On Monday, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, along with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, were in Germany for a short official visit with a focus on Luxembourg’s arts.
The visit started in Potsdam where the couple and the Prime Minister visited Babelsberg Film Studio, Europe’s largest film studio. It is the oldest studio in the world as it was created in 1912.
Then, they went to Berlin where they visited the Michel Majerus Estate. Michel Majerus was a Luxembourgish artist who lived in Berlin until his death in 2002. His work focused on painting mixed with digital work and the museum inside the Estate is currently hosting the third part of the exhibition “Michael Majerus – Laboratory for Appraising the Apparent”. This was a special event for the Hereditary Grand Duchess as the Musée d’Arts Modernes Grand Duc Jean (MUDAM), which she patron of, is also hosting a permanent exhibition on the artist.
The official visit concluded with a reception at the Embassy of Luxembourg. During the dinner, two Luxembourgish journalists and one German writer were awarded Grand-Duchy’s Orders for their work. Jean Pütz and Ranga Yogeshwar are very well-known Luxembourgish science journalists in Germany, and Tom Hillenbrand is a German play writer who often chooses Luxembourg as the setting of his plays.
Although they did not visit it, this official visit ties in with the Berlinale -the Berlin International Film Festival- currently taking place in the German capital. This is the second time that the Hereditary Grand Couple made an official visit abroad on the occasion of an International Film Festival.
Indeed, in May 2017, they attended several events during the Cannes Film Festival, in France, to promote the work of Luxembourgish cinematographers.
Promoting Luxembourg’s arts is a primary focus of the Hereditary Grand Couple’s work in Luxembourg and abroad. One of their main initiatives is the De Main de Maîtres initiative which promotes Luxembourgish artists in exhibitions abroad.
