History of Luxembourg’s Rose Heritage
The Golden Age of Luxembourg Roses
A global boom of roses from Luxembourg at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century meant that roses, grown in the fields of the City of Luxembourg and its surroundings, were exported all over the world. Each year, between 6 and 8 million plants left the local rose gardens to flower, among others, in the princely, royal and presidential parks. Many varieties of roses of the time bore the names of crowned heads, presidents of states, celebrities of public life, as well as members of families of rose growers.
One cannot evoke the history of roses in Luxembourg without associating the name of Pierre Joseph Redouté (1759-1840) with it. Born in Saint-Hubert in the Ardennes, a region that was part of the Duchy of Luxembourg until 1815 and the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg until 1839, this botanist painter became particularly famous for his engravings and watercolor paintings of roses. The enthusiasm of the Empress Josephine Bonaparte for roses and their durability in art, thanks to Pierre-Joseph Redouté, gave a significant boost to the profession of rose grower.
The gardening company Augustin Wilhelm (Wilhelm'schen Kunstgärtnerei-Anstalt) can be considered as the origin of horticulture in Luxembourg. Already around 1839, more than 200 varieties of roses were known in Luxembourg. Many of these roses, originally from abroad, were cultivated in the nurseries of Augustin Wilhelm, whose headquarters were at 'Clausener Bierg'. The vast grounds extended to the plateaus of Fetschenhaff, Cents and Sandweiler, where mainly fruit trees and rose bushes were grown. Augustin Wilhelm, president of the Confrérie Saint-Fiacre de Luxembourg from 1873 to 1914, was founding president of the Harmonie de Clausen, commander of the firefighters in Clausen, founding member of the 'Société d'Horticulture', as well as member of the Municipal Council of the City of Luxembourg from 1845 to 1863. Already in his lifetime, his children Auguste and Eugénie took over the company, which in the meantime employed more than 100 workers., and had become an excellent training place to learn the profession of horticulturist.
The most well-known Luxembourg rose growers were Soupert & Notting, Ketten Frères and Gemen & Bourg. Their companies had their headquarters on the Limpertsberg plateau (Luxembourg City).
Luxembourg rose growers were both horticulturists and entrepreneurs - and, as such, they were important employers. Indeed, it required a considerable workforce to exploit their fields, the area of which could reach a total of 100 hectares. From the Limpertsberg and the 'Bommelbierg' the fields of roses stretched from Dommeldange along the Alzette to Ettelbruck. Other nurserymen had set up outside the city of Luxembourg: Alfred Lamesch, Kinzelé, Becker, Volé, Huss, Ady and Léon Reuter, Mich Steinmetz, the Ueberecken brothers, Pierre Meisch in Schieren, Thill Frères in Ettelbruck and others.
As the creation, the multiplication of rose bushes and their shipping represented a considerable national economic factor, the rose growers employed at peak periods, in particular during the preparing and shipping of orders, nearly a thousand workers. The commitment of the pioneers of the Luxembourg rose industry brought great notoriety and money to Luxembourg.
The Luxembourg rose-growers did not only act locally. They participated in international rose competitions and did not hesitate to undertake distant journeys to supervise the planting of their roses. The Ketten Brothers managed the plantations in the Tsar’s parks in Saint Petersburg. On invitation of the Emperor of Brazil, Jean Soupert planted Luxembourg roses in the municipal park of Rio de Janeiro. The Luxembourgish varieties were particularly appreciated for their hardiness and resistance to extreme cold.
The two world wars did not only cause millions of human losses, but also compromised the existence of many employers. Cut off from France, its most important market for the export of roses, and faced with restrictions in Belgium, costly export licenses demanded by England, the introduction of rigorous plant protection measures, the great recession in 1929, as well as the lack of successors to take over the family business, the sector of rose growers in the Grand Duchy has undergone an irreversible decline.
In 1939, only 10.5 hectares of the 100 hectares were still exploited, an area that decreased even more during the Second World War (1 hectare in 1989). The 'Prince Henri' rose, created in 1962 by Justin Kohl, then director of the Luxembourg Railways (CFL) and a great fan of roses, is considered to be the last 'Made in Luxembourg' rose.
After decades, during which the rose heritage of Luxembourg had fallen into oblivion, two associations have taken up the challenge to bring the Luxembourgish rose out of oblivion: Rousefrënn-Association Grand-Ducale des Amis de la Rose and Patrimoine Roses Luxembourg asbl. By encouraging the planting of old and contemporary Luxembourgish roses, by investing in new rose creations from foreign breeders and giving them names of national personalities or events, and by creating public rose gardens, these initiatives have allowed the Luxembourg rose heritage to regain public interest.
Sources: Bicentenaire Confrérie Saint-Fiacre, Luxembourg (Carlo Conter) 2008, Ons Stad Nr 18 (Evy Friedrich) 1985, Ons Stad Nr 85 (Carlo Conter, Claude Vion) 2007, Ons Stad Nr 103 (Claudine Als) 2013, Archives Annette Block-Claude Vion, Archives Nicole Trossen-Gilson, Industrie.lu
Two teenagers, Jean Soupert from Dommeldange and Pierre Notting from Bollendorf learned the profession of horticulturist-rose grower with Augustin Wilhelm. Skilled workers and traders, they took up the challenge in 1855 to create the first Luxembourgish company to grow, create and export roses.
'Banque Internationale' and 'Caisse d'Epargne de l'Etat' founded in 1856, as well as the development of the national railway network have significantly facilitated communications and the transport of their plants.
The first Luxembourg roses marketed under the names 'Tour de Malakoff' (1856), 'La Noblesse' (1856) and 'Duc de Costantine' (1857) can still be found in catalogues today. Today approximately 270 rose creations signed 'Soupert & Notting' have been identified in old catalogues. Soupert & Notting used to be the supplier of the Count of Flanders, the Imperial House of Brazil and several Royal Courts, including those of Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden.
Participating in international and national exhibitions, Soupert & Notting won numerous medals, trophies and diplomas testifying to the quality of their roses. His confreres nicknamed Jean Soupert 'King of the Rose'.
Their last rose, obtained in 1938 and undoubtedly one of the most famous, the 'Grand-Duchesse Charlotte' rose, was presented in 1939 at the agricultural exhibition in Diekirch to celebrate the centenary of the independence of the Grand Duchy. At the dawn of the Second World War, the famous rose grower Robert Pyle from Pennsylvania, acquired the rights of multiplication of the 'Grand-Duchesse Charlotte' rose for the American market. Sheltered from the German invaders, this variety was a great success in the United States. It was repatriated after the war.
