A LUXEMBOURGISH STORY FOR AN ASPIRING EUROPEAN

Sebastian Hoogewerf, Luxembourger Administrator at the ITI Catholic University / Katholische Hochschule ITI, Trumau, Austria for the EUROPAEAN-SOCIETY COUDENHOVE-KALERGI In a Europe where an all-out drive for material and technological progress has become de rigueur, it is not surprising that its cultural identity has taken something of a battering. Our governments are under tremendous pressure today to deliver to its citizens continuous progress. And this progress must be measureable, quantifiable and be demonstrated by improvements in life-styles, health, education, infrastructure and above all technological improvements. For universities and our places of learning, this has led to great investments in research and a predominantly technical training of our young. Europeans need to be competent technicians, scientists and skilled operators in order to drive this progress forward. And our reward will be granted in greater wealth, health and material independence. But taken to excess, this drive for progress will invariably lead to a cultural demise and a deep-seated and potentially lethal cultural boredom. Because a culture that is mesmerized by its own progress and what is useful, will soon relinquish its love for beauty and transcendence. Beauty and the transcendent cannot be grasped, measured or instrumentalized and thus are deemed by some as useless, expensive and a waste of our time and resources. In the late 19th century, the existence of the country of Luxembourg was at stake. Its neighbouring countries, France and Germany, wanted the fortified city and the surrounding lands as a tasty cherry to satisfy their expansive political ambitions. But then something happened that changed Luxembourg's destiny in a way that no politician or economist could have planned. It began to develop its own cultural heritage. In 1864, Michel Lentz wrote "Ons Hemecht" - a hymn in Luxembourgish that sings of the beauty of the country, criss-crossed by rivers, with its peaceful forests, its vineyards, hills and valleys. This and other writers reached the hearts and minds of ordinary people in such a way that when Bismarck defeated the French in 1871 and turned his gaze on defenceless Luxembourg, ordinary Luxembourgers took action. In just three days, 45,000 signatures representing almost the entire male population of Luxembourg were collected and used by Prime Minister Servais to demonstrate that Luxembourgers wanted to remain Luxembourgish. This action made a line in a poem by Michel Lenz immortal: "Mir welle bleiwen wat Mir sin". We want to remain what we are. And Bismarck, who did not want to jeopardise his Realpolitik, bowed to this request. Beauty and transcendence have always been the most profound stimulus to the human person, and ultimately both compliment and balance the natural desire for material progress. Yet it is not for our overburdened and overcritized European politicians and bureaucrats to administer this antidote. Rather, in keeping with the principle of subsidiarity, it is, in first instance, the task of our parents, and then our teachers and our university professors to draw out this great treasure from within the hearts and minds of future generation of Europeans. A generation of Europeans inspired by beauty and the transcendent will not fall victim to the excesses of material and technical progress, and at the same time keep the European culture fresh, creative and alive for their own children.