After more than four years of Nazi occupation, most of Luxembourg was liberated by the Allied forces on 10 September 1944. Despite a last desperate German offensive from December 1944 to January 1945, which briefly brought various parts of the country back under the Nazi yoke, the capital remained free. Vianden was the last town to be liberated on 12 February 1945.
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Commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the City of Luxembourg, 10 September 2024
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Commemorative ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the City of Luxembourg
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(l. to r.) General Steve Thull, Chief of Staff of the Army; Luc Frieden, Prime Minister; Maurice Bauer, First Alderman of the City of Luxembourg; Laurent Mosar, Alderman of the City of Luxembourg; HRH the Grand Duchess; Lydie Polfer, Mayor of the City of Luxembourg; HRH the Grand Duke; Léon Gloden, Minister for Home Affairs; Pascal Peters, Director General of the Grand Ducal Police
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(l. to r.) Pascal Peters, Director General of the Grand Ducal Police; General Steve Thull, Chief of Staff of the Army; Léon Gloden, Minister for Home Affairs; Luc Frieden, Prime Minister; HRH the Grand Duke of Luxembourg
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(l. to r.) Luc Frieden, Prime Minister; Lydie Polfer, Mayor of the City of Luxembourg; Claude Wiseler, President of the Chamber of Deputies; Colonel Robert Kohnen, aide-de-camp to the House of the Grand Duke; HRH the Grand Duchess; HRH the Grand Duke
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Group photo
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Presentation of four historic military vehicles from the procession (two cars and two motorbikes) toTRH the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess and to the family of General Oliver
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(l. to r.) Claude Wiseler, President of the Chamber of Deputies; Léon Gloden, Minister for Home Affairs; Luc Frieden, Prime Minister; Yuriko Backes, Minister of Defence
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Commemorative ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the City of Luxembourg
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(Speaker) Luc Frieden, Prime Minister of Belgium
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(l. to r.) HRH the Grand Duke; Luc Frieden, Prime Minister; Colonel Robert Kohnen, aide-de-camp to the House of the Grand Duke; Pascal Peters, Director General of the Grand Ducal Police; Léon Gloden, Minister for Home Affairs; Claude Wiseler, President of the Chamber of Deputies
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Luc Frieden, Prime Minister
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(l. to r.) Yuriko Backes, Minister of Defence; Claude Wiseler, President of the Chamber of Deputies; HRH the Grand Duchess; HRH the Grand Duke; Lydie Polfer, Mayor of the City of Luxembourg; Luc Frieden, Prime Minister; Léon Gloden, Minister for Home Affairs; Maurice Bauer, First Alderman of the City of Luxembourg
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(l. to r.) HRH the Grand Duchess; HRH the Grand Duke
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Parade of 13 historic military vehicles on the Place d'Armes
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(l. to r.) Pascal Peters, Director General of the Grand Ducal Police; General Steve Thull, Chief of Staff of the Army; Léon Gloden, Minister for Home Affairs; Yuriko Backes, Minister of Defence; Luc Frieden, Prime Minister; HRH the Grand Duchess; HRH the Grand Duke
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(l. to r.) Pascal Peters, Director General of the Grand Ducal Police; General Steve Thull, Chief of Staff of the Army; Léon Gloden, Minister for Home Affairs; Yuriko Backes, Minister of Defence; HRH the Grand Duke
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(l. to r.) HRH the Grand Duke; n.c.; HRH the Grand Duchess; colonel Robert Kohnen, aide-de-camp to the House of the Grand Duke; Luc Frieden, Prime Minister
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(l. to r.) Lydie Polfer, Mayor of the City of Luxembourg; Luc Frieden, Prime Minister
To mark the 80th anniversary of this historic date, the City of Luxembourg has organised a commemorative ceremony on the Place d'Armes and at the Cercle Cité on 10 September 2024.
After the welcome of TRH the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess by the Mayor of the City of Luxembourg, Lydie Polfer, the Head of State laid a wreath of flowers in front of the commemorative plaque on the main façade of the Cercle Cité commemorating the liberation of the capital, in the presence of the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Claude Wiseler, the Prime Minister, Luc Frieden, the Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes, the Minister for Home Affairs, Léon Gloden, the Mayor of the City of Luxembourg, Lydie Polfer, other national and municipal authorities, the diplomatic corps accredited to Luxembourg's Head of State, and representatives of patriotic associations and the Comité pour la Mémoire de la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale.
The commemoration ceremony was also attended by members of the family of General Lunsford E. Oliver, Commander of the 5th American Armoured Division, who liberated Luxembourg City in 1944 and with whom HRH Prince Félix received a standing ovation on the balcony of the Cercle municipal on 10 September 1944.
The event to commemorate the liberation continued with a parade of 16 historic military vehicles on the Place d'Armes and will end at the Cercle Cité with a visit to the exhibition of historical documents put on by the City of Luxembourg and an academic session. The academic session included speeches by the Prime Minister, Luc Frieden, and the Mayor of the City of Luxembourg, Lydie Polfer. Musical accompaniment will be provided by an ensemble from the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg.
Press release by the Ministry of State