Dutch State Visit to Luxembourg, Day 2

Photo: SIP

The second day of the Dutch state visit to Luxembourg took Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa as well as King Willem-Alexander and Queeen Máxima to Esch-Belval. Belval is a former brownfield turned scientific and cultural center, hosting the scientific academy of the Université de Luxembourg as well as Rockhal, the Grand Duchy's largest music venue. At Belval, they got a presentation on urban planning and the urban design concept of a blast furnaces terrace. In addition, they were received by the Vice-Rector of the University of Luxembourg, Romain Martin, who introduced them to the new Learning Centre of the University that will open later this year in Belval. The royal foursome also heard a presentation about "Space Resources Utilisation: Luxembourg's next big bet in Space", visited several workshops and got to play around a little.

Photo: SIP

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess and the King and Queen then made their way to the Château de Vianden where they were welcomed by Prime Minister Xavier Bettel for the opening of the exhibition "Relations: The Nassaus and Luxembourg" featuring exhibits from the royal collections in The Hague and collections of the Grand Ducal House. The visit to Vianden was rounded off by a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Xavier Bettel in honour of the Dutch King and Queen as well as the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess.

A video of the visit to Belval and the event at Château Vianden can be found on our Facebook page.

Photo: SIP

(Quick history lesson: The Dutch and Luxembourgish royal families form the two surviving branches of the House of Nassau - and until 1890 the Grand Duchy was ruled by the King of the Netherlands. That year King-Grand Duke Willem III died without a male heir. While the Kingdom of the Netherlands was inherited by his daughter Wilhelmina, the Grand Duchy of Nassau went to his seventeenth cousin once removed, the former Duke Adolph of Nassau thus dissolving the personal union between the two monarchies due to different laws of succession. While Wilhelmina is the great-grandmother of King Willem-Alexander; Adolph is the great-great-grandfather of Grand Duke Henri.)

Photo: SIP

The afternoon of the second day of the state visit was dedicated to meetings at the Chamber of Commerce where the royals also took part in an economic seminar entitled "Luxembourg and the Netherlands: Together on the way to a circular economy".

More pictures and videos of the day at Wort, RTL, the cour, the government, L'essentiel, Tageblatt and probably all over the Dutch media, too. 

P.S. Read all about the day activities of the first day of the state visit here and about the gala banquet here. Also make sure to check back later today as we will cover the evening event in a seperate post.