Inhaltsverzeichnis

6e Assises

Elisabeth Boesen
Einleitung

Arnaud Sauer
Écrire la guerre au Luxembourg : Le premier conflit mondial dans l’historiographie luxembourgeoise [Writing about the war in Luxembourg : The First World War in Luxembourgish historiography], S. 285–300
This article seeks to assess the variety of approaches used by historians when dealing with the First World War in the Grand-Duchy in the context of the construction of a grand national narrative. The study describes a process of gradual maturation of historical discourse revealing several phases of consecutive construction, which the author links to the careers of various national historians, the evolution of Lux- embourg society in the 20th and 21st centuries and the advancement of research on a subject that was for a long time confined to a blind zone of Luxembourgish historiography. In the context of the centenary of World War One, which has stimulated the international academic community, an appraisal of the still limited state of research regarding that period is proposed and related to the development of the young University of Luxembourg.

Josiane Weber
Der Erste Weltkrieg in der luxemburgischen Literatur [The First World War in Luxembourgish literature], S. 301–318
This article on the First World War in Luxembourgish literature emphasizes the relationship between literature and history. Following the approach of cultural literary studies, or “cultural poetics”, this article tries to identify relationships between the historical event and its literary representations. In contrast to the small number of publications in the field of literary history, there are numerous fictional works by Luxembourgish authors on the First World War. Prose predominates, examples being the novel „Anna“ by Jean-Pierre Erpelding, the collection of stories „Heimat“ by Joseph Tockert, the publications by journalists Batty Weber and Frantz Clément, or the many recollections by contemporary witnesses. Poetry is exemplified by Poutty Stein and Willy Goergen, who both write in Luxembourgish, as well as by writers who express themselves in German or French like Nikolaus Welter, Paul Palgen or Marcel Noppeney. And in theatre, it’s particularly Max Goergen with his Luxembourgish language dramas, that comes to mind.
To conceptualise Luxembourgish writers’ interpretation of the First World War, this essay focuses on three topics: the German invasion on the 2nd of August 1914, the famine and its consequences, and the debate concerning war guilt. The literary examples analysed here allow us to define a number of general patterns of description, interpretation and treatment that point to a specific Luxembourgish dis- course concerning the First World War. Excerpts from various works by different authors show that the function of literature does not consist solely in the mimetic representation of experienced reality. On the contrary, literature participates in the interpretation of experience, shapes perspective and develops strategies for coping with the complexity of the world. In this respect, literature can compete with historiographical discourse, especially as it is less restricted in its choice of topic and use of language. Literature thereby offers more than a complement to historical sources: By telling stories, it explains history.

Renée Wagener
Die „Königsrose“ und die „Revolutionäre“. Historische Darstellungen der Krise von 1918/1919 [The „royal rose“ and the „revolutionaries“. Historical representations of the crisis of 1918/19], S. 319–334
Against the backdrop of the Luxembourgish historiography on World War I, this contribution focuses on the historical representation of two actors, one individual and one collective: Grand-duchess Marie Adelheid, whose short reign came to an end in January 1919, and the revolutionary movement of 1918/1919, whose pressure for the abolition of monarchy and the instauration of a republic played a certain role in her abdication. A brief outline of the political developments in Luxembourg at the end of the war is followed by an analysis of the Luxembourgish historiography. In the first decades, historians concentrated mainly on the political crisis that peaked at the end of the war, mostly refraining, however, from placing the Luxembourg case in the context of the revolutionary movement that took place all over Europe. Their main objective was the ideological justification of the attitude and actions of different political actors; a more detached approach was rare during this phase. The analysis of chosen extracts from historiographical descriptions distils a picture of Grand-duchess Marie Adelheid as a young, beautiful and blameless, but fragile and unexperienced heroine who had been sacrificed on the altar of political intrigues. The revolutionary movement was often characterized as a chaotic accumulation of infantile and aggressive agitators who had no political impact. Only from the 1960s onward, Marie Adelheid was increasingly seen as a self-determined actor, whereas the revolutionary movement was described, mainly by historians from the Left, as the expression of a social class struggle. In general, the focus of Luxembourgish historiography has moved from the politics of the revolutionary period to a broader analysis of everyday life during wartime.

Vincent Artuso
La Collaboration dans l’historiographie luxembourgeoise [Collaboration with Nazi Germany in Luxembourg historiography], S. 335–346
The topic of collaboration with Nazi Germany was ignored by mainstream Luxem- bourg historians until the end of the 2000s. It did not fit into the dominant national narrative of WW2, in which resistance to German occupation was interpreted as the key phenomenon that sealed the nation-building process. This narrative rooted in a Nation-State model that was adopted in the late 1930s and was consensual within Luxembourg society until the end of the 1990s, the “parliamentary Volksstaat”. In this state form, democratic rights were reserved to a body of citizens defined along very strict völkisch (ethnic, essentialist) criteria. The Luxembourg nation was con- sidered as an organism with a particular identity shaped by history. Collaboration was not strictly speaking taboo, it was worse than that: it was an incoherence that reactivated the painful memories of the post-war purges when mentioned. In the past ten years, however, collaboration has not only reappeared in historical memory it has become the core issue associated with WW2. This was illustrated on 9 June 2015 when the Government and the Chamber of Deputies officially apologized to- wards the Jewish community for the participation of Luxembourg authorities to the anti-Semitic persecutions of the Third Reich, during the occupation period. This dramatic evolution can be explained by what French philosopher Michel Foucault would have called a shift in épistémè, thus a change in the way a society perceives the world and ordinates the knowledge it produces. Since the late 1990s Luxem- bourg elites have tended to abandon the old-fashioned national model. This has led to a history and memory update in line with current international trends.

Elisabeth Hoffmann
La médiation de l’histoire de la « Résistance » au Luxembourg : une lente émancipation (de 1945 à nos jours) [The mediation of the history of “Resistance” in Luxembourg: a slow emancipation (from 1945 until today)], S. 347–358
The essay analyses the public discussion of the “Resistance” in Luxembourg since the end of World War Two and asks why there is still no scientific overview of the subject, although there have been major developments in historical research since the 1970s. The study shows that the perspective on the “Resistance” is tightly embedded in a founding myth, which claims that the Luxembourgish nation as a whole heroically withstood the Nazi regime. Since the 1970s this image has been slowly deconstructed and qualified with the emergence of a young generation of historians. However, this development is also held back by major obstacles such as a lack of research institutions and publications, as well as the opposition of for- mer resistance members, which explain why the process of emancipation from the founding myth has been slower in Luxembourg than in France or Belgium.

Eva Maria Klos
Die Zwangsrekrutierung in Westeuropa: Deutungskämpfe in der Geschichtsschreibung von 1944 bis heute [Forced recruitment in Wes- tern Europe: Conflicts of interpretation in historiography from 1944 until today], S. 359–371
During the Second World War, approximately 149,000 men from Luxembourg, Eupen-Malmedy, Alsace and Lorraine were drafted into the German army. To this day, these men have been known as ‘forced recruits’ within the memory cultures of Western Europe. In reconstructing the historiography related to the ‘forced conscripts’ in Luxembourg, Eastern Belgium, Alsace and Moselle, this article is specifically concerned with the effect of the associations’ fight for recognition of the subjects determining historiography. It states that the associations of former ‘forced recruits’ in Luxembourg and France established a coherent narrative of their multiple war experience, which dominated the way their own story was written, told and transmitted to future generations. In Eastern Belgium, however, the associations failed to provide a common and coherent narrative of the former ‘forced recruits’ war time experience; they were thus unable to build up the same pressure as in Luxembourg and France in their quest for official recognition.
In conclusion, this article shows that historiography flourished especially in those areas where associations managed to emphasize the particularity of the ‘forced conscripts’ in collective narratives as well as in their fight for recognition in a publicly effective manner.

Stefan Heinz
Hubert Ritter, der Luxemburger Generalbebauungsplan und die NS-Architektur. Eine kritische Einführung in den aktuellen Stand der Forschung [Hubert Ritter, the General Development Plan for Luxembourg and National Socialist architecture. A critical introduction to the current state of research], S. 373–388
The article examines the scientific debate on the National Socialist architecture over the past 70 years, with a focus on the German architect Hubert Ritter, who developed a general development plan for the city of Luxembourg during the Nazi-occupation between 1941 and 1944. His (never implemented) plan can be reconstructed with the help of archival material.
The comparison of the scientific approaches and topics of research in Luxembourg and Germany reveals certain differences. The scientific exploration of the political structures and artistic implications of NS-architecture began in Germany in the mid-1970s and in recent years intensive research results have been made in this field. In Luxembourg, however, Ritter’s plans were scientifically acknowledged only in the late 1990s, although they had been known for a long time. One of the current tendencies is to concentrate on the ostensible contradiction of tradition and modernity in NS-architecture. The overly generalised antagonism between a progressive (and hence democratic) modernity and a traditionalistic Nazi-architecture can be discarded by analyzing Ritter’s work. In terms of ideology, the Luxembourg plan represents a special case among the numerous urban development plans of the Third Reich, as one of its core intentions was to extinguish the specificity of Luxembourg’s identity and make the city a German „cultural bulwark“ (a so-called „Kulturbollwerk“) of the West.

Marie-Paule Jungblut
Who owns the past? Überlegungen zur Repräsentation der Geschichte Luxemburgs während des Zweiten Weltkrieges in zwei ausgewählten Ausstellungen [Reflections on the representation of the history of Luxembourg during World War II in two exhibitions], S. 389–398
This article compares two exhibitions focusing on Luxembourg during the German occupation in World War II. The first is a permanent exhibition at the Musée régional des Enrôlés de Force in Dudelange. The museum opened in 1984 to present the perspectives of the Luxembourgers conscripted into the Wehrmacht during the German occupation. The exhibition remains essentially unchanged today. The second exhibition entitled “It wasn’t that easy… 10 Questions about the History of Luxembourg during World War II” opened in 2002 as a temporary exhibition at the Musée d’Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg. It reflected a variety of perspectives with the author of this article as curator.
The content of the first exhibition was heavily influenced by those who experienced World War II. They regarded Nazi-occupied Luxembourg as a victim with conscripted soldiers (enrôlés de force) being on a par with résistance fighters. The stories told and the objects selected made sense to most Luxembourgers who had firsthand memories of the War years. Today, this exhibition gives the impression of being a memorial. With the passing of the World War II generation, the second exhibition was free to bring multiple perspectives to the past. It challenged Luxembourg’s comfortable self-image as a hapless victim of German aggression.

Régis Moes
La Guerre froide au Luxembourg au Musée national d’Histoire et d’Art. Comment présenter un sujet peu étudié dans l’historiographie à un grand public ? [The Cold War in Luxembourg at the National Museum for History and Art. How to present a topic little explored by historiography to a large public?], S. 399–410
The article by Régis Moes, curator of an exhibition about Luxembourg during the Cold War presented at the National Museum for History and Art in Luxembourg (MNHA) in 2016, shows how the museum tried to display a scientifically accurate presentation of a subject not yet well researched in Luxembourg. Nonetheless, in the last years, contemporary Luxembourgish history has increasingly attracted the interest of scholars as well as of the general public. Even if research about the impact of the Cold War on political, social and economic history in Luxembourg is still limited, the exhibition allowed to give a first glance of a complex history that shows that the master narrative of a politically appeased country after Second World War needs to be nuanced. After a short historiographical review, the article illustrates how deeply Luxembourg, as a founding Member of NATO, was involved in the Western Bloc. The introduction of compulsory military service between 1944 and 1967 had, for example, a real impact on everyday life. The Cold War shaped national politics, even at the local level in certain municipalities, but also Luxembourgish foreign policy. The Cold War made it possible to marginalize certain political forces that were not enough tough on Communism. However, over time these approaches changed. The exhibition also provided an opportunity to collect new oral histories testimonies of the time of the Cold War in Luxembourg that will allow new research to delve further into this subject.

Nicole Kerschen
Des Assurances sociales à la Sécurité sociale. Influences des modèles étrangers et Européanisation [From Social Insurance to Social Security. Influences from foreign models and Europeanisation], S. 411–417
The general outlines of the evolution of the Luxembourg social security system from its origins to 2015 are indicated through the influence of foreign models and Europeanisation. The analysis focuses on three relevant historical moments: the creation of the system under the auspices of Bismarck and his social insurance model at the beginning of the 20th century, its extension to the whole working population after World War II thanks to the universality principle of the Beveridge Report and the current paradigm change under the pressure of the European Union.
Furthermore, a research program, whose aim it would be to deepen and improve the knowledge of the Luxembourg Welfare State model and its transformations, is sug- gested. The main objectives of this project would be to create a multidisciplinary team of researchers in Luxembourg, to establish an exhaustive bibliography on the Luxembourg model, to elaborate fundamental issues for a multiannual research program and to start comparative and European studies with foreign research institutes.

Fernand Fehlen
Les migrations au cœur des mutations sociales et démogra- phiques de la société luxembourgeoise [Migrations: A question at the heart of social and demographical transformations of Luxembourg society], S. 419–432
This contribution provides an overview of the most important publications on migration in Luxembourg, published since the second Assises de l’Historiographie in 2007. This period is characterized by a large number of qualification works and other academic publications, focusing among others on the Portuguese migration and the role of the Jewish community in the Grand Duchy. Besides this overview, the following topics are elaborated: emigration to the new world, especially in the United States; a controversy over statistics, in particular the demographic importance of emigration in the nineteenth century and the generally over-estimated emigration to the U.S.A.; the balance between emigration and immigration over the last 150 years, etc. The last section discusses the conceptualization of migra- tions beyond ‘methodological nationalism’.

Allgemeine Geschichte

Daniel Thilman
La participation des Juifs au Luxembourg à la vie politique dans l’entre-deux-guerres [The political participation of Jews in Luxembourg between the two World Wars], S. 437–453
Apart from Marcel Cahen, deputy mayor and member of the Luxembourgish Parliament, little is known about the political engagement of the Jewish Community in Luxembourg. Intrigued by these observations, Daniel Thilman decided to research the political involvement of the Jewish Community in Luxembourgish cities and villages with an elevated population of Jews, focusing on the time period from 1920 to 1940. In contrast to Cerf and Lehrmann’s reports, the current research indicates that Luxembourgish Jews were regularly represented as candidates in local elections. They won elections in Differdange, Luxembourg-City and Ettelbrück and received votes from both Jews and Non-Jews, demonstrating their acceptance in society. Not only Luxembourgish Jews but also foreign Jews who had been living in Luxembourg for more than 10 years showed political involvement. Unable to stand as candidates in elections due to their foreign nationality, they would act as supporters or sympathisers of (left wing / socialist / communist) labour unions and political parties. Three of these individuals went as far as volunteering in the Spanish Civil War.
Furthermore, Thilman’s findings indicate different political affiliations between these groups with the Luxembourgish Jews leaning towards moderate left- or centre-left parties and the foreign Jews leaning more towards the left or radical left.

Forschungsberichte
S. 455–464

Benoît Reiter
Pierre-Ernest de Mansfeld (1517–1604) et l’Espagne, Mémoire de Master 1 sous la direction du professeur Alain Hugon, Université de Caen 2017.

Aurélia Lafontaine
Le Luxembourg aux origines de l’OTAN, 1948–1953. Mémoire de master en Histoire européenne contemporaine, Université du Luxembourg 2017. Directeur : Dr. Thierry Grosbois.

Jim Carelli
Les internés civils de la Première Guerre mondiale : le cas des Luxembourgeois en France. Mémoire de master en Histoire européenne contemporaine, Université du Luxembourg 2017, directeur de mémoire : ass.-prof. Dr. Denis Scuto.

Buchbesprechungen
S. 465–494
(Volltext einsehbar auf recensio.net)

Norbert Franz, Rezension zu:
Holger Th. Gräf, Alexander Jendorff, Pierre Monnet (Hg.), Land – Geschichte – Identität. Geschichtswahrnehmung und Geschichtskonstruktion im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert – eine historiographische Bestandsaufnahme (Quellen und Forschungen zur hessischen Geschichte, 174), Marburg: Selbstverlag der Hessischen Historischen Kommission Darmstadt und der Historischen Kommission für Hessen 2016; X + 269 S.; ISBN 978-3-88443-329-4; 28 €.

Luc Heuschling, Rezension zu:
Marc Feyereisen, Brigitte Louise Pochon, L’État du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, Windhof: Promoculture-Larcier, 2015, 774 p., préface du premier ministre X. Bettel ; ISBN 9782879747354 ; 124 €.

Guy Thewes, Rezension zu:
Märjendall / Marienthal / Mariendall / Val-Sainte-Marie. Spurensuche in einer vielschichtigen Kulturlandschaft Luxemburgs, sous la dir. de Marc Schoellen, Luxemburg: Service National de la Jeunesse, 2016, 256 p.; ISBN 978-99959-935-4-2.

Stefan Krebs, Rezension zu:
Fondation Bassin Minier (Hg.): Le Fond-de-Gras – Histoire(s) d’un lieu : Des origines à nos jours / Der Fond-de-Gras – Geschicht(en) eines Ortes: Von seinen Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (Mutations: mémoires et perspectives du Bassin Minier, 8), Esch/Alzette: Fondation Bassin Minier 2015, 140 S., zahlr. Abb.; ISSN 2078-7634; 20 €.

Pierre Monnet, Rezension zu:
Eloïse Adde-Vomácka, La chronique de Dalimil. Les débuts de l’historiographie nationale tchèque en langue vulgaire au XIVe siècle (Textes et documents d’histoire médiévale, 12), Paris : Publications de la Sorbonne, 2016, 480 p.; ISBN: 978-2859449452 ; 23 €.

Régis Moes, Rezension zu:
Thomas Kolnberger (Hg.), August Kohl. Ein Luxemburger Söldner im Indonesien des 19. Jahrhunderts, Mersch: Centre national de littérature, 2015, 312 S.; ISBN 978-2-919903-45-0; 25 €.

Thomas Lenz, Rezension zu:
Ben Fayot, Toute la vie pour apprendre. Histoire de l’éducation des adultes au Luxembourg, Luxembourg: Chambre des Salariés, 2016 ; 350 p. ; ISBN 9782919888634 ; 55€.

Paul Dostert, Rezension zu:
Wolfgang Schmitt-Kölzer, Bau der „Reichsautobahn“ in der Eifel (1939–1941/42). Eine Regionalstudie zur Zwangsarbeit. Berlin: Pro Business, 2016, 368 S.; ISBN 978-3-86460-460-7; 15 €.

Thorsten Fuchshuber, Sammelrezension zu:
Denis Scuto, Chroniques sur l’an 40 : Les autorités luxembourgeoises et le sort des juifs persécutés, Luxembourg : Fondation Robert Krieps 2016, 197 p. ; ISBN 978-2-919908-10-3 ; 30 €. Steve Kayser, Le Luxembourg, d’une guerre à l’autre : L’indépendance du Grand-Duché dans la tourmente (1914–1945), Luxembourg : Imprimerie Centrale 2016, 176 p. ; ISBN 978-2-87978-191-4 ; 32 €.

Norbert Franz, Rezension zu:
Frédéric Stroh, Peter M. Quadflieg (éd.), Incorporation de force dans les territoires annexés par le IIIe Reich / Die Zwangsrekrutierung in den vom Dritten Reich annektierten Gebieten 1939–1945 (Collection „Les mondes germaniques“), Strasbourg: Presses universitaires de Strasbourg, 2016; 228 p., ISBN 978-2-86820-536-0; 24 €.

Thierry Grosbois, Rezension zu:
Encore ces chers voisins. Le Benelux, l’Allemagne et la France aux XIXe et XXe siècles, édité par Michel Dumoulin, Jürgen Elvert et Sylvain Schirmann (Studien zur Geschichte der Europäischen Integration, 7), Stuttgart : Franz Steiner Verlag, 2014 ; 256 p., ISBN 978-3-515-10931-4 ; 46 €.

Gisela Naegle, Rezension zu:
Eva Jullien and Michel Pauly (ed.), Craftsmen and Guilds in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods (VSWG-Beiheft 235), Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2016, 316 S.; ISBN 978-3-515-11235-2; 54 €.

Ausstellungskritiken
S. 494–499

Gabriel Rivera Cosme, Rezension zu:
1867. Luxembourg – Ville ouverte, Musée Dräi Eechelen. 12.5.–31.12.2017

Annemarie Menger, Rezension zu:
Portugal – Drawing the World, Musée national d’histoire et d’art, 28.4–
15.10.2017