LUSSEMBURGO. -
I. GEOGRAPHY
Small independent state of 2,586 sq. km., enclosed between the frontiers of France, Belgium, and Germany.The territory consists of two clearly distinct natural regions: the southern part (Gutland), a continuation of the plains of Lorraine, crossed by the valleys of the Moselle and several of its tributaries (elev. 130–300 m); and the northern part (Eislech), formed by the eastern extremity of the Ardennes, with wooded hills and valleys deeply cut by various waterways (elev. 300–560 m). The climate is intermediate between maritime and continental, though closer to the former, with abundant rainfall and very pronounced temperature variations between north and south. The population, 291,000 (1950; density 114 per sq. km), has remained virtually stationary for two decades and includes approximately 20,000 foreigners, almost exclusively industrial and agricultural workers. Agriculture and livestock raising, although practiced in advanced forms, are insufficient for domestic consumption. Cultivated land accounts for 43.8% of the surface area, vineyards 0.45%, pastures 17.7%, and forests 34%. The basis of the economy of L. is industry: iron and steel production, which processes local ore, alone employs two-thirds of the population and places the small state fourth among European producers (2.6 million tons of pig iron and 2.4 million tons of steel in 1948). The language spoken in L. is the Luxembourgish dialect. Given the country’s geographical situation, the two languages, French and German, are recognized as official; everyone learns them from elementary school onward. L. is a constitutional grand duchy, with an elected government and a unicameral representative system. The capital, L., has 62,000 inhabitants.
II. HISTORY
An arena, a zone of transit and encounter between the populations of Gaul, later France, and those of Germany, L. entered history with Labienus’s victory over the Treveri (54 B.C.), which sealed its acceptance into Roman civilization. Subject to the Franks in A.D. 459, it began to assume the character of an independent political and territorial entity in 963, when Sigfrid, count of the Ardennes, gathered around the castle of L. several territories marked out by the valleys of the Moselle and the Alzette, extending northward as far as the Salm. After the customary territorial divisions inherent in the feudal system, the Ardennes dynasty, which died out in 1136, was succeeded by the collateral branch of the counts of Namur (1136–1247). Their period was characterized by the development of the towns (franchises granted by Countess Ermesinde [1196–1247]) and by the expansion of L. both northward and, above all, southward (Thionville) and westward, with the inclusion of the marquisate of Arlon. From this point onward, as a consequence of these territorial changes, the ethnic and cultural character of L. itself was transformed, since, alongside the German element, hitherto predominant, the Walloon element of the western counties came to assert itself.The Namur were then succeeded by the house of Limburg (1247–1443), from which emerged Henry VII, who, elected Emperor in 1308, went to Italy in 1310, where Dante hailed him as the restorer of justice, peace, and liberty. Crowned at the Lateran in 1312, he died the following year on his return journey from Rome (at Buonconvento, Siena). He ceded the county to his son John the Blind, king of Bohemia; the latter’s son, the emperor Charles IV of Bohemia, raised it to the rank of duchy (1354), entrusting it to his brother Wenceslaus I, who continued to extend the Duchy far to the west by incorporating the county of Chiny along the valley of the Semois. L. then enjoyed its period of greatest prosperity and good fortune, since under Wenceslaus II (1383) an era of struggles among the various claimants began (to whom the Duchy had been mortgaged under various titles), ending when Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, succeeded in having himself recognized as sovereign in 1443. L. thus became part of the Netherlands, while retaining certain privileges. In chronological order, it was ruled by the dukes of Burgundy (1443–82), the Habsburgs (1482–1553), the Spanish Habsburgs (1555–1714), except for the period 1684–1697, when it fell under French rule, Austria (1714–95), and France (from 1795 to 1815).
By the Treaties of Vienna of 1815, L., reduced in favor of Prussia by various eastern districts and constituted as a grand duchy, was given to William I, king of the Netherlands, to be possessed in perpetuity and in his personal capacity by him and his successors. Thus the autonomy and political personality of L. were recognized, although it was also required to form part of the German Confederation. A Prussian garrison was stationed in the fortress of L. The Belgian revolution of 1830, in which all L. (except the capital) took part as though it had been a province of the Netherlands, resulted for the Grand Duchy in a new territorial division, the last after all those it had undergone in earlier times. The Treaties of 19 April 1839, in sanctioning the separation of Belgium from the Netherlands, assigned to the former the whole substantial western, Walloon portion of the old grand duchy, namely the five districts of Arlon, Bastogne, Marche, Neufchâteau, and Virton, while the eastern portion, with only three districts, predominantly German-speaking, continued in personal union with the Netherlands and remained part of the German Confederation, with which an agreement for a customs union was concluded in 1842.
After receiving a first constitution in 1841 from King-Grand Duke William II, L. was granted a considerably more liberal one in 1848. When the German Confederation ended in 1866, L. was declared independent and neutral at the London Conference of 1867, after tensions had become acute—almost a prelude to the crisis of 1870—between the France of Napoleon III, who had proposed that William III buy L. back from him, and Prussia, which opposed the proposal. In 1890, following the extinction of the male line of Orange-Nassau, the personal union with the Netherlands came to an end, with the accession to the throne of Grand Duke Adolph of Nassau, whose descendants still occupy the grand-ducal throne today.
His son, William IV, married Duchess Maria Anna of Bragança, and subsequently the dynasty of L. became Catholic, to the satisfaction of the entirely Catholic population. Since no male heir was born of this marriage, the family statute was changed, and in 1912 the eldest daughter, Maria Adelaide, ascended the throne.
On 1 August 1914 Germany violated the neutrality of L. by invading and occupying the country for the entire duration of the 1914–18 war, since, by virtue of the treaty of 1867, it was unable to defend itself. After the war, once independence had been recovered, Grand Duchess Maria Adelaide, as a result of internal difficulties, freely renounced the throne (9 January 1919) in favor of her sister Charlotte. In view of a certain tendency toward union between L. and Belgium, she consented to submit the constitutional question to a plebiscite (28 September 1919): 80% of the voters declared themselves in favor of Grand Duchess Charlotte and the reigning dynasty. In November 1919 Charlotte married Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma (six children: Hereditary Grand Duke Prince John, born in 1921).
In the Second World War, on 10 May 1940, L. was again invaded by the Germans, while the Grand Duchess and her government placed themselves alongside the Allies to defend the interests of the country. Shortly after the occupation, a civil government (Gauleiter) was established, which, in the face of the people’s open opposition, distinguished itself through oppressive measures against the population (conscription of young men into the German army, forced labor, political deportations [15% of the population], internment in concentration camps, capital sentences) and against the Church (suppression of convents, cancellation of the clergy’s salaries, imprisonment and expulsion of priests and religious).
After liberation (10 September 1944), the neutrality of L., violated twice, was declared to have lapsed. At present L., which was among the founding members of the U.N., maintains an army, forms part of the Western Union, and is among the countries adhering to the Atlantic Pact.
III. DIOCESE
From the standpoint of religious administration, L. was divided chiefly between the dioceses of Trier and Liège, while some minor territories belonged to three other dioceses. Philip II, king of Spain, was the first to open negotiations in 1579 to create the diocese of L.; these failed as a result of the opposition aroused by two of the Ordinaries concerned. During the second French domination, after Napoleon’s Concordat (1801), L. was united to the diocese of Metz and, from 1823, assigned to that of Namur. An apostolic vicariate having been established by a brief of Gregory XVI in 1840, it was erected as a diocese by motu proprio of Pius IX in 1870, and recognized by the government in 1873. Since 1908 it has been immediately subject to the Holy See. It comprises the territory of the Grand Duchy. It has a Chapter with 8 non-residential canons; a major seminary of philosophy and theology; 14 deaneries, 267 parishes, 112 vicariates, 363 churches, and 495 priests; of the 291,000 inhabitants, 289,500 are Catholics (1950).Especially famous are the dancing procession at Echternach, where the tomb of St. Willibrordo, apostle of the Netherlands (d. 739), is located, and the national festivals in honor of the Madonna under the title Consolatrix afflictorum, patroness of the fatherland and of the city. From the third to the fifth Sunday after Easter, very numerous pilgrimages are made by all the parishes and neighboring provinces.
The diocese includes Benedictines, Franciscans, Jesuits, Redemptorists, White Fathers, Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Brothers of Mercy of St. Mary Help of Christians, Brothers of the Christian Schools, Augustinian Canonesses, Benedictine nuns, Dominicans, Carmelites, Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus, of the Poor Women of Bergamo, Hospitallers of St. Elizabeth, of the Third Order of St. Francis of Mercy, of St. Zita, of Christian Doctrine, of the Divine Savior, and of Charity.
The Catholic press, Catholic Action, and missionary works are very flourishing. In the missions, L. occupies a distinguished place.
IV. LEGAL STATUS OF THE CHURCH
There is no concordat between the Holy See and L. The position of the Church is established, in substance, by the Concordat of Napoleon I of 1801, excluding, however, the so-called “organic articles.” It is regulated by the Constitution of 1868 and by a law of 1873, the latter stipulating that the bishop of L. must have Luxembourg nationality and take an oath; and that, moreover, his appointment must receive the sovereign’s approval in order to produce civil effects, including entitlement to official remuneration.Article 26 of the Constitution provides that the establishment of a religious corporation in Luxembourg territory must be authorized by law. In fact, many religious congregations have established themselves there without authorization, and since no difficulties have ever arisen, it may be said that the consistent practice of almost a century has interpreted Article 26 as meaning that legal authorization is necessary only in order to obtain civil juridical personality, which is then granted, in part, by assimilating religious congregations to public charitable institutions—that is, private institutions providing a service of general interest.
In addition to civil marriage, sanctioned by the Constitution, the Civil Code has retained the institution of divorce, established by decree in 1791, while imposing considerable limitations upon II.
The Constitution does not establish the principle of freedom of education, and the provisions it contains concerning this matter (art. 23) are interpreted and applied by the government in the sense of asserting for itself a monopoly over education, with a few rare exceptions of little significance. Religious instruction, however, is compulsory in state schools.
The Holy See is represented in L. by an apostolic internuncio, whose mission is carried out by the apostolic nuncio in Belgium. — Vedi tav. CXVIII. Ippolito Rotoli