Bourgmeisterin: Fireside Chats are officially launching in February 2026

After 2 and a half years of groundwork, research, and community-building, we are proud to announce that our sub-project, 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯: 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴, has officially been selected for 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 by the Ministère de la Famille, des Solidarités, du Vivre ensemble et de l'Accueil as part of their 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 aiming at promoting cultural diversity and (re-)discovering Luxembourg🇱🇺

This marks a truly important milestone – a recognition of Bourgmeisterin’s long-standing commitment to fostering connection through culture and conversation. With the Ministry’s generous support, the project will run for 𝟮𝟬 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀, from 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳, and will be developed in close collaboration with ARA City Radio Radio ARA Franziska Peschel, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳 in making local voices heard.

In October 2025, Bourgmeisterin got the 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 to attend the 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝟱𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮🇦🇺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝘂𝘅𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗴🇱🇺 – a milestone that’s both historical📜 and cosmically relevant🌌

2025 marks a fresh chapter in this partnership, kicked off by the arrival of 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝘂𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹 – the very same who led Australia’s Military Forces until 2024, and now commands diplomatic missions across the EU🇪🇺

Pictured with: Ambassador Angus Campbell (left), Darren Shipard, co-chair of the Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (center)

In June 2025, Bourgmeisterin celebrated a bit over a year of the partnership with the British-Luxembourg Society🇬🇧 at the Summer Reception at the British Ambassador's residence. Despite a stormy forecast, the evening surprised the attendees with beautiful sunshine, creating the perfect atmosphere – luckily for everyone involved, the total opposite of last year🙈 Meeting the new ambassador, Joanne Olivier – truly a gracious host – and spending time with her adorable Cocker Spaniel were definite highlights🐶 

Pictured with: Darren Robinson, President of the British-Luxembourg Society

In March 2025, Bourgmeisterin had an incredible time at the Festival des migrations, des cultures & de la citoyenneté alongside ARA City Radio! We loved seeing so many engage with Luxembourg’s rich history, challenge themselves with our questions, and walk away with some cool merch! 🏆👕👜

This event reminded us why we do what we do – building connections through stories, learning, and shared experiences ❤️

In January 2025, Bourgmeisterin was thrilled to join the Burns Supper organised by Luxembourg’s vibrant Scottish community - what is known as  unofficial national day of Scotland. This annual tradition celebrates the life and work of Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet. Special thank you to the British-Luxembourg Society🇬🇧 for the invitation. 

Pictured with: Steven Miller, contributor to the #MysteriousSaturday series and one of the speakers of the evening who gave Address to the Lassies celebrating ladies.

In November 2024, Bourgmeisterin had a pleasure attending the annual gala dinner of the British-Luxembourg Society🇬🇧: a great evening with a hallmark being the speech of His Excellency Luxembourg Ambassador🇱🇺 to the UK, Georges Friden.

Pictured with: Luxembourg Ambassador to the UK, Georges Friden.

In November 2024, Bourgmeisterin launched a collaboration with  The American Women's Club of Luxembourg (AWCL) A.S.B.L.🇺🇸! It is one of the oldest expat associations that was founded in 1959. It fosters social, educational, cultural, and philanthropic activities, creating a supportive and inclusive community. A big thank you to Corinne Koenig, President, and Elizabeth (Liz) Dardar Bryant, Coommunications Director, for the trust and interest in the project! Here's to fruitful and vibrant collaboration promoting the shared cultural heritage of Luxembourg and the United States!

In June 2024, Bourgmeisterin had a chance to celebrate almost half a year of the partnerhip with British-Luxembourg Society🇬🇧 at the Summer Reception at the British Ambassador's residence, but the weather only allowed for an hour of fun! Had that been just a simple rain - mais no, the British storm went out of its own way and invited itself (only to clear out an hour later!). Everyone had a good time joking about it until the premises had to be evacuated!😅

In June 2024, Bourgmeisterin was invited to the launch of ELLE Luxembourg with the support of UNIQLO Europe at Mudam Luxembourg. 

One doesn’t get to witness the kickstart of major magazines every day – clear sign that Luxembourg is expanding its own part of the “Benelux” story.

In May 2024, Bourgmeisterin was invited to participate in the Diversity Days organised by PwC Luxembourg at the events "Meet the Lëtz Embrace Network" and "Meet your Cultural Advisors" to represent Luxembourg! 🥳🎉 Who else if not us, right? Diversity Days are an initiative to celebrate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) & Wellbeing – the whole program that PwC Luxembourg kicked off a little over a year ago. 

Extremely thankful for the support and interest in the project🙏❤️ We had a stand with super cool freebies like t-shirts, branded pins, tote bags and cupcakes – all was gone in under an hour! 

In February 2024, Bourgmeisterin launched a partnership with the British-Luxembourg Society🇬🇧! The Society was founded in 1947 to foster good relations between Britain and Luxembourg. A huge thank you to Darren Robinson, President, for the interest in the project!

Amongst the Society's activities are the education programme that teaches English, Literature and Art, and social and cultural events to appeal to both British and Luxembourgish members as well as nationals from other countries who have an interest in British culture.

In March 2024, Bourgmeisterin was invited to the Brilliantly Branded podcast where Julia and Maria talked about the origins of the project, the challenges and future plans. Tune in!

In October 2023, Bourgmeisterin was invited to the Anniversarry of Girls in Tech Luxembourg (currently, WeSTEM+) to participate in the Women Founders Fair organised at Amazon's HQ🙏 

Founded in 2007 in the US, Girls in Tech was a nonprofit organisation dedicated to eliminating the gender gap in tech. The Luxembourgish chapter was started in 2022 with the vision of creating a community of like-minded women who could support and encourage one another right here in Luxembourg.

The Anniversary in 2023 was the reflection of this very idea, and it also became Bourgmeisterin's first social outing – extremely grateful for the opportunity!

Interview: Tracy Heindrichs

Julia and Tracy talked about the why behind the project, Julia's perception of Luxembourg and unexpected love for the place, and potential plans regarding "storytelling marketplace". Listen in!

Interview: Inga Maria Panten
Photos: Tania Feller

Online edition of the magazine

Text in English

Julia and Inga talked about how the project presents Luxembourg's history through engaging storytelling, making it accessible and exciting for readers. It aims to deepen the cultural understanding of expats and foster community engagement with local history. Looking ahead, it envisions expansion of the blog into a social enterprise with an educational app to enhance accessibility to Luxembourg's heritage.