In a world where you can chase mail around the globe in a split second and where companies commit themselves here today and are gone tomorrow, the address of an international law office actually does not matter anymore. We must however relativize this statement. Luxembourg is not wherever and whatever. On the one hand, it is located in the heart of Europe, and nowhere else is Europe more united than here. On the other hand, it is an international financial center and the seat of numerous establishments and institutions. From these facts and from Luxembourg’s particular part in history ensue many advantages: short and direct ways to important contacts, a maximum of discretion as well as the concentration of the most important banks and many international companies are only a few of the most important. In any case, we would be pleased to bring you the country and its inhabitants closer.

Founded in 963, Luxembourg became an important military stronghold in the course of history due to its strategic geographical situation in the heart of Europe, between what nowadays is France, Belgium and Germany. Called the “Gibraltar of the North”, it thus became a prey to regular invasions and occupations. After the rule of the Holy Roman Empire – three of whose rulers in the 14th and 15th centuries came from the House of Luxembourg – the country owed its continued existence to a mixture of good fortune and diplomacy, which prevented it from being permanently absorbed into the territories of its larger neighbours. However, by the time that it finally was granted the status of a sovereign state in 1815 and gained its real independence in 1839, Luxembourg was left with such a tiny territory that its people had to look outside its borders for economic survival.

By the force of circumstances Luxembourg has thus been led to a cosmopolitan attitude, which has characterized the country up to the present day. This is exemplified not only by the fact that the Grand Duchy has the highest percentage of foreigners of any EU country – more than one third of its 440,000 inhabitants - but also by the fact that its people speak at least three languages. After being liberated from the German occupation in World War II by the Americans in 1944, the modest Luxembourg both has experienced a spectacular economic growth and has emerged as an important actor in international politics.