Beckerich residents remember former mayor Camille Gira

For all intents and purposes, Beckerich is a sleepy town in western Luxembourg with a population of around 2,500 people. However, Gira, who served as the town's mayor from 1990 until he was appointed to his national government position as secretary of state of the environment, left his mark on the commune and turned it into one of the most progressive and green towns in the country.

A man of the town

A Green Party politician, Gira dedicated a major part of his life to furthering the town and helping its people, and developed it according to his ecological vision.

RTL journalist Claude Zeimetz visited the town on Thursday. The overwhelming sentiment she came across was that of gratitude.

At half-mast

Current Beckerich mayor Thierry Lagoda

Out of respect for Gira, flags in Beckerich have been flown at half-mast since Thursday morning. Gira's successor, the current mayor Thierry Lagoda, said that the politician was a big role model for many people in the town - and he included himself in this. He remembers Gira as a people-oriented visionary who had the ability to touch and inspire others.

"Camille had a lot of ideas and was focused on implementing them without being stubborn," said current major Lagoda. "He would always listen to others and their opinions and was very focused on the task at hand, which always impressed me. As a young mayor, I felt like I had a guiding figure in Camille Gira."

As a major Green Party figure, one of the issues closest to Gira's heart was environmental protection.

Youngest elected

In 1982, Gira ran for election in the Beckerich municipal election for the first time, along with his friend and handball team mate Lucien Bertemes from the Luxembourg socialist workers' party LSAP. They were both elected to the town council - the youngest at that time in Luxembourg.

Lucien Bertemes, friend and fellow politician

Bertemes remembers Gira: "We were both 24 years old. Back then, people said "preschoolers form the new town council". These preschoolers became very active in the town. Camille, Jos and I worked extremely hard to get Beckerich's water factory up and running."

Young rebels

Bertemes remembers them as being "young rebels" full of crazy ideas. Businesswoman Christiane Wickler, who ran alongside Camille Gira for the Greens in the last parliamentary elections, jokingly said that she remembers Camille, Jos and Lucien as "the three from the petrol station". She said that all three of them invested all their energy into what they believed in: A better future on a clean planet. Wickler is thankful for everything Gira has done and said that he had the best green ideas.

"Only on Wednesday, we received one of his signatures", said Wickler. "It was horrible. Holding a document only just signed by him and then hearing a couple of hours later that he has passed away, it was unbelievable. I thank him for all that he's done and I wish him a good journey."

All the people RTL interviewed on Thursday agreed that, without Camille Gira, the town of Beckerich would not be what it is today.

Energy independence dream

Gira's vision of achieving energy independence, which put the small town of Beckerich on the map throughout the world, will also be furthered by his successor Lagoda.

"We had visits from people from South Korea and from Thailand. We are still receiving visitors from France and from Belgium on a regular basis," said mayor Lagoda. "All this is thanks to Camille Gira, who made the town of Beckerich known internationally. For that, we are incredibly grateful."

Without Gira, there would also be no "Beki" today. The "Beki" is a local currency in the Redange canton. The "Beki" was supposed to celebrate its 5th anniversary on 16 June, in Gira's presence.

Close to residents

"Without a doubt, he was the first politician after the war who had the guts to start a project like this in cooperation with the town's citizens", said Max Hilbert from the 'De Kär a.s.b.l.' in Beckerich. "Being close to Beckerich's residents was always very important to him. The whole town is in shock, many people have a lot to be thankful for. He put his mark on the region. The people here are still in shock."

Max Hilbert from the 'De Kär a.s.b.l.'

According to Hilbert, Gira loved to pay with 20 euro bills - because they are green.