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Transcript of Delano October 2012
UNDERSTANDING LUXEMBOURGCURRENT AFFAIRS • BUSINESS • LIFESTYLE
5 453000 010015
Issue 14 - 4€www.delano.lu
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OCTOBER 2012
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EDITORIAL
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OCTOBER 2012 3
Even in her most joyous moment, her marriage to a highly eligible prince in a fairy-tale city, it is di�cult not to feel some sympathy for Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy. �rust into the spotlight upon the o�cial announcement of her engagement to Crown Prince Guillaume, the future Grand Duchess has had to endure not only the attention for royal watchers around Europe but has also unwittingly been the centre of renewed debate over the nationality law. And amidst all that she su�ered the desperate loss of her mother.
Stéphanie has stepped into a family that is closely guarded and very controlled in its dealings with the press. Since the engage-ment announcement in April, photos of the Countess alone have been noticeably absent from the media. �e o�cial photos of her shyly clinging to Guillaume, head inclined into his shoulder, are reminiscent of a more famous royal engagement some 31 years ago. But it is already clear that Stéphanie will not be allowed the same indulgences as Princess Diana; she will not become an icon but will perform her duties with restrained dignity. As monarchy expert Pierre Dillenburg says, she has received an education that suits her future role.
�e local media plays along with the family’s wishes for restraint, which is a
re�ection of the Luxembourg public’s attitude to the monarchy. When her children were younger, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa used to take them to the Utopolis to watch a �lm and she queued up like everyone else to purchase popcorn and drinks. Fellow cinema-goers respected their privacy.
Nevertheless, Stéphanie will come under scrutiny just as her mother-in-law did. Luxembourg is small, rumours spread quickly and though largely ignored by the local media they are often picked up by foreign sensationalist titles and sometimes they hit home. In 2002 an under-�re Maria Teresa invited local editors-in-chief to an impressively frank but o�-the-record discussion in which she addressed stories that had circulated about her private life. She is now a popular public �gure, praised for her charity support and work as a UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children.
Stéphanie is an educated woman with a knack for languages. She will undoubtedly �nd learning Luxembourgish a breeze--and addressing Luxembourgers in their language is half the battle to winning their hearts. Despite what appears to be early reticence, and just natural shyness, she might yet come to enjoy the spotlight under which she has been cast.
Royal wedding
THE CRUELSPOTLIGHTText by Duncan Roberts
Write to BP728 L-2017 LuxembourgOffices 10 rue des Gaulois, Luxembourg-Bonnevoie ISSN 2220-5535 Web www.maisonmoderne.luCEO Mike KoedingerCOO Rudy LafontaineHR director Thierry van Ingelgom
PUBLISHER Phone (+352) 29 66 18-1 Fax (+352) 29 66 19E-mail [email protected] Publishing director Mike Koedinger Editor in chief Duncan Roberts ([email protected]) Journalist Aaron Grunwald ([email protected]) Contributors Neel Chrillesen, Tonya StonemanPhotography Julien Becker, Charles Caratini, Luc Deflorenne, Steve Eastwood, David Laurent/Wide, Olivier Minaire, Jessica TheisProofreading Sarah Lambolez, Cynthia Schreiber, Catherine Thomas
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CONTENTS
OCTOBER 2012 7
CURRENTAFFAIRS
TouchingmomentsInternational community marks milestones and raises funds
12 DIVERSITY CHARTERWhy inclusiveness can pay off
18 EUROPEAN SCHOOL II Winter of discontent ahead?
22 JEAN ASSELBORNBehind the Security Council bid
24 CA(FÉ)SINO Pop-up café and art project
Ten start-upsto watchA three dimensional look at Luxembourg entrepreneurs
28 HOT NETWORKING British and Irish chambers
30 OFFICE RENTS FLAT Will prices remain stagnant?
32 BEHIND FRANCELuxembourg less competitive
34 BUSINESS TRAVEL Navigate the region’s airports
Pink show of strengthBreast Cancer Awareness Month in Luxembourg
54 WELLNESS 11 ways to beat the autumn blues
56 THEATRE NEWSActors Rep to hit Luxembourg boards
58 ON STAGE Big month for jazz
62 KIDSFive Halloween treats
THINK LOCALPatrik Bitomský
Why he’s not happy with theCzech government.
MY OTHER LIFELucien Elsen
How the former cheffound his inner clown.
42
66
REGULARS
BUSINESS
LIFESTYLE
COVERSTORY
36
5010
14
LUXEMBOURG NATIONALITY: a new law granting Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy special dispensation to obtain Luxembourg citizenship on her wedding day has sparked renewed debate.
OCTOBER 2012
7_sommaire.indd 7 26/09/12 19:35
OFFICE ROMANCE?NEE MERCILuxembourg workers are among the
least likely to start an office romance,
according to Randstad’s latest Global
Workmonitor survey. Just 36% of
respondents in Luxembourg said an
office romance occurs from time to
time, and 42% are opposed to a work-
place fling. In addition a table-topping
65% of local workers believe an office
romance interferes negatively with
work performance.
THE TAXIREVOLUTIONLuxembourg’s taxi operators have
been shaken up by a concerted effort
from mayor Xavier Bettel, the Auto-
mobile Club and private investors
who have recognised that business
travelers, shoppers and night owls
want a cheaper, more efficient and
more ecological service. Voyages
Emile Weber and Taxi Benelux
launched a Webtaxi service (www.
webtaxi.lu), the ACL is offering mem-
bers a Yellowcab (www.yellowcab.lu),
the Ville de Luxembourg is promoting
Ecolabel taxis and the Genii Group
(in conjunction with ACL) also pre-
sented its MetroCab hybrid taxi.
LIVEABLE LUXEMBOURGLuxembourg City was named the 25th
“most liveable city” in the world by the
Livability Ranking survey, which is pro-
duced by the Economist Intelligence
Unit. The capital held the same position
last year. Luxembourg beat London and
all US cities, while Melbourne, Vienna
and Vancouver topped the list.
FRIENDS WITH MYANMAROn July 31 in Brussels, Luxembourg
foreign minister Jean Asselborn and
Myanmar ambassador to the EU Thant
Kyaw signed an accord establishing
diplomatic relations between the two
countries. www.mae.lu
“I JUST KNOW
THAT I DID NOTHING WRONG”
FRANK SCHLECK
NOT MUCH BETTER AT CONTRÔLE TECHNIQUE Promised improvements at the Sandweiler Société Nationale de Contrôle Technique
station have failed to materialise just weeks after the introduction of extended open-
ing times. Thirteen extra inspection staff and a larger facility were also supposed to
make the experience more pleasant. The SNCT also upgraded its website to allow
appointments to be made online. Indeed, so confident was the company of its new
improvements that it even pledged that drivers not seen within 15 minutes of their
appointment would receive a discount.
But early September brought the now familiar sight of long lines of vehicles queuing
to enter the station. SNCT director Armand Biberich blamed the queues on the fact
that cars purchased during the annual auto festival three and a half years ago now had
to undergo their first inspection and that drivers returning from holiday wanted to
get their vehicle checked before the school holidays began. www.snct.lu
8 OCTOBER 2012
CURRENTAFFAIRS
Crea
tive
com
mon
s
Dav
id L
aure
nt/W
ide
NASKE TO VIENNAThe director of the Philharmonie has
announced that he will take over at the
Konzerthauses Wien in his native Austria in
July next year. So far there has been no
word of a successor in Luxembourg, where
he has been head of the concert house
since 2003, two years before it opened.
www.philharmonie.lu
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LUXEMBOURG ROSE WINS IRISH HEARTSAt the 11th time of trying, a Luxembourg representative has been crowned the Rose of Tralee.
Nicola McEvoy, a 26-year old Cork native who teaches at the European School, delighted
the live audience at Tralee, as well as millions of television viewers by giving host Dáithí Ó Sé,
three kisses in the Luxembourg fashion and then singing charming version of La Vie en Rose.
Nicola will be travelling around the globe as the Rose. She already has trips planned to
Washington for St. Patrick’s Day and to Calcutta as an ambassador for the Hope founda-
tion, which works with street and slum children in the India city. Nicola clearly loves repre-
senting Luxembourg. “The whole of Ireland knows about Luxembourg now. The Irish
Journal even published an article titled ‘The Rose of Tralee and 7 other things Luxem-
bourg has given us’, so everyone was talking about Luxembourg. And they know that we
kiss three times.” Her supporters even took dozens of Luxembourg flags to Tralee and
ended up giving them all away. “Nicola has put Luxembourg on the map, big time,” says
Deirdre Ecock, president of the Luxembourg Rose of Tralee committee. www.rose.lu
SCHMIT STAYING PUTSpeculation that employment and
immigration minister Nicolas Schmit
was about to quit government has
been put on hold, for the moment.
Schmit, who enjoyed something of an
annus horribilis in 2011, had not cat-
egorically denied the rumours when
pressed by journalists. Rumours circu-
lating since early summer suggested
that Schmit would be offered the job
of ambassador to France were
quashed by news that Paul Duhr had
been given the role as Luxembourg’s
representative in Paris. Duhr was one
of 11 new ambassadors named by the
foreign ministry on September 4.
FOOTBALL STADIUM The Luxembourg Football Federation
(FLF) has reiterated its call for a new
national football stadium. A delega-
tion led by FLF president Paul Philipp
presented prime minister Jean-
Claude Juncker with a petition bearing
“in the name of all 106 clubs and
35,000 licensed players” demanding
that the government to come up with
a solution to the current impasse over
a new stadium. The Josy Barthel sta-
dium on the route d’Arlon has been
deemed inadequate to host major
matches (even though it was used to
stage the recent World Cup qualifier
between Luxembourg and Portugal).
Plans for a new stadium and inte-
grated shopping centre at Livange
were put on hold following contro-
versy surrounding its developers.
Parents who earn more than 3.5 times the minimum
wage faced a price hike of as much as one euro per
hour for child care costs as of the beginning of
September. The increase is a result of a revision of the
chèques-services subsidies, as the government looked
to make savings of some eight million euros. Introduced
in 2009, the subsidies were aimed at giving working
parents a helping hand with child-care costs and
eventually provide free child care. But the system
faced criticism from the start as some facilities received
a flood of new applications for places.
CHILD CARE COSTS RISE FOR TOP
EARNERS
OCTOBER 2012 9
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Stev
e Ea
stw
ood
FLIGHT INSURANCE OPTIONALPosted air tickets need to reflect the “final price” and “optional supple-
ments” such as cancellation insurance must be sold on an opt-in--not
an opt-out--basis, the EU’s highest court has ruled.
The decision stems from a case brought in the Köln Higher Regional
Court by the German consumer protection association BVV against
online travel portal ebookers.com Deutschland. BVV had complained
that the website was automatically adding flight cancellation insurance
into the price of its airfares. Customers had to click through several
steps to reject the insurance and recalculate the cost of just the airline
ticket. The German court asked the European Court of Justice in Kirch-
berg if such practices went against the EU consumer protection law
requiring “transparency with regard to the prices for air services.” The
ECJ has said that it does, and such add-ons “must be on an opt-in basis.”Neu
wie
ser/
Crea
tive
Com
mon
s
“Realisticallywe could have freechild-care in 5 to
6 years for allchildren in
Luxembourg”MARIE-JOSÉE JACOBS, MAY 2009
8-9_opener current affairs.indd 9 26/9/12 2:56 PM
10 OCTOBER 2012
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Kylie Morrisonand Sandra
Von Esebeck
Cynthia Albrecht-Lelliott, MBE and honorary vice president of the BritishLadies Club, at the group’s diamond jubilee gala
From left: George Bush, US embassy chargé d’affaires David Fetter, British ambas-sador Alice Walpole, Haley and Robert Newkirk
Dave Evans and Iris Straube
From left: Graham Goodhew,Steve Karier and Stuart Rowlands
Best of...SUMMER COMMUNITY
Since our last edition, Luxembourg’s international community took advantage
of the warmer weather to celebrate milestones and to raise money for wor-
thy causes. In June, players and support-ers attended the Rugby Club Luxem-bourg’s much anticipated annual fête
(photographed by Jessica Theis) and the British Ladies Club celebrated Queen
Elisabeth II’s 60 years on the throne (photographed by Charles Caratini).
Americans and friends of the US gath-ered for an Independence Day BBQ in July (photographed by Luc Deflorenne) and in August Kick Cancer Into Touch
held its 11th annual touch rugby charity tournament to benefit cancer care
(photographed by Steve Eastwood). Here are just a few of the highlights.
More photos from all these events are available at www.delano.lu. AG
Rugby Club Luxembourg’sannual gala ball
More than 100 players andsupporters attended therugby gala evening
James Hancockand Gabriella
Hancock Nobile
From left: Moira Hogg,Dennis and Margo Robertson, David Robertson, Luc de Vet, and Anna Rohrs
Rugby Club Luxembourg
British Ladies Club
10-11_picreport current affairs.indd 10 27/9/12 4:05 PM
OCTOBER 2012 11
CURRENT AFFAIRS
From left: Ian Buchanan, Tessa Montague, Hayley
Montague and Joe Lister
Sophie Boyle and Miriam Kouaoat the touch tourney
KCIT earns a touchdown against the Golden Ladiesat the touch tourney
The American and Luxembourgish national anthems were played during the July 4th BBQ
Connie Gomez, president of the American Women’s Club Luxembourg (left)
Janice Allgrove and Robert Mandell, the US ambassador to the Grand Duchy, at the July 4th BBQ
Karl Horsburgh (left), Patrick Birden (second from right), Romain Reinard (right)
Oscar and Ellis Bloomer getting face painted, and Susi Lutgen The Pink Ladies team
Kick Cancer Into Touch
Independence Day BBQ
10-11_picreport current affairs.indd 11 27/09/12 10:29
12 OCTOBER 2012
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Diversity
VARIETYIS THE SPICE OF LIFESeveral Luxembourg firms have vowedto be more inclusive. Is it the key to Europe’sdemographic challenges?
he �rst signatories of the Lux-embourg Diversity Charter
have pledged to “act in favour of promoting diversity with concrete actions going beyond their legal obligations and non-discrimina-tion regulations.” �e family and integration ministry, Deutsche Bank, PwC, RBC Investor Services and Sodexo all inked the accord at an o�cial ceremony last month.
�e charter is an initiative of IMS Luxembourg, a �ve year old CSR-focused business associa-tion. In addition to the signato-ries, the e�ort is being backed by the American Chamber of Commerce, European Commis-sion and Luxembourg employers’ federation UEL.
IMS Luxembourg argues that employers needs to address fac-tors such as socioeconomic changes, longer lifespans and careers, and an increasingly glo-balised population--particularly in an international place like the Grand Duchy and Greater Region--to keep up with changing economic realities.
Gender, race, age, ethnicity, dis-ability, language, religion, political opinions and sexual orientation--among other diversity issues--are included in the project.
Companies that sign the charter promise to �ght discrimination and promote diversity within their ranks, to incorporate these principles in their long-term management plan, and to make public progress reports on a regu-
lar basis. In return, organisers provide a number of best practice tools and practical support.
IMS Luxembourg notes that sim-ilar diversity charters have already been set-up in countries like Bel-gium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Poland, where “feedback on their experience is positive,” a spokeswoman for the association informs Delano.
“I am very proud to be the ‘honor-ary chair’ of the Charte de la Diver-sité Lëtzebuerg,” Marie-Josée Jacobs, the family and integration minister, tells the press. “�is ini-tiative is welcome in Luxembourg because it bears witness, notably, to the voluntary engagement on the part of companies to promote and in favour of diversity.”
She adds: “Too often, diversity is ignored. �is of course has an impact on social cohesion as well as the degree of innovation and performance of the country.”
IMS Luxembourg says that it is actively recruiting more �rms to sign the pledge. www.chartediversite.lu
MARIE-JOSÉE JACOBSDiversity has social and economic consequences
LUXEMBOURG RESIDENTS BY CITIZENSHIP
Coun
cil o
f the
Eur
opea
n U
nion
(arc
hive
s)
In 2011, 57% of the Grand Duchy’s inhabitants were Luxembourgers and 43% were foreigners, new figuresfrom STATEC show. Here are the top 25 nationalities:
T
291,832 Luxembourg
12,049 Germany
16,926 Belgium
3,657 Spain
1,964 Denmark
1,325 Ireland
2,709 Poland
1,720 Sweden
1,324 Kosovo
2,472 Cape Verde
1,610 China
1,295 US
2,261 Bosnia-Herzegovina
1,589 Romania
1,203 Brazil
31,456 France
18,059 Italy
3,891 Netherlands
3,814 Montenegro
2,161 Serbia
1,541 Greece
1,077 Finland
82,363 Portugal
5,471 UK
935 Hungary
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Nationality law
ROYAL EXEMPTION SPARKS RENEWED DEBATE OVERNATIONALITYREQUIREMENTS
RON TUFFELTeacher at the International School of Luxembourg, presenter on Radio Ara and musician with Sneaky Pete
Been in Luxembourg: 34 yearsLuxembourg: “I’m very happy and it is truly home for me.”The royal wedding: “We’re international and it’s a beautiful thing that our Crown Prince is marrying a woman who isn’t Luxembourgish.”Follow Sneaky Pete on Facebook
COVERSTORY
06_14_17_coverstory_master.indd 14 26/9/12 7:46 PM
OCTOBER 2012 15
Nationality law
ROYAL EXEMPTION SPARKS RENEWED DEBATE OVERNATIONALITYREQUIREMENTS
The marriage of Crown Prince Guillaume with Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy should be a cause for national celebrations. Guillaume was one of the last eligible heirs to the throne in Europe, so his impending nuptials have sparked interest from beyond Luxembourg’s borders. But the hurried introduction of a new law granting the countess special dispensation to obtain
Luxembourg nationality on the day of her wedding has renewed the debate about the dual nationality law introduced in 2008.
n October 19, when she weds her prince in Luxembourg town hall, Stéphanie de Lan-
noy will become a Luxembourger. �anks to the current dual nationality law, she will not even have to surrender her Belgian passport. �e countess will be added to the growing number of new Luxembourgers--some 11,470 between 2009 and 2011 alone--who have taken up nationality since the law was intro-duced at the end of 2008.
However, those new Luxembourgers usually have to ful�l a number of criteria from which the countess has been exempted. �ey need to have lived in Luxembourg uninterrupted for seven years--and not have been sentenced to a prison term of one year or more in that time-- are required to pass a language test and must also attend “civics” classes in which they learn (but are not tested) about Luxembourg insti-tutions, the political system and local law.
�e exemption granted the countess was inevitably latched on to by political parties
and lobby groups who had criticised the nationality law four years ago. “Some animals are more equal than others,” wrote Déi Lénk in a statement quoting George Orwell’s Animal Farm. �e left-wing party accuses the govern-ment of propagating a “two tier society” and questions why national law should not apply to the countess. Déi Gréng took a more pro-active approach, calling on the government to use the occasion to overhaul the nationality law. “Soon every second person who lives and works in Luxembourg will not be in possession of Luxembourg nationality,” says its parliamentary faction leader François Bausch. “We must give people more of an opportunity to participate fully in civic and political life.”
What irks the opposition is that the current law on the one hand gave foreign residents the opportunity to take up Luxembourg nationality without having to surrender their existing passport, while on the other it also made it harder for them to obtain that pre-
O
Text by Duncan Roberts Photography by Olivier Minaire
COVERSTORY
06_14_17_coverstory_master.indd 15 26/9/12 7:46 PM
16 OCTOBER 2012
JESSICA WALSH-LAMPEITLFitness instructor
Been in Luxembourg: 16 yearsLuxembourg: “I’ve always loved it and its great having kids in the local school system, but I am starting to get a bit homesick.”The royal wedding: “I am not a fan of royals, so haven’t really been following it.”www.jessboxing.com
AYSEN PAETZELCurrently unemployed
Been in Luxembourg: 4 yearsLuxembourg: “It’s not that different to my previous home of Düsseldorf. We quickly built upa circle of friends who were in a similar situation. I also have Luxembourg friends--Luxembourg-ers are not just a myth--and they bring the country a bit closer.”Royal wedding: “It’s a cool event for Luxembourg, two days of celebration. But I am sad that it is not a public holiday.”
Cour
gra
nd-d
ucal
e/Ch
rist
ian
Asch
man
COVERSTORY
The happy couple: STÉPHANIE DE LANNOYwill attain Luxembourg nationality on her wedding day
all has a long history of being under foreign sovereignty, which is the preferred term for the successive waves of rule by military powers before Luxembourg gained independence in 1867--the term occupation is speci�cally reserved for the period from 1940-1944 when Nazi invaders controlled the country.
Successive foreign sovereignty under the Bourbons, the Spaniards, Austrians, French, Dutch and Prussians all left their mark on the country and its population. After independ-ence was secured in 1867, a wave of more wel-come immigrants, mostly Italians and Ger-mans, arrived to work in the iron ore mines and steel works. Many of the Italians stayed and settled, particularly in the south of the country. Yet while latter generations of those Italians are now Luxembourgers, many of them are caught between a natural a�nity for the country of their birth and the strong link they retain to the language and culture of Italy.
After WWII Luxembourg enjoyed a new wave of immigration. Swathes of bureaucrats from other member states arrived to work in the institutions of the EU and its forerunners. Many Eurocrats stay in Luxembourg for their entire career, and although there is a trend among many to retire in their country of ori-gin or to move to sunnier climes, many still retain a connection with Luxembourg. Indeed,
cious piece of paper. �e residency require-ment was extended from �ve to seven years and the introduction of a language test was seen by many to be super�uous when Lux-embourg has three o�cial languages. In addi-tion, foreigners who married a Luxembourger were no longer automatically eligible for nationality. Stéphanie’s future mother-in-law, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, became a Lux-embourger in February 1981, when she mar-ried the then Prince Henri, because the law at the time permitted it, not because she received an exemption.
Revision under consideration
Justice minister François Biltgen points to those 11,000 new Luxembourgers and says that the nationality law has been “a success.” How-ever, he has acknowledged that the law requires some reform to make easier the process of attaining nationality. He says he is open to dis-cussing the residence eligibility clause, and that the seven years currently required may in future not have to be successive. �e language test is another area that could be revised. And a reintroduction of automatic nationality eligibil-ity for people who marry a Luxembourger is also under consideration.
Luxembourg is, of course, in a unique situa-tion. Latest �gures show that over 43 percent of the total population of the Grand Duchy is non-Luxembourgish, and in some towns and cities, such as the capital, that rises to way above 50 percent. And while the dual nation-ality law was purportedly introduced to ease the passage of those who wanted to become Luxembourgish, there is actually very little incentive for the vast majority (86 percent) of foreign residents to take up that o�er because they are nationals of another European Union member state and thus enjoy many of the same rights as their Luxembourg counter-parts. Indeed, Luxembourg is one of only six EU members--alongside Ireland, Belgium, Cyprus, Slovakia and Hungary--where the number of foreign citizens who are from another EU country exceeds that of third-country nationals. �e only practical advan-tage of becoming a Luxembourger for an EU national is that it grants them the right to vote in national parliament elections.
Many longer-term residents who have spent the majority of their life in the Grand Duchy and feel a true a�nity with the country may nevertheless choose to become a national of their adopted country. But what does being a Luxembourger even mean? �e country after
06_14_17_coverstory_master.indd 16 26/9/12 7:46 PM
OCTOBER 2012 17
GAVAN GUILFOYLEBanker and actor
Been in Luxembourg: 20 yearsLuxembourg: “It’s a very mixed community. I have loved acting here. Having a Luxembourg wife really helps having kids in the local school.”Royal wedding: “I don’t think it’s going to be on the scale of Will and Kate, but it’s a great thing for Luxembourg.”www.nwtc.com
BEN ANDREWS Film maker, DJ and presenter on Ara City Radio
Been in Luxembourg: 35 yearsLuxembourg: “It’s a great place; it’s been good to me.”The royal wedding: “A good excuse for a party.”www.thisisradar.com
PATRICIA PAULIN-CAMPBELL Counsellor at International School of Luxembourg
Been in Luxembourg: 6 yearsLuxembourg: “It has changed my world view, because I interact with people from so many cultures in such a small space.”The royal wedding: “I love weddings and I feel the country will share in it. Though I wish we knew more about their love story, without being intrusive. ”www.islux.lu
KANCHINI VENKATARAMANConsultant at EMDI Europe and assistant at Indian Consulate
Been in Luxembourg: 21 yearsLuxembourg: “I have the best of both worlds. I am a Luxembourger but also at home in India.”Royal wedding: “We will make sure it puts Luxembourg on the map in India.”www.emdieurope.com
COVERSTORY
side of the future head of state and with the Luxembourg people.
Andrews, an alumni of the European School, is not so sure about Stéphanie’s exemption. “Dat geet awer net!” he says with a wry smile. Although he has been in Luxembourg all his life Andrews feels “more European than any-thing.” He loves speaking di�erent languages and he picked up Luxembourgish by learning German at school and then playing football for the local team.
Kanchini Venkataraman, a graduate in development for sustainability, also grew up here, and attended the local school system. “My parents just chucked me into the local school,” she explains. “As a kid you start picking up the language easily, and I speak Luxembour-gish �uently.”
But relative newcomers like Patricia Paulin-Campbell also call Luxembourg home after just six years in the country. And she was very nervous about moving here with her husband for his career. She now speaks some Luxem-bourgish but has signed up for more lessons. And for a reason that speaks volumes about integration. “Because I really want to be able to converse well in Luxembourgish. �ere is an old man in our village who I always see and wave to, and he reminds me of my dad and I really want to speak with him properly.”
number of younger foreign nationals who do learn the language and take time to meet and befriend Luxembourgers is growing. And, it must be said, a new generation of Luxem-bourgers have also been more open to meeting and mixing with foreigners. Many non-Luxem-bourgers who have attended a local school, played in local sports teams or found Luxem-bourg friends and colleagues with similar cul-tural interests will easily integrate. People like Ben Andrews, who is an integral part of audio-visual collective Radar alongside four Luxem-bourgers, or Ron Tu�el who has been in Lux-embourg for 34 years. Even though he speaks only a little Luxembourgish and is not taking up nationality, Tu�el says; “I am Luxembourgish in a way--a nouveau Luxembourger--and proud to be so. I am obviously American by birth, but I have lived here longer than I have lived in the United States, and when I vacation there after a month I say ‘let’s go home’.” He has no problem with Stéphanie taking up nationality. “Everyone should have open arms and welcome Stéphanie. We want her to enjoy the culture and the lan-guage and the people of Luxembourg, and I am sure she will.” �ose sentiments were echoed by the Council of State in its ruling on the exemp-tion law for the countess. It said that by grant-ing her Luxembourg nationality, she will iden-tify even more strongly with her role at the
the children of some of those early Eurocrats have often laid down more permanent roots here than their parents. After all, they grew up as strangers to the culture of their parents’ country (and many were born to parents of two di�erent nationalities) and so Luxem-bourg became de facto their home.
�e integration question
But how well do non-Luxembourgers really integrate? According to the 2010 study by the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX), the Grand Duchy ranks 11th out of 31 countries (the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Swit-zerland, Canada and the USA), even though the dual nationality law and the creation of the Reception and Integration Agency (OLAI) by the ministry of family helped Luxembourg improve its score signi�cantly compared to the 2007 study.
Of course, many of the private employees who arrive to live in Luxembourg for work are on short-term contracts, so they have no inter-est in taking up nationality and, knowing they are merely in transit, often will not invest time in learning the local language or making an e�ort to integrate. �e same charges are often levelled at other non-Luxembourgers, but the
06_14_17_coverstory_master.indd 17 26/9/12 7:46 PM
18 OCTOBER 2012
CURRENT AFFAIRS
M
European School II
NEW CAMPUS,NEW ROUTINES
Talks about traffic problems and continuing hostilitytowards the new location in Mamer slightly overshadowed
the opening of the European School II.Text by Neel Chrillesen Photography by David Laurent/Wide
FLYOVER IN PROGRESSWork on the Luxem-bourg-Mamer road bypass is expected tofinish in the spring
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
Not all parents are unhappy about the move. Elisabeth has children in the Danish section: “We live nearby and are obviously very glad. My children have already tried cycling, taking the train and the bus. Honestly, the traffic has been much better than expected. Of course, some of the ‘European’ idea has gone away because the school is now split but with the new buildings and smaller student population, it feels more like a school to the children now.”
split the children by nationality (“vertically”) rather than by age (“horizontally”). “�ose deci-sions have signi�cant consequences for the ped-agogy at the school and indeed for the ability to get to the school at all; and much of the e�ort of parent representatives these last months has been to seek mitigation wherever possible. We believe this has achieved a considerable degree of success, and were extremely pleased that the new school opened in the positive way it did. Clearly with any major project there are out-standing issues to resolve, but our overall impression is very favourable.”
�e director of the new school, Emmanuel de Tournemire is also satis�ed. “We were wor-ried about tra�c but have found that a large percentage of students take public transporta-tion. A complex mobility plan was put into place and though it still needs to be revised and improved, it works.” As for the tra�c jams, they should “clear up” when the �yover on the Lux-embourg-Mamer road opens in March 2013. “The traffic will stabilise itself and everything else is a success. �e school was ready on time, the children were quick to take it over and call it theirs. It has great facilities and the setting is so much nicer than what they’d know in Kirchberg!”
Split programmesA number of negotiations are however still
underway to solve transportation problems as many families have yet to �nd a suitable solu-tion. Other concerns involve the impact of the “vertical” split. Explains Dennis: “In the Euro-pean School system, applicable budget constraints mean that optional subjects can only run if there are enough pupils. With the division in two of the student population there is therefore some risk that options which might previously have run in both locations do not now run in either location. A similar concern hangs over the extracurricular activities which are organised in the afternoons and evenings.”
uch has been said about the European School II, the new 86,670 square meter cam-
pus built in Mamer to take the pressure o� the bursting European School I in Kirchberg. It cost the Luxembourg state 237 million euro to build and has all the modern equipment one could dream of; certainly a lot better than the temporary structures many of the students used in Kirchberg. And yet, not all parents of the 2,047 pupils who experienced their �rst
rentrée there at the beginning of September were happy. “We live in Cents and work in Kirch-berg. Our youngest is four and too young to take the bus alone, so I drive there--and arrive late to work. �e eldest now takes a special school bus which costs 85 euro a month instead of the ten euro Jumbokaart she used before. She’s also been split from many of her friends,” one parent says.
Ian Dennis, general secretary of the Parents Associations of the European Schools (FAPEEEL) knows many parents remain mysti�ed by the decision to locate the school both outside the city boundaries and away from where 80 per-cent of the parents work, the EU institutions in Kirchberg. Not to mention the decision to
18_article 1Pcurrent affairs_master.indd 18 26/09/12 18:51
Tips, advice and the best spots for parents and kids
4th edition,
800 listings.
Available from
13 oct!
FAMILY GUIDE3 editionsFrançais, English, Deutsch200 pages21,90 €FR_ISBN 978-99959-33-01-2UK_ISBN 978-99959-33-03-6DE_ISBN 978-99959-33-02-9www.familyguide.lu
FamilyGuide_Delano_260912.indd 1 26/09/12 18:05
20 OCTOBER 2012
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Uni
vers
ity o
f Lux
embo
urg
IMMIGRATION SERVICEOn track to see a record number of refugee applications this year
uxembourg received 1,437 asylum seekers during the �rst
seven months of the year, a pace at which 2011’s record number of submissions could be broken.
From January through July 2011 the Grand Duchy received 1,053 refugee applications, according to immigration service �gures. �at number was already more than three times the 340 requests received during the same period in 2010.
For the full 2011 year, Luxem-bourg saw 2,164 “international protection requests”, as they are formally known, a rise of 277% over 2010.
More than 80 percent of applica-tions logged so far this year were made by people originally from the former Yugoslavia and from Albania.
�e immigration service says it has issued decisions on more than
1,100 cases as of July 31, although only 32 applicants received a posi-tive response. �e majority of other applications, 955, were refused. More than 100 asylum seekers were transferred to other European states, where their cases are meant to be heard under EU rules. Similarly 31 people were transferred to Luxembourg from other Euro-pean countries.
From January to July more than 1,000 applicants were repatriated, although only 37 were “forcibly returned”, the immigration ser-vice says.
Luxembourg’s government has previously said it was training more sta� to handle the surge in asylum requests.
Nicolas Schmit, the immigration minister, did not responded to Delano’s request seeking comment on the rise in refugee applications at press time.
Earlier this year, the EU’s o�cial statistics agency reported that Luxembourg handled less than 0.4% of all asylum cases in the EU in 2011. Eurostat said that in Luxembourg 16.7% of asylum applicants received refugee or pro-tected status either in their �rst application decision or on appeal, compared to 44.3% across the EU, 28.6% in France, 30.1% in Belgium, 37.7% in Germany, and 70.4% in the UK.
Migration
NO SLOWDOWN IN REQUESTSAn unprecedented number of asylum seekers have filed papers in Luxembourg. How is the government handling the surge?Text by Aaron Grunwald Photography by David Laurent/Wide
Bilingual children from economically disad-vantaged homes have a better attention span than their monolingual counterparts, accord-ing to a paper published in the academic journal Psychological Science.
�e study compared second-graders in Luxembourg who spoke Luxembourgish and Portuguese with those in Portugal that only spoke Portuguese. While the children in Lux-embourg did not perform better on the mem-ory section of the tests, they did score higher on concentration.
“�is is the �rst study to show that, although they may face linguistic challenges, minority bilingual children from low-income families demonstrate important strengths in other cog-nitive domains”, explains the University of Luxembourg’s Dr. Pascale Engel de Abreu, who led the project.
Education
BILINGUAL ADVANTAGE Languages help low income kids, new research at the University of Luxembourg has found.
DEAN SPIELMANN The Grand Duchy’s judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was elected the body’s president, after a secret ballot of
all 47 court judges.
LUXEMBOURGER NAMEDCOURT CHIEF
L
Coun
cil o
f Eur
ope
PASCALE ENGEL DE ABREUForeign language broadens horizons
20_1Pcurrent affairs_master.indd 20 26/9/12 7:39 PM
For Luxembourg’s international English-speaking business community
Business Information and NetworkingEvents
Wednesday 10 October5th BCC Members’ Trade Fair& Forum: Your Digital LifeTo be opened by Xavier Bettel, Mayor of the City of LuxembourgBGL BNP Paribas, Luxembourg City
Trade Fair and Forum
Friday 19 OctoberDriving Safety DayColmar-Berg
Social / Sporting Event
Friday 14 DecemberAnnual Christmas LunchHémicycle, Kirchberg
Business Lunch
Friday 16 NovemberSpeaker : Karl HorsburghTax – Luxembourg tax compared to the rest of Europe La Table du Belvedere, Kirchberg
Business Lunch
For more details on these and other events and to register visit www.bcc.lu or call the office on +352 465 466
BCC Fifth Annual
Members’ Trade
Fair & Evening
Business Forum
Wednesday
10 October 2012
british_chamber_of_commerce_2012.indd 2 26/9/12 10:06 AM
22 OCTOBER 2012
CURRENT AFFAIRS
AG: Are you optimistic about winning the poll?
JA: I am optimistic that a lot of countries will consider Luxem-bourg as a valuable member of the Security Council. As for the election, I know that it is di�cult and I don’t want to make any predictions.
I would be very, very glad for our country if we were elected. I would also be very glad for our diplomatic corps, because the motivation is there to do it. But I always say, it’s a very interesting experience and maybe during the next century we will not have another possibility to do it. So let’s see what will happen.
AG: Why is Luxembourg putting its name forward?
JA: I think that it’s not only a right, but it’s a duty to be, at one time--as a founding member--a candidate for the Security Council.AG: What does Luxembourg bring to the table?
JA: Luxembourg can [demon-strate leadership] for instance in ODA, o�cial development assis-tance, in cooperation policy,
politics in favour of the poorer countries in the world. We have established, since the 80s, a very high level of ODA. It is about one percent of our GDP. With Norway, we are the best in this concern.AG: How is the campaign going?
JA: I think that if you have never been in the Security Council, it is for a lot of countries [in the Gen-eral Assembly] an advantage. Finland and Australia have already been in the Security Council. It’s not the same.
We are not a candidate against other candidates. We are pro-moting the speci�cities and advantages that Luxembourg can offer. We managed 11 presi-dencies of the European Union. Eleven. Sometimes we have done it, as people say, better than big-ger countries. When we do this, we do it with 300 people. Others need 3,000 people.AG: Will Luxembourg really be able to go toe-to-toe against the permanent members, giant countries like China or the US?
JA: We are not against China or the US.
If you have the presidency of the EU, you coordinate. If you are in the Security Council, I think you have to defend what you think corresponds to international law and the charter of the United Nations. So it’s not ‘against’ any-body else. It is in favour of the val-ues of the UN.AG: �is is a highly visible, global position. Are you con-cerned about Luxembourg los-ing its relatively low pro�le and making enemies?
JA: Every sovereign country has to have a very clear political posi-tion concerning the problems of security in the world. I cannot agree with what happens in Syria, for instance, and I have to say why. I cannot agree with what happens in the Middle East and I have to say why. I cannot agree that in Africa, we have a lack of understanding and that we are not engaged enough in solving the problems of poverty.AG: Will you be disappointed if you are not elected?
JA: �e lights in the Security Council will not go out, and the lights in Luxembourg also will not go out. �e advantage of this long-term campaign is to put Luxembourg on the map; [to show] that we are not only a �nancial centre, and that we not only have a lot of money here. But that we have the re�ex to give something to those who have less than we have.
Jean Asselborn
IT’S NOT ‘AGAINST’ ANYBODY ELSE”Luxembourg’s foreign minister talks to Delano aboutthe Grand Duchy’s UN Security Council candidacy.
Interview by Aaron Grunwald Photography by Charles Caratini
“
NEW YORK BID
Last month Grand Duke Henri addressed the UN General Assembly and made the case for the Grand Duchy to garner one of two rotating seats on the UN Security Council. Luxembourg--one of the few founding UN members never to have served on the council--faces Australia and Finland, and needs votes (on October 18) from two-thirds of the body’s 193 members in order to win a two-year slot beginning January 1. Former union activist Jean Asselborn (LSAP) has been deputy prime minister and foreign minister since 2004. He spoke to Delano in advance of the UN poll.
JEAN ASSELBORNWin or lose, the bid is good for Luxembourg
22_article 1Pcurrent affairs_master.indd 22 26/09/12 18:51
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24 OCTOBER 2012
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Ca(fé)sino affords great views across the Petrusse valley
Conceptual artist Trixi Weis enjoying the work in progress
Sumo is one of the 15 artists currently working at the Casino
Culture minister Octavie Modert and Casino art director Kevin Muhlen
Casino director Jo Kox was kept busy carving pata negra at the launch party
HOUSEWARMINGAT CASINO
The Casino contemporary art forum hosted a housewarming party for its
latest ambitious three-month pro-gramme mid-September. It also
celebrated the opening of the Ca(fé)sino “pop-up” café (see page 46).
Atelier Luxembourg - Making of allows each of the 15 artists to have their own space in the Casino’s exhibition cubes. They can do with that space what they
want, using it as a de facto studio to create a new work or collaborate with others in
the project. Casino artistic director Kevin Muhlen, together with Isabelle Henrion and Mirjam Bayerdörfer is curating the
project, while the 15 artists are Yann Annicchiarico, Leonora Bisagno, Stina
Fisch, Julie Goergen, Sophie Jung, Vera Kox, Philippe Nathan, Roland Quetsch,
Letizia Romanini, Sté Ternes, Sumo, The Plug, Steve Veloso and Jeff Weber.
www.casino-luxembourg.lu
Photographed by Luc De�orenne
24_picreport current affairs_master.indd 24 26/9/12 6:48 PM
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I N F R A N C ENEW FUTURE . NEW COUNTRIES
THE UCITS BRANDEuropean Commission has issued a
draft directive for the fifth iteration of
UCITS, the cross-border mutual fund rules
that forms the heart of Luxembourg’s finan-
cial centre. Among other goals, UCITS V is
meant to prevent fraud like Bernard
Madoff’s US$10 billion Ponzi scheme. Brus-
sels also started talking about a future
UCITS VI rulebook. In the run-up to the
latest rules being released, consultancy
KPMG polled UCITS managers--who col-
lectively have €1.6 trillion of assets in their
portfolios--about what they would ideally
like to see in a “perfect” set of UCITS regula-
tions. Naturally, “managers would welcome
a period of respite from the wave of regula-
tory change,” so they can finish implement-
ing the existing set of regulations, KPMG
concludes in its report. The poll reveals
interest in fewer messages for the public
and increased cross-border integration
within the EU. While many tout the “Luxem-
bourg UCITS brand” as a quality label recog-
nised around the globe, nearly two-thirds of asset managers in KPMG’s
poll say the term “UCITS” should not be
mandatorily included in a fund’s name (see
figure 1). Another of Brussels’ proposed
provisions would split all types of invest-
ment products into “complex” and “non-
complex” categories, the former suited for
more sophisticated investors and the latter
for all retail investors. But four out of five
UCITS managers opposed such a move,
likely for fear of creating confusion among
consumer investors (figure 2). UCITS V also
spells out a single, pan-European body of
procedural and liability requirements for
funds’ depositary banks, which are
responsible for safeguarding the money
investors place in UCITS funds. Currently
those rules are implemented in slightly dif-
ferent ways by each of the EU27’s national
regulators. Yet more than half of asset
managers are in favour of creating a cross-
border playing field (figure 3). An even larger majority were in favour of EU-wide
tax rules for funds (figure 4).
ICELAND “FAILED” SAVERSIceland’s government breached Euro-
pean law by neglecting to protect foreign
depositors after the 2008 collapse
of Landsbanki, regulators argued
at the EFTA Court in Luxembourg.
“Icesave” accounts were frozen for
weeks before the British and Dutch
insurance schemes stepped in.
E-BOOK PRICE INQUIRYApple and four publishers may reach
an anti-trust settlement this month
with the EU’s competition authority
over alleged e-book price-fixing.
However, the European Commission
continues its separate proceedings
against Luxembourg, which lowered
VAT on e-books to 3% last year.
BRAZIL CHAMBERThe new Luxembourg Brazil Business
Council has launched. Due to the steel
industry, Luxembourg is the largest net
foreign investor into Brazil, according
to LBBC head Laertes Boechat (photo,
right). Brazilian firms are also keen
on connecting with Luxembourg’s
maritime and finance centres.
Char
les C
arat
ini
Eral
da v
an Z
urk/
Crea
tive
Com
mon
s
Shift
stig
ma/
Crea
tive
Com
mon
s
THE “R” WORDLuxembourg’s central bank has
warned of a “technical recession”
saying early data indicates that GDP
growth could be as little as -0.6% this
year and -0.4% in 2013, although more
definitive numbers still need to be
crunched. Meanwhile, inflation is
expected to remain above 2% for the
next year, which could trigger another
round of indexation, or automatic
increases in wages and pensions.
Sour
ce: K
PMG
FIGURE 3FIGURE 4
26 OCTOBER 2012
BUSINESS
FIGURE 1SHOULD THE TERM “UCITS” BE INCLUDED IN FUND NAMES?
INTRODUCE A HARMONISED EU TAX FRAMEWORKFOR FUNDS AND THEIR SHAREHOLDERS ?
MERSCH BLOCKEDThe European Parliament hearing on
Yves Mersch’s nomination to the Euro-
pean Central Bank’s executive board was
called off “after it became evident that no
female candidate had been considered
for the position,” said British MEP Sharon
Bowles. Despite the protest manoeuvre,
Mersch (photo), who currently is head
of Luxembourg’s central bank, could
face a vote as soon as this month.
35%No
4%Don’t know
61%Yes
SEGMENT FUNDS INTO COMPLEX AND NON-COMPLEX UCITS ?
13%No
4%Don’t know
83%Yes
INTRODUCE A DEPOSITARY BANK PASSPORT ?
35%No
4%Don’t know
61%Yes
83%Yes
17%No
FIGURE 2
26-27_opener business_master.indd 26 26/9/12 6:53 PM
FEWER COWS BUT MORE MILK
58,8433,320
annual milk production per cow (in kilos)
1962
195,360annual milk production (in tonnes)
68,346milk cows inLuxembourg
4,401annual milk production
per cow (in kilos)
1985
300,791annual milk production (in tonnes)
40,944milk cows inLuxembourg
7,212annual milk production
per cow (in kilos)
2010
295,291annual milk production (in tonnes)
milk cows inLuxembourg
FEWER COWS BUT MORE MILK
58,8433,320
annual milk production per cow (in kilos)
1962
195,360annual milk production (in tonnes)
68,346milk cows inLuxembourg
4,401annual milk production
per cow (in kilos)
1985
300,791annual milk production (in tonnes)
40,944milk cows inLuxembourg
7,212annual milk production
per cow (in kilos)
2010
295,291annual milk production (in tonnes)
milk cows inLuxembourg
FEWER COWS BUT MORE MILK
EIB STILL AAA
CHAMBER BLASTS CHINA POLICYChina’s state-oriented development model is “no longer sustain-
able,” the European Chamber of Commerce in China said in a posi-
tion paper. The group called for a pan-European approach with
fewer bilateral negotiations between EU member states and China.
It also praised recent changes at China’s financial regulator, but said
some policies still favoured the development of Shanghai’s financial
centre. The EUCCC presented its lobbying document at the Luxem-
bourg Chamber of Commerce the day before Chinese prime minis-
ter Wen Jiabao (photo, left) met with EU leaders in Brussels.
Sour
ce: S
TATE
C an
d Lu
xem
bour
g's ru
ral e
cono
mic
serv
ice
�e
Coun
cil o
f the
Eur
opea
n U
nion
OCTOBER 2012 27
BUSINESS
BUSINESSFEWER COWS BUT MORE MILK
58,8433,320
annual milk production per cow (in kilos)
1962
195,360annual milk production (in tonnes)
68,346milk cows inLuxembourg
4,401annual milk production
per cow (in kilos)
1985
300,791annual milk production (in tonnes)
40,944milk cows inLuxembourg
7,212annual milk production
per cow (in kilos)
2010
295,291annual milk production (in tonnes)
milk cows inLuxembourg
Moody’s Investors Service has con-
firmed its top-notch rating on the Euro-
pean Investment Bank, the EU’s
development bank. The credit rating
agency’s annual review of the Kirchberg-
based EIB cited strengths such as “the
bank’s sound governance and prudent
risk management,” “the high quality of its
assets,” and the fact the EIB is backed by
the European Central Bank and EU mem-
ber states. Nevertheless, Moody’s
warned that “a severe deterioration in
the euro area could have a negative
impact on the EIB.” Although guaranteed
by member states, the EIB raises its
investment funds on the global capital
markets. A lower credit rating would
increase its cost of borrowing. The EIB is
not involved in the bailouts of euro zone
governments or banks.Euro
pean
Inve
stm
ent B
ank
BAILOUT AGENCY GETS OKGermany’s Federal Constitutional Court has cleared the
path for the euro zone’s permanent rescue fund, based in
Luxembourg, to begin operations. The court rejected a
petition--signed by more than 12,000 German citizens--
to block the treaties that authorise the European Stability
Mechanism and transfer more fiscal powers to Brussels.
That means the €500 billion ESM can begin taking over
from temporary bailout agency EFSF, also based in Kirch-
berg. “I plan to convene the inaugural meeting of the ESM
board of governors in the margins of the Eurogroup meet-
ing of 8 October in Luxembourg,” said Jean-Claude Juncker,
the Grand Duchy’s prime minister and Eurogroup chief.
“Both treaties represent a major step forward towards
closer fiscal and economic integration and
stronger governance in the euro
area. They are part of our com-
prehensive strategy to bolster
the outlook for fiscal sustain-
ability and growth in the euro
area.” Juncker expects the treaties
will go into effect on January 1.�e
Coun
cil o
f the
Eur
opea
n U
nion
(arc
hive
s)
GOING PRIVATEProLogis European Properties (PEPR),
one of the continent’s largest opera-
tors of distribution facilities, has del-
isted from Euronext Amsterdam and
the Luxembourg stock exchanges. Last
year PEPR was the subject of a €1.2 bil-
lion takeover bid by Dutch pension
fund APG and Australian real estate
investment trust Goodman Group. As
the result of its counterbids, US-based
Prologis--the world’s largest ware-
house owner--upped its stake from 20
to 95%. “Since the freefloat remained
very small, Prologis decided to acquire
100% and hence delist PEPR,” a spokes-
woman tells Delano. Credit agency
Moody’s maintained its investment
grade Baa3 rating, noting PEPR had “a
high quality portfolio of assets” but
faces downward pressure on rents.
EXPANDING NORTHAND EASTValue fund manager Sparinvest inked a
deal with Hong Kong-based Hai Tong
Asset Management “that will see both
companies working towards future
joint-product offerings in Europe” and
Greater China. Sparinvest is also taking
over the funds run by Ikano Funds, the
Luxembourg-domiciled manager owned
by the Ikano Group, which is best known
for its retail brand IKEA. The move means
“Sparinvest is strengthening its position
in the Swedish market as well as sup-
porting its international growth strat-
egy,” says its Luxembourg chief Jan Stig
Rasmussen. The Grand Duchy-based
fund firm is an offshoot of one of Den-
mark’s largest savings banks with about
€9 billion in assets under management.
Luc
De�
oren
ne (a
rchi
ves)
Stu
May
hew
/Cre
ativ
e Co
mm
ons
26-27_opener business_master.indd 27 26/9/12 6:53 PM
28 OCTOBER 2012
BUSINESS
Robert Deed, chairof the British Chamber
Alice Walpole, British ambas-sador, and Laurent Mosar, president of the Chamber of Deputies, at the British Chamber’s 20th
From left: Emmanual Begat, Jill Saville, Mark Vereecken, Wim Geleyn and Clare Hargreaves
From left: Antoine Seyler, Romain Weiler and Catriona McDermott
Jacques Loesch
From left: chair of the new Irish Chamber Joseph Huggard, Irish ambassador Diarmuid O’Leary and Ireland’s deputy prime minister Eamon Gilmore
Kieron O’Connor and Geraldine Cassells
Sophie Kerschen and Stefan Chorusat the British Chamber’s 20th
Best of…SUMMER NETWORKINGSince our last edition, the Grand Duchy’s
business community profited from the warm weather. In June the British
Chamber of Commerce for Luxembourg celebrated its 20th anni-
versary with a garden party at the British embassy residence (photographed by Jessica Theis), while the new Ireland
Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce launched with highly visible support from the Irish government (photo-
graphed by Luc Deflorenne). Then in August women’s professional group The Network had an informal confab (pho-
tographed by Steve Eastwood), and in September the Luxembourg Chamber
of Commerce hosted a roundtable on bringing corporate and social respon-sibility to every size company (photo-
graphed by Jessica Theis). Here are just a few of the highlights. More photos are
available at www.delano.lu. AG
Gast Waltzing’s Quartet at the British Chamber’s 20th
British Chamberof Commerce for Luxembourg
28-29_picreport business_master.indd 28 26/09/12 19:45
OCTOBER 2012 29
BUSINESS
Netty Thines
Harald-Sven Sontag
Hedda-Phalson Moller
Jed Grant
From left: Marcella McCarthy, Pádraig McCarthy and Thierry Bertrand
From left: Guy Daleiden, Pierre Gramegna and Luxembourg’s ambassador to Brussels Alphone Berns at the Irish Chamber launch
Inbarr O’Sullivan and Tony Whitehouse at the Irish Chamber launch
Ali Kashefi at the Chamber ofCommerce CSR conference
Seated, from left, are Karen Feil, Fiona Hampton, Hana Kuhn and Beatrice Munn, and standing, from left, are Cornelia Tudor, Elisa Biondi, Jacqueline Kost and Christianne de Roy, at The Network’s summer drinks get-together
Ireland Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce
Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce
The Network
28-29_picreport business_master.indd 29 26/09/12 19:46
30 OCTOBER 2012
BUSINESS
Finance minister Luc Frieden, expressing “mixed feelings” about the proposed EU-wide banking union, during his ALFI conference speech.
“TOO MANY GOVERNMENTS LOOK AT THEIR NATIONAL MARKETS ONLY”
UNDER CONSTRUCTIONKPMG’s new Luxembourgheadquarters in Kirchberg
ood news and bad news for companies looking for new digs:
Luxembourg o�ce costs have been �at this year, but landlords are regaining the upper hand. CB Richard Ellis reports that prime o�ce rent in Luxembourg City during the �rst half of the year was an average of €40 per square meter per month. �at is a rise of zero percent over the past year.
�e �rm--which tracks 133 o�ce markets worldwide--says most major EU markets were similarly �at. Monthly prime o�ce space in central Brussels was €24 per square meter, a rise of zero percent over the past year, while the rates were €28 in Amsterdam (up 0.9% over the second quarter last year), €38 in Frankfurt (also a zero percent increase), and €68 in Paris (a decrease of 1.2%).
�e stable prices re�ect the sta-ble market. “Leasing activity levels in Luxembourg for the �rst half of 2012 were in line with last year,” the �rm said in a research report provided to the �rm’s o�ce-seek-ing clients.
At the same time, CBRE expects prices to increase as few new projects have been funded and built in the current uncer-tain economic climate. “Occupi-ers continue to favour central locations, resulting in increasingly limited supply. With little new development expected, market conditions are likely to become increasingly favourable for landlords.”
Landlords in central Luxem-bourg City have been reducing incentives, such as the number of rent-free months that are o�ered to lessees and their contribution towards the �tting-out of o�ce space, Véronique Koch, research analyst at the �rm’s o�ce in the Grand Duchy, tells Delano. “�e really good opportunities, we think, for tenants have passed.”
However for less central locales such as Bertrange or Capellen, “it’s still possible to have some good o�ers. But the pressure on landlords has decreased and it’s not the same, I would say, as one year ago.”
Real estate
OFFICERENTS FLATLuxembourg lease prices have remained stagnant during the past 12 months, according to data from a major realty consultancy.Text by Aaron Grunwald Photography by Steve Eastwood
Fitch Ratings says European funds are too many and too small: only 430 out of 12,000 cross-border funds have more than €1 billion in assets and the average fund size is €210 million. Fund families often proliferate because they are run and distributed by retail banking and insurance groups with fragmented operations, in Fitch’s view. Only Dutch asset manager Robeco passed its threshold. Yet “�agship funds help fund man-agers achieve better distribution of their prod-ucts, and contribute to portfolio management focus and operational e�ciency. UK and US players are far better positioned in this regard than those in mainland Europe.” �e inherent advantages means the agency “gives value to the existence of �agships,” when rating fund �rms.
Finance
MORE FLAGSHIPS One of the world’s main creditratings agencies has critiqued thelack of large-scale cross-borderEuropean funds.
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On the roadto tomorrow’s mobility.
Driving differently and reducing the congestion on our roads.
ALD Automotive, the market leader in contract hire in Luxembourg,
designs smart mobility solutions. A Smart Mobility Consultant has joined
its team, offering turnkey solutions to businesses and local authorities.
These solutions are part of the ALD Blue�eet service, which was launched
in 2009. ALD Automotive is reducing its actual CO2 emissions
through carbon offset combined with eco-driving and lower mileage.
For any questions on mobility, contact us:
Pierre-Yves Meert, Smart Mobility Consultant, 31 05 36 1
Working together for smart mobility!
See details of all our initiatives during Mobility Week at
http://www.aldautomotive.lu
Working together for smart mobility!
carbonoffset
C02
12456-08-ALD_CampagneMobilité_210x265-delano_EN - DEF.indd 1 21.09.12 12:09
32 OCTOBER 2012
BUSINESS
uxembourg was ranked 22 out of 144 countries--within the
top 15 percent worldwide--in this year’s Global Competitiveness Index, which is produced by the World Economic Forum. �at is up one notch from 23rd place in 2011, but down from the 20th spot in 2010.
According to the WEF, the three most competitive economies in the world are Switzerland, Singa-pore and Finland. �e top 10 was rounded out by Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, the US,
the UK, Hong Kong and Japan. China was ranked number 13, Belgium took 17th place, and France--at number 21--was just ahead of Luxembourg.
�e WEF publishes the well-regarded annual report based on extensive surveys of economic indicators and polls of business leaders in each country. In the Grand Duchy, the research was coordinated by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce.
Certain traditional advantages --notably con�dence in policy- making, e�ciency of the legal framework, labour relations, the tax framework and the degree of the development of the �nancial sec-tor--had “eroded” Luxembourg’s ranking, the chamber told the press. “On the other hand, the Grand Duchy undeniably progressed in the �eld of logistics and technology infrastructure, which should be welcomed.”
Indeed, Luxembourg was placed 12th worldwide on the “quality of overall infrastructure” with the dif-
Economy
LUXEMBOURGBEHIND FRANCEA major Swiss think-tank says Luxembourgis less competitive than all its neighbouring countries.
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YOU, ROBOT The European Commission has surveyed more than 26,000 EU residents, including 501 in Luxembourg, about their attitudes towards robots. Here’s what they found:
79%Luxembourg
70%EU27
Agree that robots steal peoples’ jobs
37%Luxembourg
48%EU27
Are comfortable having a robot assistant at work
ferent measures of telecommuni-cations and transport infrastruc-ture all ranking in the global top 30. However, when it came to the “availability of airline seat kilome-tres per week”, the Grand Duchy came in 119th worldwide.
�e WEF report observed that the most competitive geographic regions globally remained in North America and in parts of Europe and Asia.
At the European level, the eco-nomic performance gap has shifted from the former Cold War frontlines to a north-south rift, the report said. “With six of the 10 best-performing countries, Northern and Western Europe is a competitive-ness hotspot. �e assessment is con-siderably bleaker when looking at Southern and Eastern Europe.”
�e authors added that an analy-sis of the EU shows that today “the traditional distinction made between the 15 original members and the 12 countries that joined after 2004 does not hold from a competitive-ness point of view”. AG
78%Luxembourg
60%EU27
Believe use of robots should be banned in care of children,
elderly and the disabled
10%Luxembourg
12%EU27
Have ever used a robot, such as a robotic vacuum cleaner
or industrial robot
L
GLOBAL MIRRORThe WEF is best known for its Davos Conference
32_1page business.indd 32 26/9/12 6:55 PM
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34 OCTOBER 2012
BUSINESS
Travel
FLIGHTCONNECTIONSAirline competition is heating up. But do you know the best way to get on board?
his autumn sees a raft of new �ight options launch in Luxembourg and the Greater Region, notably the ar-
rival of the �rst budget carrier to serve Findel Airport. In response, established players are adding �ights and o�ering special deals. Other competitors are stepping-up their marketing e�orts by highlighting cheaper fares, increasing the number of direct destinations, and im-proving access to airports across the region.
To help navigate the concourse, Delano presents a brief guide to �ight connections. We looked for all the airports that a Luxembourg resident could reasonably (or somewhat reasonably) consider, the various ways to get there, and the most popular and unique destinations served.
A few notes about the guide:All travel times are calculated from the place de la
Gare, Luxembourg-Gare. Driving times are estimated for non-commute hours and without accounting for tra�c conditions.
Unless otherwise noted train tickets to Belgium, France and the Netherlands can be purchased from CFL (www.c�.lu) and to Germany from Deutsche Bahn (www.bahn.de).
Tickets for all bus connections can either be purchased in advance from respective train lines or directly on-board from the driver; online from DeLux-Espress or Flibco; and Lorraine TGV shuttle tickets can only be purchased on-board from the driver.
�e destinations listed are representative and may not include all cities served by an airline at a particular air-port. Scheduled (not charter) �ights listed in this guide are non-stop and o�ered year-round, unless otherwise noted.
Happy landings. AG
T
BRUSSELS NATIONAL AIRPORTwww.brusselsairport.beT +32 2 753 7753i 2 1/2 hours j + j 3 1/2 hoursAir One: daily to VeniceBrussels Airlines: daily non-stop to New York JFK; weekly non-stop to Mombasa begins Nov. 2OLT Express: daily flights to Gdansk and Warsaw begin Oct. 30Thai Airways: 3 non-stop flights per week to Bangkok
MAASTRICHT-AACHEN AIRPORTwww.maa.nlT +31 43 358 9898i 2 1/2 hours j + j + 8 4 1/2 hoursRyanair: 14 routes including Barcelona, Dublin & London-StanstedGermanwings: daily flights to BerlinTransavia: serves several Mediterranean getaway spots
COLOGNE BONN AIRPORTwww.koeln-bonn-airport.deT +49 2203 40 4001i 2 1/2 hours j + j + j 4 hoursAir Berlin: daily to Berlin & MunichGermanwings: flies to Dublin, Edinburgh, Istanbul, London-Heathrow & Stansted, Milan, Moscow, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Vienna & ZurichNorwegian: 4 times a week to Oslo
BRUSSELS SOUTH CHARLEROI AIRPORTwww.charleroi-airport.comT +32 78 15 27 22i 2 hours 8 2 3/4 hours (www.flibco.lu)j + j + 8 3 hoursJetairfly: More than a dozen Mediterranean destinationsRyanair: frequent service to Dublin, Edinburgh & Manchester, plus the south of France, Italy & SpainWizz Air: flies to Bucharest, Budapest, Sofia & Warsaw
FRANKFURT-HAHN AIRPORTwww.hahn-airport.deT +49 6543 409 200i 1 1/2 hours j + j + j 4 hoursAir Berlin: daily to Berlin & MunichGermanwings: flies to Dublin, Edinburgh, Istanbul, London-Heathrow & Stansted, Milan, Moscow, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Vienna & ZurichNorwegian: 4 times a week to Oslo
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5
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OCTOBER 2012 35
BUSINESS
FRANKFURT-MAIN AIRPORT www.frankfurt-airport.comT +49 69 690 0i 2 3/4 hours 8 3 1/2 hours (www.flibco.lu or www.delux-express.de)j + j + 8 4 hoursAir India: daily to Delhi Emirates: daily to Dubai Lufthansa: carrier represents 60% of all flightsat Europe’s third largest airport (77% includingits Star Alliance partners); serves more than100 cities around the globe. Qantas: flies the A380 non-stop to Singapore, then onto SydneyQatar: daily to Doha
LUXEMBOURG FINDEL AIRPOTwww.luxairport.luT +352 2464 1i 15 minutes8 25 minutesLuxair: 700 flights to 35 major destinations across Europe, including daily non-stops to Barcelona, Geneva, Hamburg, London-City, Milan, Munich, Nice, Paris, Rome, Sofia, Venice & ViennaBritish Airways: adds third daily flight to London-Heathrow on Nov. 26CityJet: 3 flights weekdays to London-CityScandinavian: daily to CopenhageneasyJet: becomes the first low cost carrier at Findel, with flights to London-Gatwick four times a week beginning Oct. 29
SAARBRÜCKEN AIRPORTwww.flughafen-saarbruecken.deT +49 6893 83 0i 1 1/4 hours8 + 8 2 hours (www.saarfahrplan.de)Air Berlin: daily to Berlin; weekdays to Nuremburg; weekly to the Canary Islands and Mallorca Luxair: daily to Berlin, Hamburg & Luxembourg-FindelOLT: twice weekly to Warsaw
ZWEIBRÜCKEN AIRPORTwww.flughafen-zweibruecken.deT +49 6332 9747i 1 1/2 hoursj + 8 + j 2 1/2 hoursSky Airlines: regular service to AntalyaTUIfly: charter flights to Spain Tunisair: charter flights to Tunis
BADEN-AIRPARKwww.baden-airpark.deT +49 7229 6620 00i 2 3/4 hoursj + j + j + 8 4 hoursAir Berlin: daily flights to BerlinGermania: charter flights to the Canary IslandsRyanair: daily service to London-Stansted, Rome-Ciampino & Stockholm-Skavsta; thrice weekly flights to Riga & Vilnius
STRASBOURG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTwww.strasbourg.aeroport.frT +33 3 88 64 67 67i 2 1/2 hours
j + j 2 1/2 hours
Air France KLM: 3 daily flights to Amsterdam; daily flights to major cities in FranceCzech: daily to PragueVolontea: launched service to Bordeaux, Nantes & Montpellier on Oct. 1
PARIS-CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORTwww.aeroportsdeparis.frT +33 1 70 36 39 50i 4 hours 8 (to Gare Lorraine) + j (to CDG)
3 1/2 hoursj + change stations from Paris Est to Gare du Nord + j 3 3/4 hours (Paris commuter train tickets not available online; purchase at Gare du Nord)
Air France KLM: dominate carrier at Europe’s second largest airport, with dozens of daily flights to the Americas, and an increased focused on service to ChinaDelta: non-stop to 10 US hubsXL Airways France: budget carrier flies non-stop to Las Vegas, New York-JFK, San Francisco, as well as to the Dominican Republic, Maldives and Mexico
PARIS-VATRY AIRPORT (NEAR REIMS)www.vatry.comT +33 3 26 64 82 00i 2 1/2 hours
Jetairfly: summer service to NiceLuxairTours: summer service to the Mediterranean Ryanair: serves Marseille, Porto & Stockholm-Skavska
METZ-NANCY-LORRAINE AIRPORTwww.metz-nancy-lorraine.aeroport.frT +33 3 87 56 70 00i 1 1/2 hoursj to Metz + j 1 3/4 hoursAir France: daily to Lyon & NiceAir Algerie: four times a week to AlgersTwinJet: twice a day weekday service to Marseille-Provence & ToulouseVolotea: launched thrice weekly service to Nantes on Sept. 11
GERMANY
BELGIUM
NETHERLANDS
8
9
10
12
11
13
14
3
7
119
8
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8 j j
LEGEND Car
Bus
Train
Shuttle
1 2
FRANCE
6
7
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4
1413
1065
34-35_airport_delano.indd 35 26/09/12 19:01
BUSINESS
Start-ups
LUXEMBOURGENTREPRENEURS
IN 3DCompany founders need depth and breadth to get their initiatives off the ground.
So what better way for Delano to present its “Ten start-ups to watch” list than to take athree-dimensional look at the young firms who themselves work in three dimensions? All of
the young companies profiled in our first-ever start-up “hot list” are based in the Grand Duchy,irrespective of the founders’ nationalities. They are focused on a product or service that
demonstrates entrepreneurship and innovation, and they are still privately held.While the firms are still in “start-up mode,” all have demonstrated tangible evidence that
their firms have promising prospects. Here’s why you should keep your eyes on them.
Text by Aaron Grunwald Photography by Steve Eastwood
36 OCTOBER 2012
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BUSINESS
CHANDRA DE KEYSERHopes to see a big boost from the economy ministry’s Silicon Valley exchange programme
01 HealthAXOGLIA THERAPEUTICSAxoGlia researches molecules that could lead to drug treatments for diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s. This spring the company inked a three-year joint research deal with the Luxembourg Centre for Sys-tems Biomedicine which co-founder Djalil Coowar hopes will lead to new partnerships in the US and Europe. The six-year-old, three-person firm also aims to use its in-house drug screening platform to provide contract research services to the pharmaceutical industry.www.axoglia.com
02ConsumerBUBBLEBINBubblebin produces an “on the go” garbage container. The idea is to have a stylish and functional way to keep areas like your car, building lobbies, and bars and restaurants tidy, says inventor Paul Loutsch. Bubblebin comes in two parts: a small frosted glass body and multi-coloured, biodegradable cardboard cups that can be emptied or thrown away. Designed and developed in Luxembourg, part of the production takes place at the Fondation Kräizbierg, a group that helps the physically disa-bled live independently.www.bubblebin.com
TEN START-UPS TO WATCH
OCTOBER 2012 37
T hree dimensional imagery is best known in the public mind for its use in the mass
media. While that is not the only innovative use of 3D by the Grand Duchy’s start-ups, it certainly is one of them. Onyx Lux 3D, a CGI animation house in the capital, has worked on the recent hit animated TV series Iron Man and Robin Hood. But its most famous project is probably the current incarnation of Le Petit Prince which, says Luxembourg studio man-ager Regis Drujont, captures 36 percent mar-ketshare when it airs on French TV and has been successfully syndicated to dozens of countries worldwide.
Founded in 2007 by Aton Soumache and Alexis Vonarb, Onyx Lux 3D has already seen its young fortunes ebb and �ow. It went from two to 70 sta� between 2009 and 2011, but then back down to nine today when contracts dried up in the wake of the economic crisis, states Drujont.
He takes such swings in stride, explaining that--in any event--his �rm is dependent on producers securing funding and then choos-ing to partner with the animation house. And he somewhat jokingly calls computer graph-ics “the red headed step child” of the big budget entertainment industry, with animation--for TV--falling somewhere at the bottom of the food chain.
With new projects in the pipeline, Drujont hopes the firm will get back up to 60 to 70 employees in Luxembourg next year. In the meantime, the company has recently opened studios in Paris and Montreal.
In the physical world, 3D computer power is bringing spatial awareness to a whole new
36-40_article 4pages business.indd 37 26/09/12 19:52
03Industry & engineeringCHS DEVULCANISATIONThe Luxembourg spin-out of a Swiss firm has the first technology to recycle rubber from used tyres into rubber for new tyres, instead of for use in other products. It inked a deal with CRP Henri Tudor last month to help launch its first processing centre, which will supply Goodyear in Colmar-Berg exclusively for four years. “They can absorb so much, we don’t need another” cus-tomer at the moment, says chief Lau-rent Selles. After the lockup ends, CHS may add centres in the US and in Asia, where it works with [email protected]
04 FinanceFUNDS FOR GOODA socially responsible investment house that connects fund managers and clients who want to make an “impact” investment. Funds for Good donates half of its own profits to social and environmental charities, such as the Red Cross, without impacting cli-ents’ bottom-lines. In addition to the Banque de Luxembourg, it has deals with asset managers in Brazil, Canada and France. “We’re not idealistic dreamers,” co-founder Marc Verhaeren told paper-Jam magazine this summer. “If the prod-uct doesn’t suit, the client won’t stay.”www.fundsforgood.eu
05 Industry & engineeringGRID DESIGNThe start-up provides printed 3D models and computer simulations for architects and designers. In Luxem-bourg, the firm has helped the organisa-tions behind the capital’s “Living without cars” housing project, retail retrofits on avenue de la Gare, and a new lycée in Esch-Alzette. Few com-petitors can create 3D visuals for the market, says Serge Ecker. Grid Design’s next challenge is finding customers for its new real time application--devel-oped in-house--that lets users virtually walk through a building on their iPhone.www.grid-design.lu
06 Media & technologyMACH-3DIts MoodMe software transforms 2D photos into more “lifelike” 3D images, which can be used as avatars on social media sites like Facebook and mobile devices that run on the Android--and soon Apple--platform. The technology is already patented in the EU and US, says Chandra De Keyser. Eventually e-commerce sites could let customers try on, for example, a pair of sunglasses virtually. Based at the Technoport in Esch, the six-person start-up plans to set-up shop at a Silicon Valley incubator this month.www.mach-3d.com
38 OCTOBER 2012
BUSINESS
“LE PETIT PRINCE”Animation house Onyx Lux 3Dhas helped TV series The Little Prince take the world by storm
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level. Four-year-old Grid Design helps “people visualise their ideas in 3D and take advantage of 3D visualisations and digital model making to help them communicate their ideas,” says CEO and creative director Serge Ecker. �e company can produce both physical mock-ups using its 3D printing equipment and for the screen with its home-grown software.
Ecker studied �lm special e�ects and then worked “16 hours per day for nothing” at a 3D studio in Germany. When he moved back to Luxembourg, an architecture �rm was seeking an advantage promoting its work and o�ered him a contract. Ultimately that led him to found Grid Design, which has worked with cli-ents--primarily architects, but also interior designers and product developers--from Berlin to Tokyo.
Ecker is still the sole employee but has an established network of freelancers.
In Ecker’s view, Grid Design’s real advantage is the “dialogue” it forces its clients to have. For example, 3D techniques help architects see how di�erent materials change a design, so they know if an idea will “work or if it doesn’t work.” He explains that “it helps make decisions, so an architect knows what he wants before present-ing” proposals to their clients.
�e approach also helps “proof check” concepts from various viewpoints before construction begins, sparing the need for expensive adjust-ments while work is already under way, and Ecker reckons it is more environmental friendly because his clients’ clients end up using fewer building materials.
"IT HELPS MAKE
DECISIONSSERGE ECKER
"
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07 Media & technologyONYX LUX 3DThe 3D film and TV animation house behind runaway success Le Petit Prince hopes to have another hit on its hands. Next year it will begin work for the French producers of Le Prince et les 108 Démons, which is based on the clas-sic Chinese novel Outlaws of the Water Margin. “In 3D we are alone,” says Regis Drujont. “No one in Europe has the experience in 3D like Onyx Lux 3D” to pull off such ambitious 3D animation projects. The Prince and the 108 Demons is currently scheduled for release in summer 2014.www.onyxlux3d.com
08 HealthPROSCIENSThe firm screens molecules to find promising leads that will be studied in traditional labs, says Edelmiro Moman. In addition to helping find brand new drugs for diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s, the approach can help researchers “better understand the interaction of drugs that you’re dealing with” to improve a drug’s efficiency and avoid negative side-effects. Up next: the firm is working on a peer-reviewed sci-entific paper to validate its methodol-ogy, which will help ProSciens market the technology.www.prosciens.com
09 Media & technologySEEZAMPierre Van Wambeke founded Seezam in 2009 after the “jigsaw nightmare” of tracking down bank and insurance doc-uments in three countries following his grandmother’s death. Today the firm offers an online repository to safeguard financial, health and other confidential data. Luxembourg’s privacy rules and the “military level” encryption used is so strong that he says, for legal reasons, Seezam can only offer its service within the EU. Next up: the launch of a stealth USB key that leaves no trace of your activity on a PC.www.seezam.com
10 Media & technologyTRENDICTIONFour-year-old Trendiction collects and analyses data found on social media and web sites for marketing and com-munications departments. The 12-per-son start-up says its home-grown technology crawls more than 20 million online sources daily. Trendiction has already scored some major clients--even some of the “Big 4” consultan-cies--mainly in German and French speaking countries. In June co-founder and CEO Thibaut Britz received top prize at the 6th annual Creative Young Entrepreneurs Luxembourg ceremony.www.trendiction.com
40 OCTOBER 2012
�e use of 3D technologies is also beginning to make its mark in the internet world. For example, Mach-3D’s “Moodme” software lets users create “a 3D online identity in tune with your mood” and then share your current emo-tional state via social media and mobile devices. �e six-person, three-nationality start-up has completed two early rounds of funding and hopes to break even by 2014, explains co-founder and CEO Chandra De Keyser.
As Delano went to press, the �rm was expect-ing the signature of Etienne Schneider, the economy and trade minister, on an accord that could signi�cantly boost its growth. Mach-3D has been selected to be the sole Luxembourg start-up in the current round of the o�cial exchange programme between the Grand Duchy’s economy ministry and the well-known Silicon Valley incubator Plug and Play Tech Center. “�is is a key step to become a global emo-tional communications operator,” says De Keyser, who plans to move to California this month for the start-up’s o�cial three-month residency.
Luxembourg’s government will help o�set some of the �rm’s expenses during his stint, which, the ministry explains, consists of “an intensive entrepreneurship training program” and structured networking with Silicon Valley investors, executives and fellow entrepreneurs.
De Keyser says “we are preparing something to ‘wow’ [Facebook founder and CEO Marc] Zuck-erberg!” To see what De Keyser calls “Facebook à la Moodme,” go to: http://goo.gl/Ana5T.
�ree dimensional imaging also is beginning to have a notable impact in scienti�c research, particularly in the health and biomedical �elds.
Edelmiro Moman founded ProSciens so he could stop commuting to his research job in Saarland from his home in Luxembourg, where his wife works for a European institution. Moman, who has a PhD in organic chemistry, plowed his life savings into the one-man ven-ture that he hopes will remake research into drug development by using computer systems to model promising molecules.
He notes that traditional biological labora-tory research is an arduous and costly a�air. “If you can narrow down the possibilities in silicon, that will save a lot of time and money. �e idea of molecular modelling is to come up with pre-dictions of how molecules will behave.” His vir-tual screening system aims to help researchers speed up their first look at, for example, an interesting protein or ligand, which links up proteins. “Instead of testing in the lab you do it on the computer, and narrow down candidates from millions to dozens so the number of [tradi-tional] experiments is lower.”
Right now Moman uses a powerful worksta-tion at his home o�ce that runs o� the chips that were originally designed to handle gaming software’s huge appetite for computing power that, for example, makes 3D visuals look so realistic. “Now you can do number crunching with graphic cards. �ey are not just for graphic display anymore, but you can bene�t from the power to run calculations on them.”
He explains that “you can have two or three hundred small processors, each not very power-ful. But the advantage of this is that you can have lot of computing power in a small space.” �at is something to focus the mind’s eye.
BUSINESS
Neu
wie
ser/
Crea
tive
Com
mon
s
EDELMIRO MOMANUses technology originally created for video games to help research drugs to treat cancer and Parkinson’s disease v
36-40_article 4pages business.indd 40 26/09/12 19:52
the Point of Single Contact of the Luxembourg Governmentwww.business.lu
Alone in business?
No you’re not!The Business Portal provides you with comprehensive information on setting up and running your business in Luxembourg as well as an online access to all administrative procedures.
42 OCTOBER 2012
THINK LOCAL
AG: What brought you to Luxembourg?
PB: I was very happy in Prague. I was not looking for anything particular. But I got an opportunity to study French here, and wanted to try it; to see how it is abroad and to do something in an international place. And that was it for me, the possibility to try it.AG: After you arrived, what surprised you the most?
PB: I thought it would be somehow easier, in many, many ways. �e work market is very closed, I would say. I was lucky that I had friends from before [because] I had the opportunity to participate in some cultural activities before I moved here. So I knew some people. �at probably made it much easier for me.
And maybe the language barrier. It was not enough with English. So I really started [studying] French and now Luxembourgish as well. Today, after four years, I am able to speak French and I am very happy about that. I have other languages, of course, com-ing from the Czech Republic. I speak Czech, Slovak and I can speak Polish and Russian, and I have basic German.
In this international place, you have to be able to easily switch from one language to another one. And that was not very funny in the beginning.AG: How did you become involved with the ATSL?
PB: I got the idea to organise a festival of Czech �lms. I was somehow missing Czech culture. I used to have a lot of contact with cultural [organisations] in the Czech Republic, so it was easy for me to make direct contact with some directors, distributors and producers. I organised two festivals. During the two years that I did the Czech �lm festi-
val here, I met many Czech and Slovak people and I started to cooperate on that project with the association.
Now there’s another �lm festival, from Eastern Europe, CinEast. I decided to help CinEast and let go of the festival that I founded. And [now] there are more activities [organised by ASTL].AG: �e Czech government said it is closing its embassy in Luxembourg next year. How do you feel about that?
PB: I think it is very sad. I feel that this embassy is very, very important. Not only for me as a Czech person, but it is a very symbolic place for Lux-embourgers. It is the house of the for-mer prime minister, Pierre Werner, and I think that is very important. We are organising a petition against this closure; we are collecting signatures.
We will see what will happen, because we are not very happy about that. I’m not happy as a citizen, and I’m not happy as the president of the association.AG: What advice do you have for newcomers?
PB: To be patient. I think that’s important. And it is very important to come here with your hobbies.
I became a member of a design organisation, Design Friends, and I am a member of the Terrier Club of Lux-embourg, because I have a Jack Russell Terrier.AG: Is that the best way to connect with people here?
PB: I think so. �e big enemy of a new-comer is isolation. What I would say is really to try to �nd friends. Not to forget the old ones from your country; try to keep in touch. Develop your life, but don’t forget the things that you used to do in your life before.
Czech
“THE BIG ENEMY OF A NEWCOMER IS ISOLATION”
Four year resident in Luxembourg Patrik Bitomský giveshis insight into living and working in the Grand Duchy.
Interview by Aaron Grunwald Photography by Olivier Minaire
Born in Opava, Patrik Bitomskýstudied design in Prague.
He previously was an art director atadvertising agency McCann-Erickson
and creative director of the Czech edition of Marie Claire. Today he is a
graphic designer at a major publishing group and president of the 40 year old
association ATSL, the Czech andSlovak Friends of Luxembourg.
PATRIK BITOMSKÝMaintain your friendshipsand hobbies
42_ThinkLocal.indd 42 26/09/12 19:08
Your one-stop referenceon European integration
For all you need to know about the European integration process,visit us on our new website: www.cvce.eu.
Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe, Luxembourg
Knowing the past to build the future
44 OCTOBER 2012
Nobeluxwww.nobelux.lu
9 OCTOBER
ALTERNATIVE FUNDSConference offering the Nordic perspec-tive on sustainable investments, from impact funds to green buildings. Speakers include Hanna Teleman of the Swedish Investment Fund Association.Abbaye de Neumünster, Luxembourg-Grund, 08:00-15:30
club.paperjam.lu
9 OCTOBER
TALENT WARNastja Raabe of CoachDynamix outlines an approach “to optimise the talent available in an organisation” that will help businesses retain and develop their talented staff.Abbaye de Neumünster, Luxembourg-Grund, 08:30-13:30
British Chamberwww.bcc.lu
10 OCTOBER
TRADE FAIRFifth annual members’ trade fair and even-ing business forum on “Your digital life”, which looks at the impact of technology on the “bricks and mortar” world. Speakers include P&T LuxGSM’s Luc Welter.BGL BNP Paribas, avenue Monterey, Luxembourg-Centre, 17:30
Junior Chamberwww.jci.lu
11-13 OCTOBER
YOUNG ORATORSThe 2nd Public Speaking and Debating Academy aims to sharpen young profes-sionals’ communications skills. This year’s theme: “Integration in Luxembourg”.Multiple locations in Luxembourg City, all day
The Networkwww.the-network.lu
17 OCTOBER
WORK-LIFE BALANCEPanel on the challenges faced by working women. “The aim is to provide insights and hints that prove the combination of both family life and a fulfilling professional career are possible,” says Cindi Wilson.Sofitel, Luxembourg-Kirchberg, 19:30
DLWIwww.dlwi.lu
18 OCTOBER
FALL CONFABThe German-Luxembourg Economic Initiative’s big autumn networking event, for those interested in boosting ties with the Grand Duchy’s biggest trading partner. English-friendly.
Sofitel-Le Grand Ducal, Luxembourg-Gare, 18:00
Hack.luwww.hack.lu
23-25 OCTOBER
ELECTRONIC SECURITY“The aim of the convention is to make a bridge of the various actors in the computer security world.” The 9th annual forum also features talks on privacy and the cultural impact of IT on society.Hotel Parc Alvisse, Luxembourg-Dommeldange, all day
EVENT PLANNER
LU-CIXwww.luxembourg-gaming.com
14 NOVEMBER
LUXEMBOURG GAMINGConference and networking confab brings together players from across the European online gaming, digital entertainment and ICT industry. Speakers include communi-cations minister François Biltgen.Luxexpo, Luxembourg-Kirchberg, 12:00-22:00
Female chiefswww.�cel.luFOUND A FIRMThe Fédération des Femmes Cheffes d’Entreprise du Luxembourg, for women who own their own companies, hosts an event for the general public on Business Creation Day.Venue and time to be announced
ALFIwww.al�.lu
20-21 NOVEMBER
ALTERNATIVESThe European Alternative Investments Funds Conference is an authoritative look at the hedge, private equity and real estate funds spaces. Speakers include Luxem-bourg Freeport chief David Arendt.Conference Centre, Luxembourg-Kirchberg, all day
TEN EVENTSDelano presents a selection of the next two months of business
and networking events for Luxembourg’s international community. Advance registration or fees may be required, so consult the website indicated
for full details. All events are held in English unless otherwise noted.H
anna
Tel
eman
/ Sw
edis
h In
vest
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t Fun
d As
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46 OCTOBER 2012
EXCLUSIVE VINTAGE Rob Vintage, is a new store-in-store at
Luxembourg’s first designer furniture
outlet, Rob CarréRouge on rue de
Hollerich. Run by Michèle Rob and
Nichlas Lorendsen it specialises in
vintage furniture and lighting and
exclusive designer pieces from the
1950s through to the1980s.www.carrerouge.lu
YOU KNOW, FOR KIDSBelle’s Boutique, hosted in The Art of
Good Taste on rue Alfred de Musset in
Limpertsberg, specialises in organic and
Fair Trade baby & kids clothing. But that
does not mean the clothes are dull and
frumpy--“they are colourful and fun,”
says owner Rachel Mallon.www.bellesbump2baby.com
25+ STYLEHoney & Mustard is the new venture by
the team that runs the hugely popular
Extrabold. The new store, in the rue des
Marchés aux Herbes, next to Urban, is
aimed at an older fashion conscious
shopper than the avenue de la Gare
street wear store says the company’s
Thomas Decker.
TOP BANANABananas remain the most popular
Fair Trade product in Luxembourg,
according to a survey conducted to
mark the 20th anniversary of Fair Trade
Luxembourg. 32 percent regularly buy
Fair Trade banana, with coffee (22%)
and chocolate (20%) the next
most popular items.
CA(FÉ)SINOPOPS UPIN ARTCENTREThe launch of an ambitious three-month
programme at the Casino – Luxembourg
also sees the art museum’s “aquarium”
transformed into a temporary café
by Ture Hedberg and the team from
Konrad Café & Bar. Ca(fé)sino, as it has
been named, is a cool yet cosy space
with furniture recycled from old palettes.
It is open for snacks and drinks from 11 a.m.
to 11 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays and from 11 a.m.
to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
The café is already proving popular
with visitors and the artists involved
in the Atelier Luxembourg--Making
of project. www.casino-luxembourg.lu
46-47_lifestyle_ok.indd 46 26/9/12 7:10 PM
OCTOBER 2012 47
LIFESTYLE
AFFORDABLE DESIGNPLATFORM
At Noon is a new Luxembourg-based
Internet platform for affordable design
objects, aimed at creators and buyers.
Created by a group of design enthusiasts,
its goal is to become not only a commer-
cial platform by providing visibility to
designers and brands, but also to be a
“source of inspiration”, presenting new
generation designers and their objects.www.atnoon.com
CURATED ONLINEMARKETPLACE
Viviane Bumb recently launched qip
home, a curated online marketplace for
design and craft. The website allows
designers, craftsmen, small manufactur-
ers and concept stores to sell unique
furniture and home accessories online
(with free delivery). So far, the market-
place is only available in German.www.qiphome.com
DAVID GOLDRAKE RETURNSLuxembourg’s best known magician,
David Goldrake, has a new show entitled
Arcana-mysteries of magic. The show
is touring the country and is described
by the artist as “a journey through imag-
inative visions and tableaux.” It features
a number of classic illusions as well
as innovative experiments in
mindreading and escapology.www.davidgoldrake.com
CELEBRATE RAMAYANALek Zimmer’s Thailand and Thai
Celadon restaurants are hosting their
traditional Ramayana festivals until
October 21. This year’s menu is particu-
larly interesting, with an array of delicate
flavours over the four-courses that
includes a beautiful Dorade and duck
with a light Betel leaf tempura.
The whole is a triumph accompanied
by a Kohll Leuck Pinot Noir.www.thai.lu
HERE COME THE GIRLSSome of the best players on the
women’s tennis tour will be at Kockels-
cheuer from October 13 to 21 for the
BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open.
The line-up is the strongest ever
features Venus Williams, Jelena
Jankovic, Yanina Wickmayer and
Daniela Hantuchova (photo), who
returns for her tenth appearance. www.bglbnpparibas-open.lu
DOMAINE ET TRADITION UNVEILED
Seven of Luxembourg’s best vintners
recently presented their 2011 Domaine
et Tradition wines. The label is accorded
to carefully selected wines reserved for
private sale or for exclusive restaurants
by Thill Frères, Sunnen-Hoffmann,
Gales, Mathis Bastian, Mme Aly Duhr
et Fils, Clos Mon Vieux Moulin, Duhr
Frères, and Clos des Rochers.
“He is masked to unmask copycats,” journalist France Clarinval explains
in the preface to his book. He is “Joe La Pompe” and his new book is
100 Visual Ideas – 1000 Great Ads, published last month by Maison Mod-
erne. Over ten years ago Joe La Pompe started calling out identical adverts
on his website (www.joelapompe.net), which led to contributions to trade
publications in Belgium and France. For his new book--available in English,
French and German--Joe revisited his vast collection, and ends up
presenting the 100 most frequently used and abused themes and symbols-
-everything from Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer Statue and space
invaders to Napoleon Bonaparte and Osama bin Laden--and then offers up
his selection of the best ten. You may not agree with him, and you wouldn’t
be alone. One reason he continues to write under a pseudonym to this
day is the steady stream of angry messages that he receives. www.maisonmoderne.lu
Julie
n Be
cker
STALKINGCOPYCATS
46-47_lifestyle_ok.indd 47 26/9/12 7:11 PM
48 OCTOBER 2012
US ELECTIONS DEBATESRepublicans Abroad and Democrats
Abroad Luxembourg, in association
with the United States Embassy and
Miami University, are hosting a debate
ahead of the US election in November.
It will provide background to the elec-
toral system and allow for questions.
It is scheduled for Wednesday October
10 at 7 p.m. at Miami University, Château
de Differdange in Differdange.www.democratsabroad.org/group/
luxembourg; www.republicansabroad.lu
TRICK OR TREATThe American Women’s Club’s annual
Trick or Treat is always a very popular
event. This year, children signed up in
advance will be able to knock on doors
and collect candy in a neighbourhood in
Bertrange, on October 20.
Demand is usually high so sign up early.www.awcluxembourg.com
DIWALIA vibrant celebration of Indian culture,
Diwali is a traditional festival of lights.
The Indian Business Chamber of Luxem-
bourg is hosting a Diwali celebration
featuring a Bollywood musical and
dance show as well as Indian food and
a DJ with open dance floor until 1 a.m.
The event takes place on October 27
at 6.30 p.m. at the Parc Alvisse Hotel. www.ibcl.lu
02
03
04
Comhaltas
PURE IRISH DROPS
CLUB NEWSEach month Delano will highlight upcoming activities and events
organised by clubs and associations in Luxembourg. The focus willbe on English-language events. We welcome submissions to this
page--a brief text and photo where possible--via [email protected].
01
Irish cultural association Comhaltas
Ceoltoiri Eireann Luxembourg has a
tradition of bringing to the Grand
Duchy some of the finest Irish musicians
under the Pure Irish Drops banner.
This year, titled “Home away from
home”, the focus is on musicians who
have grown up in the most populous
Irish communities in England.
The trio that will play at Château de
Bettembourg on October 19 are: Kevin
Crawford (tin whistle, bodhrán and
wooden flute) from world-famous
band Lúnasa, born of Irish parents in
Birmingham; Damien Mullane (button
accordion), who moved with his parents
to London at the age of one, and
recently returned to Kerry; and Colin
Farrell (fiddle), born in Manchester to
Irish parents from Galway and Cavan.
The concert starts at 8 p.m. and
entrance costs 15 euro for Comhaltas
members, 20 euro for non-members,
with children paying half price.
Comhaltas holds regular Closet Musi-
cian Sessions under the guidance of
Terry O’Brien. The association also
organises classes in Adult Set Dance
and Children’s Step Dance. An annual
Céilí is held around the St. Patrick’s Day
celebrations in March.www.comhaltas.lu
48_lifestyle_master.indd 48 27/9/12 3:37 PM
50 OCTOBER 2012
LIFESTYLE
E ven in death, some people continue
to be an inspiration. Marian Aldred is
one such case. The former communica-
tions director at the International
School of Luxembourg died in Decem-
ber 2011 after a brave eight-year battled
with ovarian cancer, but a group of her
friends and colleagues continue her
good work for Think Pink Lux. Indeed, so
inspired were they that a number of
runners from the awareness group
raised some 21,000 euro at this year’s
ING europe-marathon Luxembourg
and in June and donated that amount as
an award in Marian’s name to the Labo-
ratoire de Biologie Moléculaire et Cel-
lulaire du Cancer (LBMCC). The
research lab is using the money to
finance PhD researcher Florian Muller.
Joanna Vanot, supported by her father
Laurent and brother Keenan, paid a
moving tribute to her mother at the
cheque handover. Recounting the
meeting of her parents and how Marian,
a teacher by profession, ended up at the
International School of Luxembourg as
the communications director, Joanna
said: “She was always a teacher and
always a learner.” Marian was first diag-
nosed with stage one ovarian cancer in
2003, when Joanna was just 13. Both
daughter and husband clearly admired
Marian’s bravery and the way she met
the challenge of her treatments. Joanna
recalled them all going to a New Year’s
Eve party in 2003, after Marian had ear-
lier undergone her first chemotherapy
session. Asked at the party whether she
was not supposed to have had chemo
that day, Marian answered simply, “I did.
But the cancer will not stop me from
having fun.”
Joanna explains that Marian co-
founded Think Pink Lux not only
because its mission hit home personally,
but because of her “passion for others,
research and support for this difficult
challenge. Above all, she placed great
value on education.”
Private labDr. Marc Diederich, head of the LBMCC
lab, exemplifies that approach. In 2004,
he moved to the brand new hospital
in Kirchberg where his team has some
600 square metres that it rents with
the help of the government. But that is
the only state help the LBMCC receives.
“We are a private lab, so we survive on
donations and private funding.” With
an annual budget of between 1.5 to 1.8
million euro for 25 scientists, as well as
equipment to purchase, that means
not only depending on charitable and
private donations--LBMCC is the main
Télévie lab in Luxembourg, so profits
from that major annual fundraiser--
Breast cancer awareness
STRENGTH THROUGH PINKOctober is now a month flooded with pink. Breast Cancer Awareness Montheach year sees millions of volunteers make a concerted effort to raise the profileof preventative measures and research and show support for patients, survivorsand the relatives of those who have succumbed to the disease. In Luxembourga number of groups raise money and awareness all year round, while scientistscontinue to pursue research into finding better treatments. Text by Duncan Roberts Photography by Olivier Minaire
"SHE WAS ALWAYS A TEACHER
ANDALWAYS
A LEARNER" JOANNA VANOT ON HER
MOTHER MARIAN ALDRED
50-52_lifestyle.indd 50 26/09/12 19:22
OCTOBER 2012 51
LIFESTYLE
but also working closely with pharma-
ceutical companies and tapping in to
European Union research funds. But
even at 600 metres, the space is
cramped, with researchers sitting in
close proximity at lab benches that
also serve as their office.
“We also have between three and six
PhD students at any one time,” Dieder-
ich explains. Collaborating with univer-
sities in France, Germany and Belgium,
Diederich is flooded with applications
from students every day. The head of
the lab is not attached to the University
of Luxembourg--“they are moving in
another very specific direction regard-
ing bio informatics and personalised
medicine”--but rather to the Seoul
National University, “which is a little bit
strange,” he admits. He splits his time
during the winter semester shuttling
between Korea and Luxembourg,
though part of the LBMCC lab is now in
Seoul, which allows him to continue his
research while at the university.
Besides publishing the PhD students’
theses, the lab also published around
two Medline referenced articles a
month, some 25 a year, which is impres-
sive. “That is quite rewarding. Since
2007, we have really managed to
increase our scientific output quite
significantly. It helps us gain interna-
tional recognition.”
JOANNA VANOT Dignified tribute
50-52_lifestyle.indd 51 26/09/12 19:22
52 OCTOBER 2012
LIFESTYLE
Meanwhile, another group of women
calling themselves Pink Ladies has also
been busy fund-raising and creating
awareness. A summer gala event
resulted in a cheque for 5,000 euro
being handed over to the Luxembourg
arm of Europa Donna, the European
Breast Cancer Coalition, that each
October organises events in support
of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The programme includes the ever pop-
ular Broschtkriibslaf (breast cancer run)
and a Breast Health Day gala dinner.
Screening programmeEuropa Donna’s goal is to mobilise
the support of European women in
pressing for improved breast cancer
education, appropriate screening,
optimal treatment and increased
funding for research. While breast
cancer, like all cancers, is indiscrimi-
nate and anyone can fall victim to the
disease, Europa Donna seeks to
encourage women to pursue a health
strategy that will reduce known
breast cancer risk factors as much as
possible. This includes some advice that
may seem obvious, such as avoiding
obesity and weight gain and increas-
ing physical activity. But the coalition
also warns that research has indicated
a connection between hormone
replacement therapy and the use of
oral contraceptives and the risk of
developing breast cancer. And, of
course, the campaigners also advocate
population-based mammography
screening programmes. “Attending
screening has been shown to reduce
the number of deaths from breast
cancer by up to 35 percent for women
between the ages of 50 and 69,” says
Europa Donna.
But while prevention is better than
cure, hope comes in the form of find-
ings from Dr. Diederich’s research into
the treatment of breast cancer cells
with a specific cardiac glycoside
derived from the Ayurvedic desert
plant Calotropisprocera. “Treatment
leads to cancer cell growth inhibition
and may even trigger breast cancer
cell death,” says Diederich. “Interest-
ingly, we observed this effect already
at very low doses, which minimize the
development of any side effects. For
this project, we aim to understand
how cardiac glycosides activate this
interesting anti-cancer effect, espe-
cially on breast cancer.”
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
Events: October 6 - Broschtkriibslaf 4km fun run through the Petrusse valley starting from Abbaye de Neumünster www.broschtkriibslaf.lu
October 13 - Think Pink Fashion event Buffet dinner-dance, fashion show and auction at Mercedes Benz, Hollerich www.thinkpinklux.com
October 20 - Breast Health Day Fitness events, gala dinner, lingerie show and dancing at Abbaye de Neumünster http://europadonna.asbl4free.lu/fr
Around 350 women
are currently diagnosed with
cancer in Luxembourg
450,332 new cases
of breast cancer in Europe every year
Sour
ce: E
urop
a D
onna
asb
l - In
tern
atio
nal A
genc
y fo
r Res
earc
h on
Can
cer;
2010
DR. MARC DIEDERICH International recognition for cancer research
50-52_lifestyle.indd 52 26/09/12 19:22
FEEL IT LIVE!
WWW.AUTOMNE.LU
OPENING HOURS: MONDAY, TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY 2 P.M. - 7 P.M., THURSDAY AND FRIDAY 2 P.M. - 9 P.M., SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS 10 A.M. - 7 P.M. MOTORWAY A1, EXIT 8
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54 OCTOBER 2012
TRUE NATUROPATHYSparkling owner of Natural Health Solu-
tions, Tessa Montague, is an expert
naturopath and massage therapist.
She uses natural forms of healthcare that
include herbal remedies, nutritional sup-
plements and dietary and lifestyle advice
to promote well-being and quality of life.Natural Health Solutions, Sandweiler,
tel.: 661 20 24 72, www.naturalhealth.lu
SALT GROTTO TIMEOUTIt may seem like a strange idea to go sit in
a salt grotto replica, but it is actually a very
relaxing and balancing experience.
The air being rich in minerals and micro-
elements. It also has a beneficial effect on
health, helping anything from allergies to
sleeping disorders. Salzgrotte, Um Räilend 31, Junglinster,
www.salzgrotte.lu
CHIROPRACTICAL SOLUTIONS
Jesse Goldswain lives and breathes chi-
ropractic, so if you’re looking for a non-
invasive management of your spine and
joint disorders, he’s the man. “We use
gentle application of adjustments to
restore function and promote the
body’s natural healing response.”11a rue Principale, Sandweiler,
tel.: 661 863 599, www.mychiro.lu
02
03
04
Anna Dannfelt is not only a renowned aromatherapist, she is also a life guide and
teacher of the kind you rarely meet and never forget. Her motto (and the name of
her popular workshops): Create yourself. “It’s about being centred in yourself.
Stress-management, aromatherapy, essential oils and self-development are tools
to enhance and build the kind of life you want and to learn how to deal with things
around and within you. It is about being in balance on all levels: physical, emotional
and mental. Everybody is not the same, individuality is the key. By finding your
strengths and understanding your weaknesses, you are much more able to create the
kind of life where you will feel comfortable with yourself, family, work and free time.”
Anna Dannfelt conducts workshops, one-on-one consultations, group sessions and
presentations. There are no set formats--she creates what suits the individual, group or
situation best. “The basic idea is that we have more control over ourselves and our lives
than we believe and it is time to tap in to those dormant resources that we carry within!”Anna Dannfelt, tel.: 621 39 27 76, www.annadannfelt.com, [email protected]
Aromatherapy
BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN
YOU
WHICH WAY TO WELLNESS?
When leaves and temperatures begin to fall, so do energy levels. Instead of giving in to the autumn blues, keep spirits high with
some “you time”. Taking care of your general well-being willhave an effect on all aspects of your life. NC
Den
is T
omba
l
01
Salz
grot
te
54-55_lifestyle_master.indd 54 26/9/12 7:17 PM
OCTOBER 2012 55
LIFESTYLE
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
Oriental medicine professionals Josie
and Emma Doyle join the Chiropractic
and Wellness clinic in Kirchberg this
month, offering a large array of tradi-
tional Chinese treatments, including
relaxation and rebalancing treatments.Luxembourg Chiropractic and Wellness Clinic, 239 val des Bons Malades, Luxem-
bourg, tel.: 621 23 79 48 and 26 31 18 12,
08
SERENITY THROUGH MINDFULNESS
“Just as we use physical exercises to
improve our bodily health, mindfulness
can be used to develop wellbeing of the
mind”. Life-coach Elisabeth Møllgaard
will introduce you to mindfulness in
small, English-speaking groups.
“The focus is on practical meditation,
breathing exercises, awareness of and
much more.”www.emcoaching.lu
THAI MASSAGE AND REIKIAnyone who’s had a real Thai massage
knows the exhilarating effect it can have.
Staff at Zen Attitude are graduates of
the Wat Po school in Bangkok, so you’re
getting the genuine thing. You can also
experience gentler, but surprisingly
intense Reiki treatments.Zen Attitude, 30 rue des Romains,
Strassen, tel.: 621 25 21 22, www.zenattitude.lu
THE COMPLETE PACKAGEThe Hotel International in Clervaux has
an extremely comfortable and com-
plete wellness centre, where you can get
full spa treatments and beauty treat-
ments of all sorts. There’s also a sauna, a
hammam, a relaxation room, a Kniep…
Everything you need to pamper your-
self and de-stress.Hotel International,
10 Grand-Rue, Clervaux, www.interclervaux.lu
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“Many people are afraid to do their first yoga steps,
but yoga is not about competing, performing or
being judged or judgemental. It’s about connecting
to you inner source and realising that everything is
within yourself: your strength--both physical and
mental--your balance, peace and joy.” With Yoga-
loft, Isabelle Thill has created the perfect space for
both yoga newbies and those who have been
practising a while. Different classes are available
(such as drop-in classes, flow yoga, flow vinyasa
and ashtanga) throughout the week. If you know
anyone doing yoga, chances are you‘ve already
heard how good it makes them feel. If not, let’s
sum it up: yoga promotes suppleness of spine
and joints, strengthens, tones and builds muscles,
eliminates toxins, relaxes the nervous system,
increases body awareness, promotes weight
reduction, calms the mind, centres attention,
sharpens concentration and frees the spirit.
All things most of us need!
Yogaloft, 11 rue Guillaume de Machault, Luxembourg, tel.: 26 25 97 90, www.yogaloft.lu
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MOBILE RELAXATION Spa Anywhere brings massages, facials,
body care and hand and foot treatments
to where ever you are--at your hotel,
work, home or at a special event--and
whenever you want (days, evenings,
weekend). Says owner Dorothy Germaine:
“I help people add or put back meaning-
ful moments to their busy lifestyle.” Tel.: 621 64 76 37,
www.spaanywhereanytime.lu
FULL SPA EXPERIENCEThe Mondorf Thermal Domain Spa
promises everything from a “physical
and spiritual experience” to “gentle
pleasures”! Every body and skin treat-
ment you can dream of is offered here,
including massage, LaStone therapy,
cranio-sacral balancing, algue wraps
or even a Scottish rub.Mondorf Parc Hotel, 52 avenue des Bains,
Mondorf-les-Bains, www.mondorf.lu
09 10
ROOM FOR
YOGA
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56 OCTOBER 2012
he Actors Repertory Theatre Luxembourg, the brainchild of
American residents Timothy Lone and Erik Abbott, already has a production in the pipeline. Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? will be performed at the Théâtre National next June.
Quite independently of each other, Abbott and Lone had thought about setting up their own company shortly after arriving in Luxembourg. “Probably everyone in the theatre wants to be part of a professional ensemble, and in terms of English-speaking theatre there was a niche to be filled,” explains Abbott. “We were fortunate to have a conflation of circumstances and people with drive and passion com-ing together.”
The company has a core member-ship of ten, most of whom bring some sort of creative skills on board. And when a production is up and running, the plan is to cast
LIFESTYLE
�eatre
IN GOOD COMPANYLaunching a professional English-language theatrecompany in Luxembourg is a dream and a real challengefor founders Timothy Lone and Erik Abbott.Text by Duncan Roberts Photo by Olivier Minaire
locally where possible--“we are very focused on being a Luxembourg-based company,” says Lone--and to pay everyone involved on a professional basis. “Ultimately, the dream is to put on a full professional season.”
The company’s first show is in conjunction with the TNL, because, as Lone explains, the Albee play fits in with the sort of productions they were putting on. Indeed, Lone had already spoken with the TNL’s Anne Simon, who has been instrumental in putting on other English language plays at the theatre.
Meanwhile, the company is seeking financing. “As a new independent professional company, we need proper funding. There is not a lot of revenue coming through ticket sales, because the thing about Luxembourg is that the number of performances is limited, no matter what language you are performing in.” www.actorsrep.lu
T
�eatreCALLING TEACHERSTO THE BIRTHDAY PARTYAs a parting shot to Luxembourg, Fran
Potasnik and Adrian Diffey have chosen
to give audiences a real treat with a pro-
duction of Harold Pinter’s The Birthday
Party. The show, produced by the TNL
with the couple’s Mind The Gap company,
will be performed at the Théâtre National
du Luxembourg over several dates in early
December. Delano will have more insight
into the production in its November edi-
tion, but teachers of English and drama
may be interested in already reserving
special question-and–answer sessions at
the theatre following the performance or
an informational presentation for their
school prior to the performance. Enquir-
ies can be made with Mind The Gap via
email: [email protected].
www.tnl.lu
PIRATES IN BAD HABITSDirected by Neil Johnson, Dan Goggin’s
1985 musical Nunsense is the next show
being put on by Pirate Productions. It
plays in Esch-Alzette and Luxembourg
City over two weekends in October.
www.pirates.lu
www.tnl.lu
TIMOTHY LONEAND ERIK ABBOTTFilling a niche
56_lifstyle.indd 56 26/09/12 19:15
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58 OCTOBER 2012
KAORI ITOChoreographer Kaori Ito says her Japa-
nese background is often unconsciously
expressed in her creations. Her latest
work, Island of No Memories, harks back
to her experiences of living in Japan even
though it started off with research that
had little to do with her native county.October 23, Grand Théâtre, Luxembourg-
Limpertsberg, www.theatres.lu
SONNY ROLLINS & BANDJazz legend Sonny Rollins brings his quin-
tet to the Philharmonie, two years after
he last performed here as part of his 80th
birthday tour. Rollins has played with his
great contemporaries Thelonious Monk,
Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Max
Roach. Even at 82, he retains his reputa-
tion as a “saxophone colossus” on stage. November 8, Philharmonie, Luxembourg
-Kirchberg, www.philharmonie.lu
MADELEINE PEYROUXListing Billie Holiday as an influence is
one thing --having your vocal style com-
pared favourably to Holiday’s is quite
another. Best known for her song ‘Don’t
Wait Too Long’, Peyroux is touring with
last year’s Standing On The Rooftop
album which features her own compo-
sitions and covers of The Beatles, Bob
Dylan and Robert Johnson songs.November 9, den Atelier,
Luxembourg-Hollerich, www.atelier.lu
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Aventure+
CELTIC CONNECTIONScottish composer James MacMillan conducts the OPL in an Aventure+ programme featuring two of his own works
and two by Master of the Queen’s Music Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. MacMillan’s Veni, Veni, Emmanuel is a concerto
for percussion and orchestra that was first performed by renowned Scottish percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie. It will
be performed at the Philharmonie by fellow Scot Colin Currie, who first caught public attention by becoming the first
percussionist to reach the finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 1994. Also on the programme
is The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, MacMillan’s breakthrough requiem for a woman burned as a witch in 1662.
The two works by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies also have a Scottish theme – Renaissance Scottish Dances and An Orkney
Wedding with Sunrise which is one of the few classical orchestral works to feature a solo bagpipe (in this case a cornemuse
played here by Gilles Wunsch). The Aventure+ events always features a themed performance in the foyer after the main
concert – on this occasion the Luxembourg Pipe Band will play typical Highland tunes and traditional bagpipe music.October 19, Philharmonie, Luxembourg-Kirchberg,
www.philharmonie.lu
11 LIVE PERFORMANCESFrom a Scottish themed evening at the Philharmonie to the sonic boom of a Brighton
duo at Soulkitchen via soulful female voices and dynamic Japanese dance, the next month is packed with variety at Luxembourg’s premier live venues.
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La Médiathèque de la BnL
films & documentariesluxemburgensia audio books & music language methodsfree loan www.bnl.lu
Opening hours:Tuesday - Friday : 10:30 - 18:30Saturday: 9:00 - 12:0037, Boulevard F.D. RooseveltL-2450 Luxembourg
www.rockhal.lu
04.10. CARAVAN PALACE
06 .10. ROCKTOOLS SHOWCASE NIGHT (FREE ENTRY)
09.10. FILIAMOTSA (FREE ENTRY)
10.10. REFUSED
11.10. EUROPEAN OUTDOOR FILM TOUR 12/13
13.10. LES OGRES DE BARBACK
14.10. GET WELL SOON
14.10. INTERNATIONAL RECORD FAIR
15.10. TEAM ME (FREE ENTRY)
18.10. JOHNNY HALLYDAY
21.10. JOHN CALE
25.10. AUGUST BURNS RED
26.10. FUCK ART, LET’S DANCE (FREE ENTRY)
27.10. ROMAN LOB
28.10. BRIT FLOYD THE WORLD’S GREATEST PINK FLOYD SHOW
30.10. MONOGRENADE (FREE ENTRY)
31.10. THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH
02.11. THE CRANBERRIES
03.11. GOTYE
03.11. CITIZENS!
07.11. LIONEL RICHIE
08.11. DEEP PURPLE
09.11. VITALIC
10.11. MATT CORBY
11.11. KETTCAR
11.11. ALANIS MORISSETTE GUARDIAN ANGEL TOUR
13.11. JASON MRAZ
16.11. THE FINAL STING SCORPIONS FAREWELL WORLD TOUR 2012
16.11. NETSKY
17.11. DEICHKIND
18.11. SAEZ (SOLD OUT)
22.11. ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA
23.+24.11. SONIC VISIONS FESTIVAL 2012(THE XX, DEAD C T BOUNCE, CLOCK OPERA AND MANY MORE)
27.11. DRAGONFORCE
28.11. FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
30.11. PSY 4 DE LA RIME
01.12. TWINS OF EVIL TOUR: MARYLIN MANSON & ROB ZOMBIE
02.12. CRYSTAL CASTLES
04.12. AMY MACDONALD LIFE IN A BEAUTIFULL LIGHT TOUR
05.12. DAN SAN (FREE ENTRY)
06.12. STUPEFLIP: NOUVEAU SPECTAC
07.12. WAX TAILOR
07.12. STAHLZEIT THE RAMMSTEIN TRIBUTE SHOW NO 1
08.12. IN EXTREMO
11.12. MONO
12.12. CHILLY GONZALES SOLO PIANO II
13.12. SILBERMOND
25.01. EMILY LOIZEAU
26.01. SUAREZ
02.02. ZITA SWOON GROUP
09.02. LILLY WOOD AND THE PRICK
28.02. TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB
19.03. JOE BONAMASSA
16.-21.04. WE WILL ROCK YOU
20.04. ARNO
26.04. THE BOOTLEG BEATLES
15.05. AN EVENING WITH MARK KNOPFLER AND BAND
JOHN CALE21-10-2012
THE CRANBERRIES02-11-2012
GOTYE03-11-2012
LIONEL RICHIE07-11-2012
059_BNL_ROCKHAL.indd 1 24/9/12 1:01 PM
60 OCTOBER 2012
LIFESTYLE
THE BLACKBYRDSPioneering jazz funk outfit The Blackby-
rds was formed some 40 years ago by
jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd. The group
had a couple of hit singles ‘Walking In
Rhythm’, and ‘Do It Fluid’. Now reformed
by drummer Keith Killgo, the band has
released a new album entitled Gotta Fly,
which features its trademark sound
(including some great flute) made
contemporary.October 16, opderschmelz, Dudelange,
www.opderschmelz.lu
THE ASTEROIDS GALAXY TOURInfectious sixties-inspired soulful pop is
the specialty of Danish outfit The Aster-
oids Galaxy Tour. Glamorous singer
Mette Lindberg and multi-instrumental-
ist Lars Iversen has released incredibly
catchy singles ‘The Sun Ain’t Shining No
More’ and ‘The Golden Age’. It is now on
tour with second album Out Of Frequency. October 9, den Atelier,
Luxembourg-Hollerich, www.atelier.lu
BOB GELDOFSince 1985 Bob Geldof has been better
known as a campaigner and personal life
than for his music. But he has released a
new album, How To Compose Popular
Songs That Will Sell, which the BBC says
sees Geldof chose “wisdom and reflec-
tion have finally overtaken venomous
splurge as his choice of artistic cloak.”October 28, den Atelier, Luxembourg-
Hollerich, www.atelier.lu
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JOHN CALEYou wait forever for a former member
of The Velvet Underground to come
to Luxembourg and then two arrive at
once. John Cale follows former band
mate Lou Reed in playing the Rockhal.
Always keen to experiment musically,
Cale has just released a new album,
Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood; his
first since 2005’s Black Acetate. October 21, Rockhal, Esch-Belval,
www.rockhal.lu
BLOOD RED SHOESBrighton duo Laura-Mary Carter and
Steven Ansell return to Luxembourg.
This time the band is restricted to the
intimate space of Soulkitchen, which
will make their post-punk noise even
more powerful and unremitting. Having
said that, new album In Time To Voices
sees the duo produce a more melodic
and polished sound.October 23, Soulkitchen,
Luxembourg-Hollerich, www.atelier.lu
GOTYEWho would have predicted at the start
of 2012 that a Belgian artist would end
up with the biggest hit of the year?
Gotye, born Wouter De Backer in Bru-
ges, has topped the charts in 18 countries
with ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’.
His album, Making Mirrors, has sold over
1.5 million copies worldwide.November 3, Rockhal, Esch-Belval,
www.rockhal.lu
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DIANA KRALLA graduate of the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston, Canadian
native Diana Krall is a veritable superstar of contemporary jazz. Krall had
already begun playing piano at the age of four--her father played the instrument
at home and her mother was an enthusiastic singer--and was playing in jazz
clubs at the age of fifteen. Since 1993 she has released 11 studio albums and
a couple of live recordings, and has received nominations for best vocal
jazz album at the Grammys (she won with 2003’s Live in Paris).
She performed to a great reception at the Philharmonie in 2009 with her
Quiet Nights album, and returns now to support new album Glad Rag Doll.
Produced by T-Bone Burnett (a friend and collaborator of her husband, Elvis
Costello), the album features updated versions of old time songs, many by
American musicians of the 20s and 30s, such as the title track written by Milton
Ager or ‘Let It Rain’ recorded originally by Gene Austin.Krall’s band features
Dennis Crouch on bass, Aram Bajakian on guitar, Stuart Duncan on guitar,
Patrick Warren on keyboards and Jay Bellerose on drums.October 21, Philharmonie, Luxembourg-Kirchberg,
www.philharmonie.lu
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«Rayahzone» / Cie Frères Thabet – Sir John Eliot Gardiner – Hagen Quartett – Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg – London Symphony Orchestra – Valery Gergiev – Madredeus – «Dada Masilo’s Swan Lake» – Christianne Stotijn – Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin – Diana Krall – Solistes Européeens Luxem- bourg – Thomas Zehetmair – Scottish Chamber Orchestra – Maria João Pires – «The Rodin Project» / Russell Maliphant Company – Sonny Rollins – Les Musiciens du Paradis – Bertrand Cuiller – Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra – Manfred Honeck – Arcanto Quartett – Red Baraat – «Desh (Solo)» / Akram Khan Company – NDR Bigband feat. Al Jarreau & Joe Sample – Nigel Kennedy – «Rosas – Early works 1982–1987: Fase» – Cecilia Bartoli – WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln – Jukka-Pekka Saraste – Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Sir Antonio Pappano – Martha Argerich – Grigory Sokolov
Emmanuelle Béart – New York Philharmonic – Alan Gilbert – Ballet Preljocaj & Théâtre du Bolchoï – Paco de Lucía – Michael Clark Company – London Symphony Orchestra – Sir Colin Davis – «Les Justes» / Camus – Pierre Boulez – Daniel Kehlmann – Gewandhausorchester Leipzig – Cecilia Bartoli – Françoise Berlanger – Ian Bostridge – Abbas Kiarostami – Sonny Rollins – «Cosi fan tutte» / Mozart – Esperanza Spalding – Ballet Biarritz – Thomas Quasthoff – Stanislas Nordey – Philippe Herreweghe – Andreas Spering – Angelika Kirchschlager – «Otello» / Verdi – Ben Heppner …
03.10.–20.11.2010 www.luxembourgfestival.lu à 02:05 de Paris en TGV...
03.10.–27.11.2012 www.luxembourgfestival.lu
DRACULA & COVia its Panda Club, the National Museum
of Natural History organises many great
activities for 6-8 year olds. An October
favourite is the “Dracula & Co” work-
shops where the life of bats is explored.
Due to popularity, four dates are avail-
able: October 16, 18, 23 and 25.
Fee: €4 and sign-up is a must. ( on www.pandaclub.lu )
Natur musée, 25 rue Münster, Luxembourg
www.mnhn.lu
HAUNTED CASTLEVianden Castle opens its cellars on
October 28. From 4-9 p.m., children and
their parents are invited to a cosy Hal-
loween party, complete with pumpkin
soup and other snacks, games, stories,
music--and a wonderful visit through
the haunted castle to meet Dr. Franken-
stein and some of his creatures.
Don’t forget to dress up!
Entry: €3 (child) and €5 (adult).www.castle-vianden.lu
WITCHES AND GHOSTSThe “A Poosen” Toy museum organises
Halloween the weekend of October
27-28 with workshops for children aged
between 6 and 12. Saturday is all about
spooky stories, witches, ghosts and
monsters; Sunday about making your
own pumpkin. Workshops from
2 to 5 p.m., fee is €15/day and
reservations are required.Musée A Possen, 2 Keeseschgässel,
Bech-Kleinmacherwww.musee-possen.lu
TOTAL HALLOWEENThe Geeschterowend (ghost evening) in Esch-sur-Sûre
is one of the biggest family Halloween events in Luxem-
bourg. The old town centre and medieval castle pro-
vide a perfect setting and is massively decorated with
pumpkins, candles, spider webs, witches and all things
related. There’s music, lots of food stalls and activities
for the kids. There’s also a costume contest at 9 p.m. for
both children and grown-ups. The bravest will venture
to the castle where local ghost stories are read aloud
while spirits roam the old cellars--or maybe take a walk
through the “haunted death valley”. The evening starts
at 5 p.m. and goes on till midnight (and often longer in
the surrounding cafés and restaurants--who also offer
special “ghost menus” that evening). Parking is free.Geeschterowend--La soirée des fantômes, October 20, 5 p.m. till midnight in Esch-sur-Sûre. www.eschsursure.lu
PUMPKIN PARTYThe association Little Plus is hosting
a big Halloween Party for the first time
at the Le Royal Hotel, with workshops,
games, magicians, make up, party bags,
raffles for grown-ups and kids and much
more. Plus a “parents space” with
champagne bar! Entry fee: €30/person
all inclusive (except champagne bar).“Little Citrouille”, October 14 at
Le Royal, 2-6 p.m.www.littleplus.org
HAPPY KIDS: THINGS TO DOON HALLOWEEN All Hallows Eve--or Samhain--is just around the corner,
and if you think this old pagan tradition is non-existent in Luxembourg, you’re wrong! There are several places to go and have some spooky fun with the young ones. NC
62 OCTOBER 2012
LIFESTYLE
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9 NOVEMBER 2012AtelierConcert
Madeleine Peyroux
Send an email mentioning “den Atelier/MADELEINE PEYROUX” to [email protected] Deadline for entries is 30 OCTOBER 2012
Winners will be notified by emailWin
concert
tickets!
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FIVE EXHIBITIONSWORTH SEEING
The Bitter Years curated by the great Luxembourg-born photographer Edward Steichennow has a new permanent home in Dudelange. Also new this month: the annual
night of the museums and Luxembourg artists at the Venice Biennale.
Photography
STEICHEN & GILL OPEN NEW VENUEThe Centre National de l’Audiovisuel (CNA) has just opened a major new
photography exhibition space in a former industrial water tower in Dudelange.
The Waassertuerm and Pomhouse (former pumping station) are part of the
CNA’s extension project. The water tower houses a stunning circular gallery
that is now the permanent home of Edward Steichen’s exhibition The Bitter Years
1935-1941, which the Luxembourg-born photographer curated in 1962 for the
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. Photos such as the adjacent one by
Arthur Rothstein--Farmer and sons walking in the face of a dust storm. Cimarron
County, Oklahoma, April 1936--offer a compelling view of rural America during the
Great Depression. British contemporary artist Stephen Gill’s Coexist is the first in
a series of temporary exhibitions planned for the adjacent pumphouse. Gill’s work
is described as “a poetic reflection upon the changing region and city.”
CNA Waassertuerm and Pomhouse,
1B rue de Centenaire, Dudelange, www.cna.lu
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64 OCTOBER 2012
LIFESTYLE
ANYONE FOR VENICE?The Grand-Duchy’s participation at
the Venice Biennale reached a high
point in 2003, when young artist
Su-Mei Tse was awarded the Golden
Lion--usually given in recognition
of life-time achievement. Mudam is
exhibiting original works by her and
other Luxembourg painters, sculptors,
video artists, who have been
represented at the Biennale. October 13 to February 24, 2013, Mudam
www.mudam.lu
JAVIER MARÍN’S HUMANITY Anyone wandering through the city
since the end of September cannot
have failed to notice the impressive
sculptures dotted around the city.
The equestrian beasts and exhausted
warriors are the work of renowned
artist Javier Marín, whose very human
sculptures reflect the finest Renais-
sance tradition and the history
of his native Mexico.Until November 20, Luxembourg City
www.vdl.lu
A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUMThis year’s Nuit des Musées is focused
on museum architecture. Special tours,
workshops, entertainment and food and
drink will be available at participating
museums. Free shuttle buses
operate, though anyone walking
between the Casino Luxembourg
and Villa Vauban is advised to pass
through the Aldringen subterranean
passage to see a special urban art project.October 13, 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.www.nuit-des-musees.lu
KNOW YOUR ABCGetting to know the “real” Luxembourg
is not easy, especially for non-Luxem-
bourgers. So, the city history museum’s
latest exhibition is a handy alphabetical
guide to everything you want to know
about Luxembourg but were afraid to
ask--from aanescht (different) to zefrid-
den (satisfied) via Kachkéis (melted
cheese spread) and Heckefransous
(a French frontalier).Until March 31, 2013, Musée d’Histoire
de la Ville de Luxembourg www.mhvl.lu
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ADULTS 20 € / STUDENTS 8 € INFORMATION WWW.THEATRES.LU BOOKING WWW.LUXEMBOURGTICKET.LU T. +352/47 08 95-1GRAND THÉÂTRE 1, ROND- POINT SCHUMAN L-2525 LUXEMBOURG
LES THÉÂTRES DE LA VILLE DE LUXEMBOURG
‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHOREBY JOHN FORDIN ENGLISH, WITH FRENCH SURTITLES15, 16 & 17 NOVEMBER 2012 AT 8PM AT THE GRAND THÉÂTRE
» … darkly funny, superbly visceral and poignant... electrifying.
Independent on Sunday
» Donnellan and Ormerod’s sexy and unnerving new production is
gruesomely, wildly alive. Time Out
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RLAN
ANN_DELANO_TIS PITY.indd 1 9/13/12 11:45 AM
66 OCTOBER 2012
MY OTHER LIFE
ohn W. Pain, a clown with a large red nose, wants to free the world from evil. A goddess
called �e Mermaid tries to show him the door to love and a higher life, but John will have none of it. He’s too preoccupied to take her seri-ously. Thus, he finds himself meandering through an endless desert in search of the last fertile woman on earth. If this storyline sounds a bit “o� the wall,” that’s okay. Pain’s creator, Lucien Elsen, doesn’t strive to make sense in the concrete world. It’s your heart he’s after. “We think too much and feel too little,” he says.
Elsen wasn’t always a clown--this is just his latest stop on a meandering creative journey. When his diploma as an electrician failed to inspire, he pursued the culinary arts. He got his start as a street vendor in Luxembourg selling organic whole-wheat pastry. After mas-tering that craft, he spent four years pursuing his passion in specialty restaurants where he did everything from prep-cooking to dish-washing. Finally, at 24 years of age, Elsen dis-covered the food he was meant to create: macro-biotic vegetarian Japanese cuisine.
He opened a restaurant in Brussels and called it Shanti. He bought the place for €3,000, fur-nished it with chairs o� the street, and �lled the pantry with food from local markets. �irty-�ve years later, the restaurant is still thriving. After Shanti took o�, Elsen headed to San Francisco to study food design and stayed there for two years before returning to Luxem-bourg to open Mesa Verde.
But 17 years into his dream job, something unexpected happened. “I stopped cooking,” he says. “It was an honest decision. I couldn’t take the stress.” No longer able to pour his heart and soul into his work, he felt he was lying to his customers. He had no choice but to stop, yet he was lost without cooking. At this critical
juncture, Elsen found ultimate truth in the most unlikely place--the heart of a clown. For his 50th birth-day, he enrolled in a course called “Discover your clown and set him free.” He rediscovered the same energy and innocence he’d found 35 years earlier through cooking. “I felt a new passion immediately,” he says. “It closed the circle.”
For him, these two pursuits are closely linked. “My authentic exist-ence was expressed in the food,” he says, “and now in the clown. Cooking is emotion, love, honesty and connect-ing with people. Clowning forces you to access the energy system inside of you. �e closer you get to your clown, the more able you are to dig out emo-tions you want to show and share. �e �rst bechamel sauce I made, I threw away the pan. But once I knew how to make it, I had the basis for 30 sauces. Once I got the clown, I had 30 emotions to share and touch people.”
Elsen and his partner, Vanessa Bu�one, premiered their show John W. Pain and �e Mermaid at the �eatre of the Interna-tional Clown School. �e performance was surreal for both actors and spectators--a perfect outcome according to Elsen. Both the restaurant and the clown are doing very well. But the most important thing is that he’s found a new friend inside of himself. “�e clown makes you refocus your mind,” he says. “You look in the mirror and smile and say, ‘I won’t get eaten up today by unnec-essary stress.’ I remain one thing, and one thing only. And that is a clown.”
Lucien Elsen
SEND INTHE CLOWNA chef finds inspiration in the most unlikely place.Text by Tonya Stoneman Photography by Olivier Minaire
A BRIEF HISTORYOF CLOWNING
Some of the earliest clowns were court jesters, according to The Art of Clowning. During the Middle Ages they performed for royalty, making the king and courtiers laugh. The 16th century Italian theater brought the Harlequin Clown, known for its dia-mond patterned clothes, ruffled collars, and black half-masks. Then came the Pierrot Clowns, outfitted in loose-fitting clothes with huge buttons. The modern circus fea-tures the August Clown, an intel-ligent, but zany comic with big shoes and a red nose.
J
LUCIEN ELSEN“The clown makes you refocus your mind”
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