Credit: Ville de Luxembourg

Danièle Wagener, director of the Lëtzebuerg City Museum and Villa Vauban will go into retirement as of 1 September 2018.

With a BA in Art History and Archaeology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and an MA from Columbia University in New York, Danièle Wagener joined the Ville de Luxembourg services in 1986, as head of the art museum Villa Vauban and the project of the future museum of municipal history- today’s Lëtzebuerg City Museum- which opened in June 1996.

In addition to the permanent exhibition on the history of the city, which has been continuously updated and adapted- more recently in 2017- more than 70 temporary exhibitions were organised under her direction, including Living in the Middle Ages: Luxembourg, Metz and Trier (1998), Ten questions on Luxembourg and the Second World War (2002), "Greetings from Luxembourg". A trip to the world of tourism (2008) and The Red Cross in Luxembourg and in the world (2014/15).

At Villa Vauban, Danièle Wagener organised some 40 temporary exhibitions between 1986 and 2004, including Joseph Kutter (1986), The engraved work of Francisco de Goya (1991), Masterpieces from the Bredius Museum in The Hague (1998) and Lucien Wercollier and his painter friends (2003). It was under her leadership that the city's politicians gave the green light for the renovation of Villa Vauban and the construction of its contemporary extension.

Throughout her career, Danièle Wagener has made sure to open the two museums to a wide audience, namely through attractive and inclusive cultural programmes. She also managed to integrate the 2 Museums of the City into many international professional networks, such as CODART (Flemish and Dutch art), European Museum Academy (research and innovation in the world of museums), Arbeitskreis Museen für Geschichte (history museums) or CityHist Network (city museums) and is one of the founders of the associations of stater museumën (2001) and ICOM (International Council of Museums) Luxembourg (2017).

Danièle Wagener will be replaced as museum director by Guy Thewes.