“I recommend that every Luxembourger should experience Luxembourg Fest at least once in their lifetime,” said Marc Zimer, a Luxembourgish school teacher and a board member of the Roots and Leaves Association, which documents the history of Luxembourgers who emigrated to the US.
The organisation is one of many in the United States formed by the descendants of Luxembourgish immigrants that works to keep alive the historical, cultural and family connections between communities in North America and Luxembourg.
It also runs a student exchange programme between the two countries, in which students from some ten schools in Luxembourg take part.
Two separated siblings sharing common roots
Luxembourg Fest in Belgium, Wisconsin was started by Bea Wester-Krier as a local reunion to honour families of Luxembourgish descent.
Later, with the involvement of the Luxembourg American Cultural Society (LACS), it was renamed the Luxembourg Fest of America, with a focus on families of Luxembourgish descent across the United States and Canada.
Bea’s nephew Kevin Wester is the former executive director of LACS and explained that Luxembourgish identity has evolved in one way in Luxembourg, and another in America.
Kevin Wester helps Americans with Luxembourgish ancestry gain dual citizenship and organises tours to Luxembourg © Photo credit: LACS
“Like two siblings separated at birth, we are now coming back together and seeing the overlaps and differences,” said Wester.
Currently the biggest festival outside of Luxembourg that celebrates the Grand Duchy – you can drink Bofferding and Vin Moselle at Luxembourg Fest – you can also take part in a ‘treipen’ eating contest (treipen is the Luxembourg variant of black pudding sausage), something quite unique to the American-Luxembourgish community.
Each year at Luxembourg Fest a family is honoured. In 2025, it was the Burmesch/Jungers, with ancestral roots in Weiler-la-Tour.
The Burmesch/Jungers family reunion which took place at Luxembourg Fest 2025 © Photo credit: Sam Arendt/Ozaukee Press
The family’s ancestors emigrated to Wisconsin in 1847, and today there are over 1,000 members of the Burmesch/Jungers family in the United States. Nearly 300 attended the Luxembourg Fest Reunion.
Next year, the festival will celebrate its 40th edition, and special plans are already being made for 7-9 August 2026.
Luxembourg Heritage Trail in Chicago
This August, Zimer spent time in Chicago before attending the Luxembourg Fest. He is also currently on a tour of Luxembourgish associations in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Rollingstone and New Ulm, Minnesota, and St Donatus and Remsen in Iowa.
In Chicago, Zimer’s “main focus was to continue work on the Luxembourg Heritage Trail, highlighting the stories of Luxembourgers in Chicago during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.”
Professor Brad Hunt (left) from Loyola University in Chicago with students who set up the Luxembourg Heritage Trail © Photo credit: Marc Zimer
The heritage trail project was made possible by the support of Loyola University and the Edgewater Historical Society, and will culminate in an exhibition in Diekirch in spring 2026.
“These visits allow me to meet with members of the Luxembourgish community, listen to their hopes and ideas, and give a presentation on how we can build stronger bridges together.”
Zimer said the projects are both enjoyable but meaningful because the connections deepen mutual understanding and strengthen bonds between the two countries.
In particular, dual citizens (either American Luxembourgers or Luxembourg Americans) take pride in their roots and maintain a strong interest in Luxembourg, he said.
“They enjoy visiting Luxembourg and equally welcome visitors from Luxembourg with enthusiasm. This has always been the case, but now we are aware of the importance of actively nurturing these relationships to ensure they remain strong for the future.”
25,000 have taken dual citizenship since 2008
Wester said keeping connections has been much easier in the past 20 years.
“Relationships between the two communities deteriorated in the 1960s, but the establishment of Luxembourg American Cultural Society reignited interest.”
As part of gaining citizenship they have to look up details of their ancestors and learn about them
Kevin Wester
In 2008, Luxembourg allowed dual citizenship through ancestry. Wester is a consultant who assists applicants with the process.
“Originally, most people applying for citizenship were in their fifties or older and doing it out of a sense of nostalgia and honouring their past and their parents,” he explained.
Today, Wester helps younger people to gain nationality, many who have only just learned of their ancestry. “As part of gaining citizenship they have to look up details of their ancestors and learn about them.”
Luxembourgish spoken 175 years ago
Wester’s parents spoke 175-year-old, immigrant Luxembourgish, which would be barely recognisable to many speakers today.
“Wisconsin retained the language the most, whereas in Chicago people acclimated and switched to English.”
Cousins of Wester include the last community members still speaking Luxembourgish at home, and Zimer plans to record these speakers before this tradition and their unique version of the language dies out.
Wester has been visiting Luxembourg for some 45 years and leads annual tours to the country. His next tour will be in May 2026 for the Echternach hopping procession.
Two-way street
“Dual citizenship has also opened up doors of opportunity for young people to live, study and work in the European Union,” said Wester, adding that there were spikes in applications after the November election and again following President Trump’s inauguration.
“It gives people a sense of another option, and momentum for connection.”
Since the dual citizenship programme opened in 2008, some 25,000 Americans have claimed Luxembourgish citizenship, and Wester is working with some 700 new applicants currently.
It’s a two-way street Wester believes, as the Luxembourg government can benefit from the additional talent pool.
Honorary consuls in the USA also support trade missions and business relationships, and descendants who have visited the Grand Duchy provide “the best marketing in terms of tourism”.
You can find more information on Luxembourg Fest here and more information the student exchange programme here.
