The National Day of Luxembourg (Fête nationale luxembourgeoise/Lëtzebuerger Nationalfeierdag), also known as the Grand Duke’s Official Birthday, is celebrated annually on 23 June. Throughout the history of the grand duchy, the day was observed on various dates – some corresponding to the ruler’s actual birthday, others not – until it was fixed on 23 June by Grand Ducal decree in 1961. Strangely enough, there never was a Luxembourgish duke or duchess actually born on 23 June. This is because in 1961, both the then-reigning Charlotte and the heir apparent Jean had their birthdays in January and people feared that the celebrations of the National Day would be ruined by poor winter weather.
The festivities in the world’s only sovereign grand duchy already start on the eve of National Day, 22 June. In Luxembourg City, the solemn changing of the guards ceremony at the Grand-Ducal palace at 4 pm gives the green light for the celebrations. This is followed by a torchlight procession (Fakelzuch) through the city. National and local associations, walking bands and folk groups march through the narrow streets of the capital and people join them in the celebrations. The highlight of the evening is without any doubt the stunning firework display at night.
On the actual National Holiday, an official ceremony takes place at the Luxembourg Philharmonic that features the Grand Duke, Prime Minister and the President of the Chamber of Deputies who use this occasion to address the nation as a whole. After the ceremony, a traditional 21-gun salute is fired in honour of the Grand Duke and a military parade takes place in the city. The celebrations end with the traditional Te Deum at Notre-Dame de Luxembourg Cathedral.
Did you know?
- Typically, Luxembourgers are trilingual: German, French, and Luxembourgish (or Lëtzebuergesch) are the country’s three official languages.
- Additionally, nearly half of Luxembourg’s population are foreign residents (43%), from which Portuguese (with 15%) constitute the largest group of the foreign population.
- Luxembourg City was elected European Capital of Culture in 1995 and 2007 and thus became the first city to be awarded this honour twice.
- The grand duchy’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was the first EU leader to marry someone of the same sex in 2015 – same-sex marriage had been legalised in Luxembourg the year before.
To honour the National Day of Luxembourg, why not choose to practise your interpreting skills in two of the country’s national languages? The Speech Repository offers you 300 speeches in German and 365 speeches in French. And if you want to learn something about the grand duchy itself, we propose you have a look at this speech about languages in Luxembourg (English) or this speech about free public transport in Luxembourg (German). Whichever option you choose, we hope you enjoy practising with the Speech Repository! So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get started!
Happy Practice,
Your Speech Repository Team