The National Museum of History and Art (, , ), abbreviated to MNHA, is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

located in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

, in southern

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. It is dedicated to displaying

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

s and artefacts from all epochs of Luxembourg history. The museum is situated in Fishmarket, the historic heart of the city, in the

Ville Haute The Ville Haute (, ; ; ) is a Quarters of Luxembourg City, quarter in central Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is the historical district, historic center of Luxembourg City and is involved in its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. , th ...

quarter.

History

The first proposal for such a museum was made during the French occupation of the Revolutionary Wars, when Luxembourg was annexed into the

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

Forêts Forêts () was a department of the French First Republic, and later the First French Empire, in present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. Its name, meaning 'forests', comes from the Ardennes forests. It was formed on 24 October 1795, after t ...

. However, the museum was never opened, despite the expropriation of a number of artefacts from the church. With the affirmation of Luxembourg's independence under the 1839 Treaty of London came a greater interest by native Luxembourgers in promoting the history of their country. In 1845, historians and archaeologists formed the 'Society for the Study and Preservation of Historic Monuments in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg' (), regularly known as the 'Archaeological Society' (). The society took over the responsibility of maintaining a collection of historic antiquities from Luxembourg City's Athenaeum. In 1868, the Society received a boost from the establishment of the Royal-Grand Ducal Institute (), amongst the responsibilities of which was the conservation of archaeological collections. In 1939, with

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

beginning, the museum moved its collections to secure them. When the German army invaded Luxembourg on 10 May 1940, the museum was used as a temporary shelter by the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

and

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

for several months. At the end of 1940, the museum was placed under

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

control. The Nazis planned to add to the museum's collection to promote their idea of German culture. During the Nazi occupation, from 1940 to 1945, the museum acquired 3,500 items-mostly folk objects. In 1946, the museum reopened as the Luxembourg State Museums; its collections were moved back. In 1988, the museum was separated into the National Museum of History and Art and the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

, which moved to a new building in 1996. The museum has been expanded with a new building designed by Christian Bauer et Associés, opened in 2002.

Governance

* 1939–1964: Joseph Meyers * 1964–1969: Marcel Heuertz * 1969–1990: Gérard Thill * 1990–2005: Paul Reiles * 2006–2024: Michel Polfer * from January 2025: Tania Brugnoni

References

External links

National Museum of History and Art official website

Collections page of the National Museum of History and Art

Christian Bauer et Associés
- architect's website Museums in Luxembourg City History and Art Art museums and galleries in Luxembourg History museums in Luxembourg Convention centres in Luxembourg {{Europe-art-display-stub