As part of its exhibition on the Cold War, the Musée national d'histoire et d'art (MNHA) invited Gérald Arboit, Research Director at the Centre Français de Recherche sur le Renseignment, to deliver a conference on the Luxembourg Secret Service on Thursday 9 June 2016.

In the Kutter room of the MNHA, the talk outlined how an Intelligence Service came to be established in the Grand Duchy between 1943 and 1960, before presenting the role of the State Intelligence Agency during the Cold War, from 1960 to 1989.

The Cold War exhibition was officially opened in the presence of Luxembourg Prime Minister, Minister of State Xavier Bettel in April 2016 as a foray into a largely unknown facet of Luxembourg's history.

Curated by Régis Moes, the exhibition shows the impact that this period had on the country's architecture and public space, with the "American way of life" evoked with a jukebox taken from a café in Gasperich and a furnished living room filled with everday objects of the time, contrasted with doors from local bunkers and spyware showing the more secretive nature of the era.

A Doctor in History, Gérald Arboit's research interests primarily focus on general intelligence studies from the perspective of international relations and he specialises in French, British, Italian and Luxembourgish intelligence services. He has written over ten books and 200 articles and is regularly consulted by French and international media on current intelligence. Between 2002 and 2010, he acted as an international consultant to a variety of institutions, including the Council of Europe and the French Foreign Ministry.

The temporary exhibition will run at the MNHA until 27 November 2016.

Photos by MNHA