Place Guillaume II is named after the king of the Netherlands and the second Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Locals call the square “Knuedler “after the style of dress of the Franciscans who had their friary and a church on this site for over 500 years since the 13th century. The friars wore their cord belts with a distinctive knot (“Knuet” in Luxembourgish). The statue of King/Grand Duke Guillaume II of Orange-Nassau recalls the granting of the first parliamentary constitution in 1848, considered at the time to be one of the most liberal in Europe. Inaugurated in 1884, the statue is by the French artist Antonin Mercié.
Knuedler:
The Franciscan church was one of the largest in the capital, and contained treasures such as the tombs of ex-governors P.E. de Mansfeld and Jean Beck. It had also been the temporary resting place of Count John the Blind, king of Bohemia, and Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. The French Revolutionary Army confiscated the friary in 1795 and suppressed the monastic order in 1796. The building was demolished in 1827 with the aim of creating the city’s largest square and making space to build a new town hall. Plans to build a palace on this site for the fortress commander were unfortunately shelved. These days, the square is an important public space, with a farmers’ market held here every Wednesday and Saturday morning.
The Town Hall’s grand stairway was built between 1830 and 1838 based on plans by the Belgian architect J. E. Remont. Two bronze lions have flanked the stairway since 1931. The Luxembourgish artist Auguste Trémont created these two impressive works of art. The town hall also played a role in the creation of the European Union, with the treaty establishing the first European institution (the European Coal and Steel Community) signed here on 10th August 1952.
