Belair, Guillaume

The Villa Vauban is located in the heart of the city, surrounded by historic parkland that is the perfect place for relaxation. The stately urban villa was built in 1873 on foundations that date back to the time when Luxembourg was a fortified town. A modern extension has been added and the building was completely refurbished in the early 2000s. The museum presents changing exhibitions based on its own collections (European art from the 17th to the 19th century and Luxembourgish art from the 20th and 21st centuries).

The little ones are drawn to a fascinating play area while adults can recharge their batteries in the meadows on the edges of small lakes or ponds. The park features rotating outdoor photo exhibitions. The “floating” pictures are changed twice a year. Some display the work of Luxembourg’s EMOP artists, others show student creations.

All people who showed their opposition/resistance towards the German policy of annexation of Luxembourg to the German Reich were arrested and brought to this building to be interrogated and sometimes tortured before being sent to prisons or concentration camps.The villa’s basement had been transformed into prisonners’ cells where numerous members of Resistance movements were interrogated and tortured. Two plaques on the outside commemorate the victims of the Resistance and the 1300 Jews whose deportation was organised here. It now houses the Luxembourg Resistance Foundation (FONARES), the Foundation for the Memory of the victims of the Shoah and the “Comité pour la mémoire de la deuxième guerre mondiale”.