1st Mar - 31st Dec. Tue-Sat 10h-18h, Adults €4.50, Students €2.50, U10 FREE. The photographic exhibition mounted by the photographer Edward J. Steichen in 1955 for the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was donated by the Government of the USA to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is preserved in the Clervaux Museum. The exhibition consists of 503 photographs taken by 273 photographers, both professional and amateur, famous and unknown, from 68 countries. It has been described as the “greatest photographic enterprise ever undertaken”. A huge undertaking, with unique cultural and artistic dimensions, it had a considerable influence on other exhibition organizers, stirred public interest in photography and proved exceptional in its ability to communicate a humanist message that was both courageous and provocative. The Family of Man exhibition has become a legend in the history of photography. It went far beyond the traditional view of what an exhibition should be and it can be regarded as the memory of an entire era, that of the Cold War and McCarthyism, in which the hopes and aspirations of millions of men and women throughout the world were focused on peace.
Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun 11h-18h. Thu 11h -20h (FREE ENTRANCE BETWEEN 18h-20h), Closed Tue. Adults 4€, Seniors/Students 3€, Children U18 FREE. Throughout the year, exhibitions of contemporary art concentrating on the diversity and the complexity of new artistic tendencies. The thirteen rooms of the restored historical building are used in such a way that various exhibitions can take place simultaneously, accompanied by a rich cultural programme, ranging from general guided tours and themed tours, conferences and round tables, to concerts with contemporary music.
10h-18h, Closed Tuesdays (1st Jan, 1st May, 14 Jul, 1st Nov, 25th Dec). Adults €6, Reductions €4. This Museum of Art hosts a vast selection of art from Europe from the 14th to the 20th century. Paintings from the likes of Caravage, Rubens, Boucher, Delacroix, Manet, Picasso, sculpture by Rodin, César, and graphic arts by Callot, Grandville to name but a few. There is also an exceptional collection of glassworks.
Mon, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun 11h-18h. Wed 11h-20h. Closed Tuesday. 5€, Tariff reduced 3€.
The first contemporary art museum in Luxembourg. Entirely conceived by artists, its vocation is to be attentive to international creation and developments in artistic practices. The main concept of the artistic programme is called “Be the Artists’ Guest”. This gives artists ‘carte blanche’ to think up and create works specific to the gallery’s various activities: collection, exhibition, auditorium, education, café, boutique, reception... This concept gathers new commissions of works for the museum‘s collection as well as making the temporary arrangements for collection pieces under the eye of an artist.
Tue – Sun, 10h-18h. Thu, 10h–20h. Closed Mondays. Adults €5, 12-18, Seniors/Students €3.70, Children U12 FREE.
At the Museum of the History of the City of Luxembourg the visitor is offered an opportunity to discover the city’s history through its architectural developments, as well as through many aspects of its social and cultural life. On six storeys the visitor discovers a great variety of exhibits reflecting the eventful history of the city that used to be called the Gibraltar of the North. The museum features a computer assisted multimedia system allowing the public to have access to a vast number of interactive data carriers displaying about ten thousand authentic documents and nearly sixty animated audio-visual sequences. Check out the elevator!
Tue–Sun, 10h–17h, Closed Mondays. Adults €5, 12-18, Seniors/Students €3, Children U12 FREE. The National Museum of History and Art on Marché-aux-Poissons has undergone a substantial extension and refurbishment. Three levels of 700 square metres each have been carved out of the rock which is visible through glass walls. The new underground galleries are used to display the very important archaeological collections of the museum. The old building which has also been considerably transformed houses the fine arts, the medieval collections, the coins and medals as well as the arms and fortress section. The decorative arts continue to be on display in the Patrician houses of the 17th and 18th century in the rue Wiltheim.
Tue–Sun, 10h–18h. Closed Mondays. Adults €4.50, 6-18 Seniors/Students, Children €3, U6 FREE. In its new venue in the historical suburb of the Grund, this modern family museum highlights “man”, since human development and impact on nature are illustrated in the various rooms dedicated to evolution, technology and world history. An interactive multimedia system supplies knowledge relating to natural science. The visitor may have access to databases which store relevant information about the local natural landscapes, animal and plant species.
Daily, 11h-18h, FREE.
The old Altmünster Benedictine abbey was devastated in 1542 so the Benedictine monks built a new abbey church in the Grund. The Neumünster Abbey consisted of a church and 4 wings enclosing an inner courtyard. At the end of the 18th century, after the French Revolution, authorities expropriated the Church of Saint John, the abbey was altered so as to house a military hospital which functioned until 1867. After the State took over the premise, Neumünster was used as prison for male inmates up to 1980. After extensive restoration, the whole complex is now used as a major venue for social and cultural events and constitutes the Cultural Meeting Place ‘Neumünster Abbey’. The centre cooperates with different cultural partners and offers concerts, theatre and conference halls, seminars, open air events, studios and workshops for artists. The complex also hosts the European Institute of Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, the Luxembourgish-German- French Pierre Werner Cultural Institute, as well as a restaurant.
Jul – Sep, Easter, Whitsun and during summer school holidays, 11h-16h. These underground galleries in the ‘Pétrusse’ date back to 1644, when the Spaniards had to modernise the medieval fortifications. In the beginning of the 18th century the Austrians reinforced the fortress. These fortifications belong to the part of the fortress which is still in excellent shape.
With its plateaux’s, narrow valleys, wooded slopes and the lake of the Upper-Sûre dam, the Natural Park area is the right place for leisure and aquatic activities as well as for study and research about the ecosystem. The solar boat, the audio-show ‘The Mystery of the Upper-Sure’ and the Cloth Museum are further highlights of the Natural Park.
The Natural Park of the Our is a perfect destination for walking as well as for nature and culture lovers. The National Park offers a variety of impressive landscapes. Further highlights of the park can be discovered on various themed circuits.
Mar-Sep, Mon-Fri, 14h-18h. Sat-Sun, 10h-19h. Public Holidays and Summer Holidays, 10h-19h. Oct-Feb, Mon-Fri, 13h30 until nightfall, Sat-Sun, 10h until nightfall. Adults €8, 3-11 €5.50. 31 Aquariums hosting more then 250 aquatic species form across the globe.
Probably two of the five greatest meals I’ve had, have been Italian. One was a major family affair when a ‘mamma’ of a friend of mine produced four courses that I can still remember now, thirty years later. Another was in a bakery in Tuscany.
