Credit: Luxembourg Legacy Collection

Following the recent death of René Daubenfeld, former mayor of Boulaide and Surré, Luxembourg Legacy has paid tribute to his role in strengthening ties between Luxembourg and the Luxembourg-American community.

René Daubenfeld, aged 67, passed away on Monday 6 April 2026 after a long illness. His death has been mourned in Luxembourg and among Luxembourg-American communities in the United States.

During his early career, he travelled to the United States for professional meetings, which sparked his interest in the country. Through his work at the Boulaide commune, he became familiar with historical records and the migration of Luxembourgers to the United States in the nineteenth century.

In 2001, he connected with Julie Jochum from Iowa, who was researching her family history. Their collaboration led to the creation of the Building Bridges tour initiative, which organised trips between Luxembourg and Luxembourg-American communities in the United States.

During a 2003 trip to the United States to visit the main settlements of Luxembourgers in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, René Daubenfeld and Julie Jochum discussed organising tours from Luxembourg to the Midwest for Luxembourgers to discover the past and present culture of Luxembourg-American communities.

His first Building Bridges tour, assisted by Jochum, was a two-week trip in May 2005. At the time, he said: “I felt like an emigrant who came back to the Old World to take my friends with me to the New World.”

Since that initial tour proved successful, subsequent tours followed. During his visits to various Luxembourg-American communities in the Midwest, hundreds of Luxembourg Americans would turn out to welcome him and meet the Luxembourg visitors, resulting in lifelong friendships between Luxembourgers and Luxembourg Americans.

In addition to Luxembourg-American cultural tours, Daubenfeld and Jochum expanded to include Buffalo Bill tours and trips exploring various regions of the United States.

Throughout numerous US tours, he became well known among Luxembourgers across the country, especially in the Midwest. Over the years, he shared ancestral information and research with many people. His passion was the Luxembourg-American story, and he actively promoted Luxembourg-US relations on both sides of the Atlantic.

After his retirement a few years ago, he spent his time researching immigrants to the United States and creating a database with more than 50,000 individuals. René also guided visiting Luxembourg Americans around Luxembourg as they explored their ancestral roots.

In 2023, Kevin Wester, founder and CEO of Luxembourg Legacy, asked him to assist with Luxembourg Legacy Tours. He became a valuable partner on these tours. His passion for Luxembourg Americans was evident in the historical information he shared and in his creation of a family tree for each participant. Tour members appreciated his energy, interest in storytelling and sense of humour. His final tour with Luxembourg Legacy was the 2025 Jubilee Tour for the 400th Anniversary of Our Lady of Luxembourg, which had nearly 70 participants. He had planned to assist with the May 2026 Luxembourg Legacy Tour, but his ill health made that impossible. According to Wester, the upcoming tour will be dedicated to him.

Following the announcement of his death on social media, Luxembourg Americans posted comments about how he assisted them with family research, translated German-language vital records and newspaper articles, and drove visitors in his own car to explore their ancestral villages both in Luxembourg and the Province of Luxembourg in Belgium. They also highlighted his welcoming personality, his laughter and his fondness for telling old-fashioned jokes and anecdotes.

Although he never officially represented the Grand Duchy on his many visits to the United States, René Daubenfeld could be considered one of the best ambassadors Luxembourg had to the US. He helped Luxembourgers and Luxembourg Americans realise that, despite generations of separation and occasional political differences, they remained united in their pride as Luxembourgers and in their connection to the Grand Duchy.