'A woman who took initiative'

On the cover of Germaine Goetzinger's book "Aline Mayrisch-De-Saint-Hubert 1874-1947", you see a woman with tied-back hair, wearing a hat and a belted coat, looking directly into the camera. This woman is Aline Mayrisch, a name familiar to many Luxembourgers, particularly due to the Lycée Aline Mayrisch on the Geesseknäppchen campus. However, as the book's 504 pages indicate, there is much more to this remarkable figure.

"It would be insufficient to simply say that Aline Mayrisch was an active woman," says Goetzinger, emphasising the depth of her subject's impact. "This was a woman who developed new ideas, who engaged herself, who took initiative." According to the author, Luxembourgish women owe her a great deal, particularly in the realm of education.

Equal education for all women

During Aline Mayrisch’s lifetime (1874-1947), girls from affluent families typically attended a "Höhere Töchterschule" (girls' college, ed.) such as Sainte Sophie, but opportunities to continue to university were not available. "For Aline Mayrisch, who herself wanted to study but couldn't, it was incredibly important that girls gained access to universities and, consequently, to liberal professions," emphasises author Germaine Goetzinger.

In response to this need, Aline Mayrisch used her own resources and connections to establish a girls' high school in 1909. Originally given three years to demonstrate the necessity of such an institution, she achieved this within just two years, leading to the state's takeover of the school, which is now known as Lycée Robert Schuman.

Aline Mayrisch's impact extended beyond education. She played a pivotal role in creating career paths for women as "Infirmières visiteuses" – now known as social workers – and in establishing a maternity hospital where women could give birth under optimal conditions, irrespective of their marital status. Unfortunately, this maternity hospital no longer exists.

In terms of charitable work, Aline, alongside her husband Emile Mayrisch, who later became General Director of Arbed, was highly active. At the onset of World War I in 1914, Emile co-founded the Luxembourg Red Cross with friends. "In their villa in Dudelange...where today the Red Cross offices are located in the former Arbed Casino, there was a war hospital that treated both German and French wounded soldiers, which was exceptional for the time," notes Goetzinger.

In the Mersch archives, letters expressing gratitude from those who received treatment at the Dudelange facility can still be found. Aline later served as the president of the Luxembourg Red Cross, further cementing her legacy of service and philanthropy.

Literature as a passion

Books were a passion for Aline Mayrisch. "She sought contact with authors and invited them over," explains Goetzinger. These literary gatherings initially took place at the Mayrisch family home in Dudelange on the Kräizbierg, before moving to her new residence at Colpach Castle.

Aline Mayrisch also dabbled in writing herself, though she never completed the two novels she started. She also worked on translations, including those of the German mystic Meister Eckhart, translating from Middle High German into French.

Traces of the Mayrisch family's legacy remain in various places today. Their former home in Dudelange has been repurposed into the Kräizbierg Foundation, where people with disabilities are treated and coached. Colpach Castle, where the family resided after World War I, was donated to the Red Cross but now stands empty.

Germaine Goetzinger's book, published in German in 2022, will be available in French in bookstores starting at the end of September.

Watch the full report in Luxembourgish.