Northwest Iowa is home to a large community of Luxembourgers and Luxembourg settlements. Luxembourg Legacy is proud to be a supporter of the Luxembourg Heritage Society of Northwest Iowa and encourages you to consider joining the society to help keep Luxembourg heritage alive in that region of the Midwest.  

A Message from LHSNWI President Judy Stokesberry
Since its founding in 2005, the Luxembourg Heritage Society of Northwest Iowa has sponsored a variety of programs and activities to promote Luxembourg’s culture in Sioux and Plymouth counties. These counties still have large numbers of Luxembourg descendants in their populations.  

The mission of the Luxembourg Heritage Society of Northwest Iowa is to preserve the contributions of Luxembourg settlers in the local area and throughout the United States through genealogy, education, and the celebration of their achievements. Or, as founding member Deacon Rick Roder stated in 2005, “I think this is going to be a much-needed, fun-loving crew (just like our ancestors).”  

Recently, the society sponsored a display titled “The Luxembourgish Language(s)” which was developed by The Zenter fir d’Letzebuerger Sprooch in Luxembourg and made its U.S. debut at Luxembourg Fest Week in Belgium, Wisconsin. With the help of the Luxembourg American Cultural Society, the exhibit made only its second appearance in the United States in Northwest Iowa. The exhibit consists of eleven screens that trace the development of the Luxembourgish language and its part in the multilingualism of the country.  

The display opened at the Remsen Heritage Museum, spent several weeks there, then traveled to the Plymouth County Historical Museum in Le Mars, and made its final appearance at Remsen’s Oktoberfest on October 31.  

In June 2021, Lux Fest, a massive celebration of the arrival of the “Great 38,” the original 38 Luxembourgers settlers to Sioux County who traveled from St. Donatus in eastern Iowa, was sponsored by the Luxembourg Society. The festival featured visits by former Luxembourg Ambassador Gaston Stronck, Mike Ansay, of Ansay International and Honorary Consul of Luxembourg for Wisconsin, and Kevin Wester, of Luxembourg Legacy. Activities included display of genealogies of all 38 of the original settlers by society member Robert Arens, presentations, music, family histories and displays, Mass and dinner.  

Over the years, connections were made with trips between the two countries.  

“I think our group grew when we joined with ‘Building Bridges’ directed by René Daubenfeld of Surré, Luxembourg, and Julie Jochum of Bellevue, Iowa,” founding member Jean Nilles said recently as she reminisced. “They had Luxembourgers wanting to come to Northwest Iowa in search of descendants from their families. Two groups came each year for several years. We helped find cemeteries where their families may be buried and even living relatives to help them reconnect. It was a fun time. We planned dinners. We were serenaded by Luxembourgers singing in their native language. Gifts were exchanged. Friendships were made. We would join their bus tours, sometimes to the local churches and cemeteries, visited the Grotto of the Redemption and rural St. Joseph’s church, always greeted by fellow Luxembourgers.” 

“René was asked if he would plan a tour if some of our group would come to Luxembourg. Friends we made while they had visited us from Luxembourg assisted him in entertaining and driving us to various locations. We were honored at many places with meals and [they opened] their homes for us,” Jean said.  

The Luxembourg Society participates in several annual events to bring attention to the strong Luxembourg presence in the area. The largest of these is Remsen’s yearly Oktoberfest on the last Saturday of October. A booth staffed by the Luxembourg Society highlights genealogical and geographical information and special displays at the Remsen Heritage Museum point out Luxembourg immigrants who settled the town.   

Celebrating an outdoor Mass at the site of the original Luxembourg prairie church, serving treipen, headcheese and Bouneschlupp at an ethnic fair and displaying family photos on a Christmas tree at a Festival of Trees are some of the other annual projects that display important parts of the culture.  

The “fun-loving crew,” to quote Deacon Roder, has sponsored several U.S. trips over the years, starting with a pilgrimage in 2007 to the shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio, when members escorted the statue of Our Lady of Luxembourg, usually resident in Remsen St. Mary’s Church, to the holy spot. In 2022, the group partnered with the Plymouth County Historical Museum for a trip to eastern Iowa, spotlighting the Village of St. Donatus and a meal with the St. Donatus Luxembourg Heritage Society.  

An ongoing project of the Society is support of the student exchange between Remsen St. Mary’s High School and Attert-Lycee school in Redange, Luxembourg. Approximately one-third of St. Mary’s students belong to the Luxembourg Club. It is hoped that students from Luxembourg will visit Remsen and St. Mary’s students will visit Luxembourg in the future.  

Over the past 20 years, the Luxembourg Heritage Society of Northwest Iowa has worked hard to preserve the contributions of Luxembourg settlers and hopes to continue its projects and add to them into the future. 

Anyone with a passion for Luxembourg is welcome to join the Luxembourg Heritage Society of Northwest Iowa. The annual membership dues are $20. To join, please send a check for the dues along with your name, address, email address and phone number to: 

Luxembourg Heritage Society of NW IA 

P.O. Box 414 

Remsen, IA  51050 

Contact Judy Stokesberry at (712) 360-0840 for more information or visit Luxembourg Heritage Society of Northwest Iowa’s website, which is filled with fascinating information about Luxembourgers who settled there. 

Read more about the first Luxembourg settlers to northwest Iowa and the St. Donatus Prairie Settlement near Alton, Iowa.