From Dawn to Young Eagles: The (Failed) Attempt of Germanisation and Nazification of Luxembourg through Cinema, 1933–44

Abstract

With the emergence of talking pictures in the early 1930s, French films went into decline — at least temporarily — on account of the greater linguistic accessibility of German cinema to Luxembourgish audiences. Luxembourgers are more or less proficient in German as well as French, as a result of their schooling; however, they have but one mother tongue, to wit Luxembourgish. Few would deny that Luxembourg is a decidedly multilingual country. However, there are limits to this multilingualism, given the Luxembourgers’ uneven mastery of the three national languages. Despite a deeply ingrained francophilia, the majority of Luxembourgers have a better command of German, largely owing to the affinities between Luxembourgish and the German language. The decline of the French cinema was lamented by many contemporary intellectuals anxious to redress the balance between French and German influences in Luxembourg.