9. Old Court of Justice

The building was originally built in 1545 as a small city palace for the royal counsellor, city assessor and businessman Nicolas Greisch.

In 1564, the Spanish crown acquired the building and from then on, it functioned as the residence for the governor Peter Ernest von Mansfeld, the representative of King Philipp II in Luxembourg.

Over time, the town house was converted into a splendid palace and remained the official residence of the respective governors until 1795.

After the French revolutionary troops captured Luxembourg, the Ancien Régime was abolished and the Civil Courts, up to that point responsible for judicial power, disappeared. In accordance with the principles of ‘Freedom, Equality, Fraternity’, a standard dispensation of justice grounded on equal rights for everyone replaced the former justice system based on social privileges. The governor’s palace became the seat of the newly created tribunal due to its vicinity to the municipal prison.

The building functioned as Court of Justice from 1795 until 2008, the year in which it was relocated to the newly constructed buildings on the Holy Ghost Plateau.

In the night of 25th to 26th of June 1886, a devastating fire broke out and destroyed much of the building. The state architect Charles ARENDT was responsible for the magnificent reconstruction of the building’s façade in the neo-renaissance style. In May 1984, a further fire disaster was the result of a bomb attack that destroyed parts of the building and the entire interior furnishing and fittings.

Since 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been located in the restored building.

Interesting Detail
The French King Louis XIV lived in the building for five days in May 1687 during a stay in Luxembourg.

Significance for Human Rights
As a result of the abolition of the Ancien Régime and the Estates of the Realm, all people became equal before the law. The Court of Justice symbolically represents the dispensation of equal justice.

Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal.

Article 2
Everyone is equal regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, politics, or where they were born.

Article 7
All are equal before the law.