List of Prime Ministers of Luxembourg

The Prime Minister of Luxembourg is the head of government in Luxembourg. His official residence and office is in the Hôtel de Bourgogne at 4 rue de la Congrégation in the city of Luxembourg.

Since 1989, the title of Prime Minister has been an official one,^[1] although the head of the government had been unofficially known by that name for some time. Between 1857 and 1989, the Prime Minister went by the name of the President of the Government,^[2] with the exception of the 25-day premiership of Mathias Mongenast.^[3] Before 1857, the Prime Minister was the President of the Council. In addition to these titles, the Prime Minister uses the title Minister of State, although this is usually relegated to a secondary title.

This is a list of Prime Ministers and governments since the post was founded, in 1848. In larger font are the dates of the Prime Ministers entering and leaving office. The smaller dates, during the respective premierships, are those of the Prime Ministers' governments. Luxembourg has a collegial governmental system; often, the government will present its resignation, only for the successor government to include many, if not most, of the previous ministers serving under the same Prime Minister. Each of the smaller dates reflects a change in the government without a change of Prime Minister.

The era of independents (1848-1918)

From the promulgation of the first constitution, in 1848, until the early twentieth century, Luxembourgish politics was dominated by independent politicians and statesmen.^[4] The prerogative powers of the Grand Duke remained undiluted, and, as such, the monarch actively chose and personally appointed the Prime Minister. As a result, the Prime Minister was often a moderate, without any strong affiliation to either of the two major ideological factions in the Chamber of Deputies: the secularist liberals and the Catholic conservatives.

In the early twentieth century, the emergence of socialism as a third force in Luxembourgish politics ended the dominance of independents, and further politicised the government of the country.^[4] This did not affect the Prime Minister's position until 1915, when the long-serving Paul Eyschen died in office. His death created a struggle for power between the main factions, leading to the establishment of the formalised party system.^[5]

Prime Minister (Birth-Death)			Term of office
			№	Start	End
	G.T.I. de la Fontaine (1787-1871)		1 August 1848		6 December 1848
			First Prime Minister. Resigned following a Vote of no confidence.[6]
	Jean-Jacques Willmar (1792-1866)		6 December 1848		23 September 1853
			Dismissed by the Governor[7]
	Mathias Simons (1802-1874)		1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	23 September 1853 23 September 1854 24 May 1856 2 June 1857 29 November 1857 12 November 1858 23 June 1859 15 July 1859	23 September 1854 24 May 1856 2 June 1857 29 November 1857 12 November 1858 23 June 1859 15 July 1859 26 September 1860
			Coup of 1856. President of the Council until November 1857; thereafter President of the Government. Resigned.[8]
	Victor, Baron de Tornaco (1805-1875)		1 2 3 4 5 6 7	26 September 1860 9 September 1863 31 March 1864 26 January 1866 3 December 1866 14 December 1866 18 June 1867	9 September 1863 31 March 1864 26 January 1866 3 December 1866 14 December 1866 18 June 1867 3 December 1867
			Shortest cabinet, December 1866. Luxembourg Crisis; Treaty of London. Resigned following a Vote of no confidence.[9]
	Emmanuel Servais (1811-1890)		1 2 3 4 5	3 December 1867 30 September 1869 12 October 1869 7 February 1870 25 May 1873	30 September 1869 12 October 1869 7 February 1870 25 May 1873 26 December 1874
			Resigned.[10]
	Félix, Baron de Blochausen (1834-1915)		1 2 3 4 5 6	26 December 1874 26 April 1875 8 July 1876 6 August 1878 21 September 1882 12 October 1882	26 April 1875 8 July 1876 6 August 1878 21 September 1882 12 October 1882 20 February 1885
			Dismissed by the Grand Duke.[11]
	Édouard Thilges (1817-1904)		20 February 1885		22 September 1888
			Resigned.[12]
	Paul Eyschen (1841-1915)		1 2 3 4 5 6	22 September 1888 26 October 1892 23 June 1896 25 October 1905 9 January 1910 3 March 1915	26 October 1892 23 June 1896 25 October 1905 9 January 1910 3 March 1915 11 October 1915
			Longest premiership. Longest cabinet 1896–1905. Luxembourg occupied by Germany on 2 August 1914. Died in office.[5]
	Mathias Mongenast (1843-1926)		12 October 1915		6 November 1915
			Shortest premiership. Ruled as President of the Council. Resigned.[3]
	Hubert Loutsch (1878-1946)		6 November 1915		24 February 1916
			Minority government.[13] Resigned following a Vote of no confidence.[13]
	Victor Thorn (1844-1930)		24 February 1916		19 June 1917
			National Union Government. Resigned.[14]
	Léon Kauffman (1869-1952)		19 June 1917		28 September 1918
			Resigned.[15]

The party system (1918-present)

In 1918, towards the end of the First World War, a new Chamber of Deputies was elected with the explicit ambition of reviewing the constitution.^[15] To this end, formalised parties were formed by the main political blocs, so as to increase their bargaining power in the negotiations. The revisions to the constitution introduced universal suffrage and compulsory voting, adopted proportional representation, and limited the sovereignty of the monarch.

Since the foundation of the party system, only one cabinet (between 1921 and 1925) has not included members of more than one party. Most of the time, governments are grand coalitions of the two largest parties, no matter their ideology; this has made Luxembourg one of the most stable democracies in the world.^[16] Two cabinets (between 1945 and 1947) included members of every party represented in the Chamber of Deputies.

During the occupation of Luxembourg by Nazi Germany, Luxembourg was governed by a Nazi Party official, Gustav Simon. Pierre Dupong continued to lead the government in exile in the United Kingdom until the liberation of Luxembourg in December 1944, whereupon the constitutional Luxembourg government returned to the Grand Duchy. Thus, although Luxembourg was formally annexed on 30 August 1942, the Prime Minister of the government in exile, Pierre Dupong, is assumed to have remained Prime Minister throughout.

Political Party:       PD       PNI       CSV       DP

Prime Minister (Born-Died)			Party	Term of office			Government	Coalition
				Election	Start	End
	Émile Reuter (1874-1973)		PD	— 1919 1922	28 September 1918 5 January 1920 15 April 1921	5 January 1920 15 April 1921 20 March 1925	Reuter (a) Reuter (b) Reuter (c)	PD, LL PD, LL PD
				First partisan government. Armistice; Constitution amended.[15] Only one-party cabinet 1921–25. Resigned.[17]
	Pierre Prüm (1886-1950)		PNI	1925	20 March 1925	16 July 1926	Prüm	PNI, PRS
				Only PNI premiership. Resigned.[18]
	Joseph Bech (1887-1975) (1st time)		PD	1928, 31 1934 1937	16 July 1926 11 April 1932 27 December 1936	11 April 1932 27 December 1936 5 November 1937	Bech (a) Bech (b) Bech (c)	PD, LdG PD, PRL PD, PRL
				Longest party-era cabinet 1926–32. Resigned.[19]
	Pierre Dupong (1885-1953)		PD	— — — —	5 November 1937 7 February 1938 6 April 1940 10 May 1940	7 February 1938 6 April 1940 10 May 1940 23 November 1944	Dupong-Krier (a) Dupong-Krier (b) Dupong-Krier (c) Govt. in Exile	PD, POL, PRL PD, POL PD, POL PD, POL
			CSV	— — — 1945 — — 1948 1951	23 November 1944 23 February 1945 21 April 1945 14 November 1945 29 August 1946 1 March 1947 14 July 1948 3 July 1951	23 February 1945 21 April 1945 14 November 1945 29 August 1946 1 March 1947 14 July 1948 3 July 1951 23 December 1953	Liberation (a) Liberation (b) Liberation (c) National Union (a) National Union (b) Dupong-Schaus (a) Dupong-Schaus (b) Dupong-Bodson	CSV, LSAP CSV, LSAP CSV, LSAP CSV, LSAP, GD, KPL CSV, LSAP, GD, KPL CSV, LSAP, GD CSV, LSAP, GD CSV, LSAP
	World War II; Luxembourg remained neutral.[20] Emergency government; Nazi occupation; government in exile. Liberation Governments;[21] neutrality ended.[22] National Union Governments.[23] Died in office.[24]
	Joseph Bech (1887-1975) (2nd time)		CSV	— 1954	29 December 1953 29 June 1954	29 June 1954 29 March 1958	Bech-Bodson (a) Bech-Bodson (b)	CSV, LSAP CSV, LSAP
				Resigned.[25]
	Pierre Frieden (1892-1959)		CSV	1959	29 March 1958	23 February 1959	Frieden	CSV, LSAP
				Won 1959 election; died in office.[26]
	Pierre Werner (1913-2002) (1st time)		CSV	— 1964 — 1968 — —	2 March 1959 15 July 1964 3 January 1967 6 February 1969 5 July 1971 19 September 1972	15 July 1964 3 January 1967 6 February 1969 5 July 1971 19 September 1972 15 June 1974	Werner-Schaus I Werner-Cravatte (a) Werner-Cravatte (b) Werner-Schaus II(a) Werner-Schaus II(b) Werner-Schaus II(c)	CSV, LSAP, DP CSV, LSAP CSV, LSAP CSV, DP CSV, DP CSV, DP
				Longest party-era premiership. Went into opposition following 1974 election.[27]
	Gaston Thorn (1928-2007)		DP	1974 — —	15 June 1974 21 July 1976 16 September 1977	21 July 1976 16 September 1977 16 July 1979	Thorn (a) Thorn (b) Thorn (c)	DP, LSAP DP, LSAP DP, LSAP
				First DP premiership. Became Deputy Prime Minister under Werner when CSV returned to government following 1979 election.[28]
	Pierre Werner (1913-2002) (2nd time)		CSV	1979 — — —	16 July 1979 3 March 1980 22 November 1980 21 December 1982	3 March 1980 22 November 1980 21 December 1982 20 July 1984	Werner-Thorn (a) Werner-Thorn (b) Werner-Flesch (a) Werner-Flesch (b)	CSV, DP CSV, DP CSV, DP CSV, DP
				Retired at 1984 election.[29]
	Jacques Santer (1937-)		CSV	1984 1989 — 1994	20 July 1984 14 July 1989 9 December 1992 13 July 1994	14 July 1989 9 December 1992 13 July 1994 26 January 1995	Santer-Poos I Santer-Poos II(a) Santer-Poos II(b) Santer-Poos III	CSV, LSAP CSV, LSAP CSV, LSAP CSV, LSAP
				President of the Government until 1989; Prime Minister from 1989. Appointed EC President.[30]
	Jean-Claude Juncker (1954-)		CSV	— — 1999 2004 2009	26 January 1995 4 February 1998 7 August 1999 31 July 2004 23 July 2009	4 February 1998 7 August 1999 31 July 2004 23 July 2009 4 December 2013	Juncker-Poos (a) Juncker-Poos (b) Juncker-Polfer Juncker-Asselborn I Juncker-Asselborn II	CSV, LSAP CSV, LSAP CSV, DP CSV, LSAP CSV, LSAP
				Longest uninterrupted party-era premiership. Former President of the Euro Group.
	Xavier Bettel (1973-)		DP	2013	4 December 2013	Incumbent	Bettel-Schneider	DP, LSAP, DG
				Second DP premiership.

See also

• List of monarchs of Luxembourg
• List of Presidents of the Council of State of Luxembourg
• Lists of incumbents

References

Specific

1. Thewes (2003), p.209
2. Thewes (2003), p.21
3. Thewes (2003), p.65
4. Thewes (2003), p.8
5. Thewes (2003), p.64
6. Thewes (2003), p.16
7. Thewes (2003), p.20
8. Thewes (2003), p.28
9. Thewes (2003), p.34
10. Thewes (2003), p.42
11. Thewes (2003), p.48
12. Thewes (2003), p.52
13. Thewes (2003), p.66
14. Thewes (2003), p.69
15. Thewes (2003), p.76
16. Weston, Steve (2 March 2003). "Luxembourg Country Commercial Guide FY 2003: Political Environment". Retrieved 28 June 2006.
17. Thewes (2003), p.88
18. Thewes (2003), p.90
19. Thewes (2003), p.104
20. Thewes (2003), p.107
21. Thewes (2003), p.115
22. Thewes (2003), p.118
23. Thewes (2003), p.122
24. Thewes (2003), p.140
25. Thewes (2003), p.148
26. Thewes (2003), p.151
27. Thewes (2003), p.182
28. Thewes (2003), p.192
29. Thewes (2003), p.204
30. Thewes (2003), p.222

Bibliography

• Thewes, Guy (July 2003). Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg depuis 1848 (PDF) (in French) (Édition limitée ed.). Luxembourg City: Service Information et Presse. ISBN 2-87999-118-8. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
• "Les gouvernements de 1848 à nos jours" (in French). Service Information et Presse. 31 July 2004. Archived from the original on 8 July 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2006.

External links

• Website of the Prime Minister of Luxembourg (in French)