Luxembourg municipalities rename streets after female heroes to honour them

15 local governments temporarily renamed several streets to celebrate women’s achievements

On the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day, the National Women’s Council and the Luxembourg Association of Cities and Municipalities Syvicol put forward an interesting public campaign, aimed to celebrate the achievements of women in Luxembourgish society.

The substance of the campaign was to rename one or more streets after a woman and thereby to raise public awareness of the need for greater recognition of their merits. No fewer than 15 municipalities joined the efforts, where new street signs will be visible from 8 to 31 March 2021.

From a temporary campaign to a permanent change?

The City of Dudelange, for example, renamed a total of 11 streets that currently bear men’s names. The city’s equality and non-discrimination commission suggested that the streets in question be renamed and that local heroines get, albeit a temporary recognition for their contributions.

The selection includes women who were born in the city and are or were active in the field of sports, culture, teaching, politics, women’s rights and more. A press release published on the city website further points out that the efforts to recognise the achievement of women are well rooted in the local policy – Dudelange already has eleven streets and a square (out of 180) named after women and has prepared an information leaflet to make their accomplishments and biographies better known to the public.

In Schifflange, too, seven streets were temporarily renamed after women. This way, Astrid Lulling (born 1929), the first mayor of the town, who held the position for 15 years, and also the first Luxembourgish MEP, got a street named after her. In particular, the change concerns Héidenger street, where she used to live. The town also committed to making more permanent changes in this direction in the future.

Speaking for RTL Télé's “Journal” on Monday, Taina Bofferding, Minister of Equality between Women and Men expressed her approval of the campaign and its future expansion. According to Bofferding, despite the great progress in the last years, the workplace remains one of the main issues points related to the gender divide, with one-third of women reducing their working hours after the age of 30 and a lot more women doing part-time work compared to men.