The Bombers Affair (

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. The language is standardized and officiall ...

: ''Bommeleeër Affär'') is the name given to a series of bomb attacks on infrastructure installations and public buildings in the

Grand Duchy of 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, Luxembourg ...

between May 1984 and April 1986. The identities of the perpetrators and the motives are not known; however, the population developed a diverse set of conspiracy theories. Many believe that members of the Luxembourgish Government or

Grand Ducal Family The grand ducal family of Luxembourg constitutes the House of Luxembourg-Nassau, headed by the sovereign grand duke, and in which the throne of the grand duchy is hereditary. It consists of heirs and descendants of the House of Nassau-Weilburg, wh ...

, as well as insiders in the

Security Services Security Service or security service may refer to: Government * Security agency, a nation's institution for intelligence gathering * List of security agencies (MI5, NSA, KGB, etc.) * (SD), Nazi German agency which translates as "Security Servi ...

were involved in the attacks."Bommeleeër: Von vier Spuren blieb am Ende eine"
(German). In: ''Wort'', 25 February 2015

Events

The perpetrators carried out thefts of detonators and explosives from Luxembourgish quarries. The perpetrators used the stolen materials to blow up electricity pylons from the electricity company Cegedel."Chronologie der Anschläge"
(German). In: ''Wort'', 30 October 2012 The company received multiple ransom letters. The company contacted the police and decided not to pay. Later, once the company had come to a conclusion and decided to pay the ransom, the perpetrators declined the transfer of money, stating that they knew of the police interest surrounding the attacks. Cegedel's electricity pylons remained the target of later attacks. However, the perpetrators diversified the targets of their later attacks to include the headquarters of the

Gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

and the Palace of Justice. A particularly significant incident happened during a meeting of the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

on the Kirchberg plateau. The incident in question involved a small explosive device which was thrown out of the window of a moving car. After two further attacks, one a car bomb at the apartment of a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

, and the apartment of a retired commander of the Gendarmerie, the attacks ceased. No-one was killed in the 18 attacks. However, a young soldier was killed during service by a traffic collision during the surveillance of

Luxembourg Airport Luxembourg Airport serves as the principal airport of Luxembourg and the sole international airport within the country. Formerly known as Luxembourg Findel Airport (French: Aéroport de Luxembourg-Findel) due to its location in the Findel are ...

. The perpetrators also set up an explosive trap in a forest, which was discovered before it could be put to use. This could perhaps have resulted in the death of many people. Furthermore, an engineer’s hand was severely injured when he picked up a flashlight which had been fitted with a detonator. A number of people were injured as a compromised electricity pylon fell upon a highway, which caused traffic to collide on the highway, though nobody was severely injured. It is believed that the perpetrators wanted to avoid human casualties, though in a number of incidents it was pure chance that no-one was injured.

Chronology of the attacks

*30 May 1984: Cegedel Electricity Pylon - Beidweiler *2 June 1984: Cegedel Electricity Pylon - Beidweiler *12 April 1985 – Holiday Home – Bourscheid (No clear relation to the other attacks) *27 April 1985 Cegedel Electricity Pylon - Stafelter *7 of May 1985: Cegedel Electricity Pylon - Schléiwenhaff *27 May 1985: Gendarmerie Headquarters – Verluerekascht,

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 ...

*29 May 1985: Cegedel Electricity Pylon - Itzig *23 June 1985: Gasworks in

Hollerich Hollerich (, ) is a quarter in south-western Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. , the quarter has a population of 7,781 inhabitants. Hollerich railway station is located on CFL Line 70, which connects Luxembourg City to the south-west ...

*5 July 1985: Explosive Trap - Blaschette *5 July 1985: Casemates –

*26 July 1985:

Luxemburger Wort ''Luxemburger Wort'' (; ) is a German-language Luxembourgish daily newspaper. There is an English edition named the ''Luxembourg Times''. It is owned by Mediahuis Luxembourg. History and profile ''Luxemburger Wort'' has been published since 184 ...

–

Gasperich Gasperich (, ) is a quarter in southern Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. , the quarter has a population of 10,208 inhabitants. In 2017, major building works began on a new development providing for dozens of large office buildings, hun ...

*29 August 1985: Police Office -

Glacis A glacis (, ) in military engineering is an artificial slope as part of a medieval castle or in early modern fortresses. They may be constructed of earth as a temporary structure or of stone in more permanent structure. More generally, a glaci ...

*29 August 1985: Ponts & Chaussées – Glacis,

*30 September 1985: Piscine Olympique – Kirchberg,

*20 October 1985: Palais de Justice –

*9 November 1985: Luxembourg Findel Airport *30 November 1985: Cegedel Electricity Pylon - Grünewald *2 December 1985.

Meeting – Kirchberg,

*17 February 1986: Notary Hellinckx – Cents,

*25 March 1986: Colonel Wagner –

Belair Belair or Bélair may refer to: People *Bianca Belair, wrestler *Sanité Bélair (1781–1802), Haitian freedom fighter *Anne Liger-Belair, Belgian writer known as Anne Duguël Places Historic locations *Belair (Nashville, Tennessee), United Sta ...

References

{{reflist

External links

*
Das Bommeleeër-Dossier
' on the website of the ''

'' *
Neies vum Bommeleeër
'' on the website of the '' RTL.lu'' *
Chronologie der Anschläge
' in the ''

,'' 25. January 2012 * Gardini, Fausto
excerpt from ''Luxembourg Under Fire'' (part 1; from e-book)
''delano.lu'', 17.05.2013. Terrorist incidents in Luxembourg 1984 in Luxembourg 1985 crimes in Luxembourg 1986 crimes in Luxembourg 1984 building bombings 1985 building bombings 1986 building bombings Building bombings in Europe Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1984 Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1985 Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1986 Unsolved crimes in Luxembourg History of Luxembourg (1945–present) Terrorist incidents by unknown perpetrators Serial bombers