r/europe • u/MarktpLatz Lower Saxony (Germany) • Dec 25 '17

What do you know about... Luxembourg

This is the forty-ninth part of our ongoing series about the countries of Europe. You can find an overview here.

Today's country:

Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a small state between Germany, France and Belgium. It has the highest GDP per capita in the EU and is amongst the highest in the world. It has a GDP larger than Bulgaria, which has more than ten times the population. Its former prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker is the current president of the European Commission. It has an own language called Luxembourgish which is a german dialect. German and French are official Languages.

So, what do you know about Luxembourg?

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u/Priamosish The Lux in BeNeLux Dec 26 '17

The locals seems to know every corner by heart and will pass by you like they're driving on a race track

We actually have a rampant speeding and drunk-driving problem, as a lot of people own very fast cars and lack responsibility in driving.

Most of your food seems to be imported though? Didn't really get agood impression of typical Luxembourgish food which was a shame.

Luxembourgish food in supermarkets is usually marked with a red lion, a crown or just the colours red-white-skyblue and it says "Marque nationale". The best opportunity to taste some actual local food is a) being invited by a local, b) eating in a small village pub or c) eating on the Christmas market.

So all in all it was a pretty interesting trip but I left the country in a state of absolute confusion of how that country seems to function (language wise).

Pretty easy, actually. Luxembourgers speak Luxembourgish amongst each other. Media is mainly in German, but also a lot in Luxembourgish and a wee bit in other languages. French is the language of law, administration and business, so in restaurants, cafés, etc you'll mostly speak French. English is for very international stuff only or maybe when you go to some British style pub.

All natives speak all 4 (if including Luxembourgish) languages more or less fluently, especially the younger ones. Since we have a very huge Portuguese, French and Belgian workforce however, most of them will only speak (broken) French.

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u/viktor72 Dec 27 '17

When I was at uni in Liège we had a lot of Luxembourgers but they often only spoke broken German. Their French was more or less fluent and I have no idea if they spoke Luxembourgish. German was conversational often at best.

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u/Priamosish The Lux in BeNeLux Dec 27 '17

Guess which Luxembourgers move to Belgium/France for studying? Obviously those that speak French better than they speak German.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '17

More like we're more welcoming than Germany. My gf is Luxembourgish and she would have loved to study medicine in Germany (after her first year at Université du Luxembourg). German universities just don't take Luxembourgish students (just checked the website, they take only three students) while there are more places available in Belgium/France.