Bourgmeisterin

In the ancient era before Instagram influencers descended upon us like a well-dressed plague, fashion photography had humble beginnings. Picture this: engravings copied from photos of actresses trying to out-fashion each other, because who needs filters when you've got corsets? Find out more at  www.bourgmeisterin.com !

Steichen wasn't just focused on the American scene; he had an international lens on his artistic microscope. He organised shows and made crucial acquisitions from Europe and Latin America, sometimes even hopping on a plane to do so. Under his reign, the Department published three books, including the famous "The Family of Man". Find out more at  www.bourgmeisterin.com !

Back in the thrilling days of yore, when men in wigs roamed freely, François Boch, the OG metal maestro, decided he was tired of just smelting stuff. So, in 1748, he thought, "Why not spice things up a bit?" and birthed a pottery workshop in Audun-le-Tiche, a town in Lorraine. In an era when European porcelain was mostly a luxury import from the Far East, with prices that only the well-h...

Around 1824, the Mettlach factory hit the jackpot by creating an impression under the glaze, adding a shield of armor to protect those snazzy decorations. And wait for it – they cracked the colorful code, solving the puzzle of printing in multiple hues. Take that, English trendsetters! Now, while Jean-François was sharpening his printing prowess with an English inspiration injection from his 1823...

What also happened at the end of the 19th century was the invention of phanolith, the porcelain prodigy that's like the love child of jasperware (that British Wedgwood ceramics that I'm so obsessed with, y'all!🤩) and pâte-sur-pâte. Picture this: a semi-transparent marvel that embodies the best of both worlds. Jasperware stands as a distinctive type of pottery with its roots tracing ba...

Once upon a time in the quirky world of yesteryear, there lived a man named Hugo Gernsback, or as we like to call him, the grand poobah of sci-fi sass. Born with the slightly less sci-fi-sounding name Hugo Gernsbacher, this Luxembourgish-American dynamo strutted into the scene on August 16, 1884, and the universe of science fiction has never been the same since. Picture this: a dapper chap with dr...

In the tumultuous year of 1929, our protagonist faced a twist of fate that even a cosmic oracle wouldn't have seen coming. Picture this: ownership of his first beloved magazines slipping through his fingers like stardust in a solar wind. Now, the cosmic gossip mill is alive with speculation. Was it a genuine misadventure, a dance with bankruptcy's cold embrace? Or perhaps a cunning manipul...

His journey into the world of patents began with a bang – his first patent, a revolutionary method for manufacturing dry cell batteries. Filed on June 28, 1906, and granted on February 5, 1907, it was the spark that lit the fuse of Gernsback's inventive prowess. But Gernsback wasn't satisfied with just redefining batteries. His inventive spirit led him to craft a variety of gadgets that sp...

Ah, the man, the myth, the Luxembourg-born French dynamo – Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman, or as we're going to affectionatly call him, "Robbie." Born on June 29, 1886, he decided to spice up the international political scene with his charming presence until his final bow on September 4, 1963. Robbie wasn't your average statesman; he was the Beyoncé of political thinkers an...

Schuman, once a rising star, found himself facing the aftermath of his 1940 vote for Pétain – a decision that stirred up more trouble than a stirred martini. Initially, things weren't all sunshine and rainbows. His 1940 Pétain connection and ministerial duties made him a bit of a political pariah. In September 1944, General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny decided, "Hey, let's get Schuman o...

Picture this: the mid-1950s, a time of exploration and discovery, when a brewing family from Niederkerschen embarked on a quest to expand their empire beyond the realms of hops and barley. And who better to lead the charge than the intrepid geologist Michel Lucius? Find out more at  www.bourgmeisterin.com !

Back in the glory days of 1871, when handlebar mustaches were all the rage, Brasserie par actions de Diekirch was born with a cool one million francs in its pocket. The Dikrecher brewery had more name changes than a pop star and shuffled owners like a deck of cards over the next century. Fast forward a bit over a decade to 1886, and voilà – this is when the Brasserie went to TOWN! It was now the R...

While most folks know Rosport for its refreshing mineral water, the 650-strong community holds another gem close to their hearts: Henri Owen Tudor, the mastermind behind the world's first car battery. Born in 1859 to Welshman John Thomas Tudor and local lass Marie Loser, Henri was destined for greatness from the start. With a lineage steeped in innovation – his brother Robert even donned the m...

This is the 2nd part about the man behind the illumination of the entire cities using only the batteries at the end of the 19th century! Have a listen to how his business skyrocketed thanks to the fruitful collaboration with a pal called Adolf Muller (who tried to screw him over in the end, but got busted hashtag#karma🤷🏻‍♀️)

Today we're discovering Differdange - one iron nickel at a time;) Would you be surprised to hear that iron was mined there as early as the Roman times? You better be because it's true! Miami university and all these things are great, but how about Differdange being the center of iron industry's attention mid 20th century? That's what we're saying😁

Be that the Romans or Industrialisation, the leithmotif was the same – iron🗿 Blast furnaces here, blast furnaces there, than boom! ARBED🗿🗿 Then BOOM! Demise of the industry and Arcelor swooping in. But theeen – Miami uni et al. Count John Dolibois in – a prominent Luxembourger turned American turned Luxembourger😁 Amazing place – 100 stories per square meter👌 Find out more at www.bourgmeisteri...

Today we're talking about Marie-Adélaïde, probably the most unlucky Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. She was the first, in fact, Grand female Duchess, and the first Luxembourgish ruler (from the Nassau dynasty at least) to be born here, too. Dad passed away too soon without having done a proper handover to the little girl, and then there was just oo much noise coming from everywhere. No wonder she...

Right, so our first Grand Duchess lived through some pretty uneasy times of WWI, and the Entente powers were not making it particularly easier after its end doubting Luxembourg’s trustworthiness and demanding change of power:/ An almost coup d’état led annoying figure known as Emile Servais proclaiming himself the Republic of Luxembourg’s first president  #wot 🤦🏻‍♀️ Justice was restored in the e...

𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵 𝗞𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱: “𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻” 🎭🖌️ (part 2) By the 1930s, Europe was spiraling into chaos, and Kutter’s art was officially branded “degenerate” by Hitler’s regime – which, honestly, 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 😬🔥 So Paris welcomed him while dictators fumed. Luxembourg? Still kind of awkward about him. Then came his famous Clowns series...

Not our most usual take indeed, but an important one – Luxemburger Wörterbuch is a dictionary of the Luxembourgish language that has its own history of 5 editions and a character of a tornado. If you thought rules ever applied here – think again! The language lives with the heart on its sleeve and adapts to the way people use it. Thread carefully!

Not your typical dictionary drama, but here it is—the Luxembourger Wörterbuch found itself in the eye of a storm in 1996, courtesy of Paul Cerf’s fiery exposé. The Grand-Ducal Institute faced scrutiny for antisemitic and offensive content, with Minister Erna Hennicot-Schoepges ordering unsold copies removed. Controversy swirled—from censorship concerns to copyright disputes, sexism accusations by...

Today we're talking about an intrepid biology hero, a Nobel Prize winner from Luxembourg, Jules Hoffmann. Hoffmann grew up in Echternach, exploring the countryside with his dad, a biology professor who shared his love for insects. While most kids collected toys, Jules was busy marveling at bugs – and it turns out, that fascination would lead to something incredible. At Strasbourg university, J...

We're continuing with the story about Jules Hoffmann: in the late ’60s, a young technician in the Strasbourg lab caught Hoffmann’s eye. Little did he know, she’d soon become his wife, the mother of his two children, and his most trusted collaborator. Barely married, she went back to university, earning degrees in biochemistry and biology, joining Jules in his quest to unravel the mysteries of...

Once upon a time, nestled in the quaint countryside of Beaufort, in the mystical eastern realms of Luxembourg, lie not one, but two castles – a duo of historical wonder that will have you saying, "Medieval meets Renaissance? Sign me up!" Find out more at  www.bourgmeisterin.com !

We’re continuing with the stories about Luxembourgish Nobel Prize winners: Gabriel Lippmann can proudly claim the title of one of the pioneers bagging the award in 1908 – for figuring out how to reproduce colours in photos using a special effect called interference. But that’s not all. Before his big breakthrough, Lippmann made some fascinating discoveries in physics, including how electricity and...