‘Luxembourg is the final piece of my tour of the Benelux,’ says Ruud Priem. ‘I was first director of the Catharijneconvent in Utrecht, then chief curator of the Memling Museum in Bruges, and now I work here.’ Ruud Priem (53) is the Dutch curator and head of the visual arts department of the National Museum of History and Art (MNHA) in Luxembourg, the capital of the Grand Duchy of the same name. Ruud Priem: ‘Luxembourg was always a refuge, a fortress, high on the rock. And that’s how this city still feels, like one big castle. I think this is a very beautiful, historic city, with those thick walls, the differences in height, rivers, old streets – lots of ambiance and atmosphere. It is a prosperous, let’s say rich bubble and so expensive to live in Luxembourg that many people who work there drive back in the evening to Arlon in Belgium, to Metz in France, or like me, to Trier in Germany, too. a beautiful city by the way.’
Museum in the rock
Ruud Priem: ‘The MNHA, Luxembourg’s national museum, has a sleek, modern facade, but once inside it is easy to see that more than half of the building has been carved out of the rock. From my office I look out over the palace garden of the Grand Duke. We now show paintings by Maxim Kantor, a Russian artist in exile whose work is a fierce indictment of Putin. More than seventy works by Kantor have come to Luxembourg. We built the exhibition in six weeks – that’s never happened before, but everyone felt the urgency.’
MNHA, Musée national d’histoire et d’artMarché-aux-Poissons
Coffee and pedals
‘A favorite cafe of mine in the city center is Gruppetto, a cozy breakfast and lunch cafe and bicycle repair shop at the same time, with the workshop in the basement. You can go for it scrambled eggs, coffee from the Aeropress or to adjust your derailleur. Luxembourg is a sporty city: many cyclists pass by, certainly since Fränk and Andy Schleck started the cycling fire here.’
Gruppetto14 Rue Notre Dame
language city
‘Everything takes place within walking distance in the walking city of Luxembourg. Various walking and cycling routes have been set out, such as the Chemin de la Corniche, the walking path that runs over the fortress walls, with beautiful views along the way. The Chemin de la Corniche leads to the Casemates du Bock, a system of tunnels hewn from the rock in the 18th century. I like to walk around the city. Luxembourg is a nice mix of German neatness and organization and French, Burgundian cheerfulness. Everything shows that this country is wedged between three other countries and is internationally oriented. At work I hear five languages spoken every day, between which I switch effortlessly. As a government official you have to take an exam here in the three national languages French, German and Luxembourgish or Lëtzebuergesch.’
Chemin de la Corniche
Casemates du Bock10 Montee de Clausen
Quaint pizzas
‘Not far from our museum and the Grand Ducal Palace, I know a fine pizzeria with an outdoor terrace: Onesto. Tasty contemporary Italian food in a room that still has the original 18th-century landscape paintings in the panels on the walls – pizza capricciosa between the sheep and shepherdesses.’
onesto11 Rue du Nord
William II and the fox
‘Place Guillaume II is named after the Dutch King Willem II, who was Grand Duke of Luxembourg in his time. He has been immortalized in the form of a large equestrian statue. The old town hall on Place Guillaume II was built by the Dutch. It is nice to sit outside on the corner of the square at Beim Renert with a large glass of beer or a crémant. Renert is the Luxembourg name for the Fox Reynaerde, from the 19th-century adaptation of the fox fable by the Luxembourgish writer Michel Rodange, Renert oder de Fuuß am Frack an a Ma’nsgrëßt† You can also have something to drink or eat inside, in the meantime look at all the foxes on the wall.’
Beim Renert20 Place Guillaume II
Falafel
‘Vegetarian restaurant Beet is right next door. It is a fresh restaurant with lots of white and hanging plants, where you can eat high-quality veggie burgers and sweet potato fries. The falafel dishes with sauces, hummus and vegetables are just as delicious.’
Bite26 Place Guillaume II
IM Peic
‘I find the other large museum in Luxembourg very interesting. The Mudam, the museum of modern art with the glass spire, was designed by IM Pei, the architect of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris. His museum is built against an 18th-century fortress, also a museum by the way, old and new side by side, together as a whole.’
Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean3 Park Drai Eechelen
Human family
“I’d like to mention something completely out of town. In the castle of Clervaux, much further north in Luxembourg, are the beautiful photos of the Luxembourg photographer Edward Steichen. To be The Family of Man from 1955 has been given a permanent display here and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. An impressive photo series about humanity, guided by the sentence of poet Carl Sandburg: ‘There is only one man in the world and his name is All Men. There is only one woman in the world and her name is All Women. There is only one child in the world and the child’s name is All Children.’
Chateau de ClervauxMonte du Chateau, Clervaux
Rocks and Ruins and Canyons
‘Something more beautiful, but in a different way: the Müllerthal, a special area with dense forest, high rock formations, ravines, waterfalls, clambering paths, valleys, viewpoints. This nature reserve is close to the two Beaufort castles, a medieval castle ruins and a 17th-century castle, in two very different styles, but they belong together.’
Mullerthal† Les châteaux de BeaufortRue du château, Beaufort