Luxembourg's Ministry of State and the Second World War Remembrance Service (Service de la Mémoire de la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale) have unveiled the official programme set to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe - widely known as "Victory in Europe Day" or "VE Day" (8 May).

A commemorative ceremony will take place in Luxembourg City on Thursday 8 May 2025 to pay tribute to all the victims of the Nazi regime and to remember those who fought and suffered for our values ​​and principles.

At 12:00 (noon), there will be a special moment of remembrance, involving the symbolic sounding of sirens. The authorities explained that alarm sirens will sound throughout the country on this historic occasion. The bells of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg-Ville will ring at 12:15.

The official ceremony will begin at 15:50 with the laying of a wreath at the commemorative plaque of the Abbaye de Neumünster (neimënster) in Luxembourg-Grund by Grand Duke Henri, in the presence of the President of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg's parliament), Claude Wiseler, and Prime Minister Luc Frieden. The authorities noted that it was in these places that some 3,500 men and women were detained by the occupying (Nazi) forces between 1940 and 1944.

The commemorative plaque will bear the following text: 

"Souvenons-nous
Des 3500 luxembourgeois hommes et femmes qui,
pendant l'occupation nazie 1940-1944,
ont passé par les prisons de Luxembourg-Grund
et dont le seul crime était de vouloir rester
fidèles à leur patrie et à la liberté."

(English translation: "Let us remember the 3,500 Luxembourg men and women who, during the Nazi occupation of 1940-1944, passed through the prisons of Luxembourg-Grund and whose only crime was to remain loyal to their homeland and to freedom.")

The moment of reflection will be followed by a commemorative session in the glass roof of neimënster, during which the director of the National Museum of Military History in Diekirch, Benoît Niederkorn, will first place the events in their historical context, particularly discussing the impact of the war on Luxembourg and its inhabitants. The session will be punctuated by musical interludes provided by the Jumatano Brass quintet, composed of young musicians from the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg. Students from Lycée Ermesinde will then be invited to share their impressions and reflections on the day.

Prime Minister Frieden will subsequently address the national authorities in a speech, before the session concludes with the playing of the European and national anthems.

The government will also pay tribute to the victims of war by laying flowers at the following memorial sites:

- National Monument of Luxembourgish Solidarity (Kanounenhiwwel);

- Monument of Remembrance (Gëlle Fra);

- National Monument of Resistance and Deportation (Hinzerter Kräiz);

- Monument to the Victims of the Shoah (Kaddish);

- Memorial of Deportation (Gare de Hollerich);

- Luxembourg American Cemetery in Luxembourg-Hamm.