greenhouses planting flowers and vegetables for consumption by the communities they had joined.

“Luxembourgers arrived at ports such as Ellis Island, Baltimore and New Orleans. The ones who went to the latter travelled up the Mississippi River to make settlements,” he said.

Teacher Marc Zimer founded a schools exchange programme between Luxembourg and Luxembourgish-descent communities in the United States  © Photo credit: Marc Zimer

“Luxembourgers arrived at ports such as Ellis Island, Baltimore and New Orleans. The ones who went to the latter travelled up the Mississippi River to make settlements,” he said.

Zimer highlighted that in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin there are villages where the houses were built in stone in the traditional Luxembourgish style, that wouldn’t look out of place in the Grand Ducy today. He gives the example St.Donatus in Iowa, which “would still look nowadays a little bit like Luxembourg.”

After a generation, some of those in Chicago travelled north to Wisconsin, and “there is an intense distribution of the descendants of Luxembourgish immigrants between Milwaukee and Sheboygan, including Belgium, Wisconsin.”

Associations formed in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin keep the cultural and religious roots of Luxembourgish heritage alive, and in addition to an annual Luxembourg Festival (held in Belgium, Wisconsin), the local community “still know how to make kniddelen and blood sausages.”

A couple of thousand Luxembourgish descendants have dual citizenship, said Zimer, explaining that to get this they must prove that their lineage traces back to the Grand Duchy.

New Luxembourg/American Octav banner

The event entitled “Celebrating & Renewing the Luxembourg/American experience” on 23 May at the Parc Hotel Alvisse in the capital, is designed to show the friendship between Luxembourg and America.

It will also celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Octave procession in the capital, with a new flag of friendship, created by artist Jaques Schneider.

There are two existing Octave banners of friendship between Luxembourg and America, one created in 1892, the other in the 1966, which both currently hang in the Notre Dame Cathedral and have been restored.

The new Octave banner joins two others created in 1892 and 1966 © Photo credit: Marc Zimer

There are two existing Octave banners of friendship between Luxembourg and America, one created in 1892, the other in the 1966, which both currently hang in the Notre Dame Cathedral and have been restored.

In addition to the exposition of banners, the event will be attended by Mike Ansay, the honorary consul of Luxembourg in Wisconsin. Other organisations involved include the Luxembourg American Cultural Society, the Brotherhood from Chicago, the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, Ansay International, Roots & Leaves Society, Friends of Junglinster and La Crosse, and the Miami and Lakeland Universities, the Students from the Wisconsin Luxembourg Youth Committee, and many other American-Luxembourg friends.

150 people are expected to attend, and an invitation has been extended to the American embassy, although currently there is no ambassador currently in situ in Luxembourg.

School exchange programme

Five years ago, Zimer found schools in parts of America where Luxembourgers had settled, and set up an exchange programme, which now includes 10 schools in Minnesota, Arizona, Iowa and Wisconsin having partner schools in Luxembourg.

Zoom conferences are held once a month between students from both sides of the Atlantic, who can then visit for between ten days and two weeks in spring and summer.

The students and their professors from Loyola University who are working on a project about Luxembourgish immigrants to Chicago  © Photo credit: Marc Zimer

Zoom conferences are held once a month between students from both sides of the Atlantic, who can then visit for between ten days and two weeks in spring and summer.

“It gives an understanding to our history and brings it to life,” said Zimer, adding, “Luxembourgers left because they had no choice, and we can stay in touch and improve our understanding of each other generations later.”

Zimer hopes the event will be held annually to deepen ties and understanding between the two nations.

He recently spent four days at Loyola University in Chicago where five local students are working on a project about Luxembourgish immigrants to the city. The exhibition they create will also be shown in Luxembourg.

Tickets

The event will include dinner and music from Luxembourg’s Fun Brass Dixie Band. You can book tickets here.