(Re)discover our city - Luxemburger Wort rue Jean Origer

Luxemburger Wort

(Re)discover our city - Luxemburger Wort rue Jean Origer

Think you know our capital well? Well, let's see about that! Some of the buildings that you walk past on a regular basis have a special story behind them. Dr Robert L. Philippart is a true expert on the subject and will guide you through the city to uncover these hidden stories, making you look at some of our symbolic buildings in a new way.

Luxemburger Wort, 7, rue Jean Origer

The "Sankt-Paulus-Gesellschaft" was founded in 1886 with the aim of circulating the Catholic press. The company started out on Grand-Rue. In 1905, they purchased a Linotype typesetting machine which highlighted how narrow their premises were. As a result, the Board of Directors decided to move to Rue Siegfrid, known today as Rue Jean Origer. They bought two buildings there, one of which had been built in 1887 for the Dominicans and had served as a chapel for those living in the neighbourhood. Sacré Coeur Church wasn't constructed until 1930. The existence of this former chapel is marked by a statue of Our Lady of Luxembourg, located in a recess on the building's exterior. The Saint-Paul premises allowed them to acquire a rotary press, which made it possible to increase the number of pages in the Luxemburger Wort. The rapid development of daily life made it necessary to acquire a third typesetting machine, and then a second rotary press in 1912. In 1910, a priest named Jean Origer (1877–1942) was appointed director of the Saint-Paul printing house and therefore of the Luxemburger Wort. Origer was also active in the world of politics. He became a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1922. The bishop of Luxembourg appointed him canon of the Cathedral chapter, the pope gave him the title of Chamberlain, then the title of Roman prelate in 1933. As director of the printing house and the Wort, he ensured that cutting-edge technical equipment was used. The Saint-Paul publications saw considerable growth, while the number of subscribers to the Luxemburger Wort also grew rapidly. Faced with this growing demand, the premises on Rue Jean Origer became too cramped and, in 1936, the Board of Directors succeeded in acquiring three buildings on Rue Bourbon, which backed onto the properties on Rue Jean Origer.

The Nazi invasion of Luxembourg on 10 May 1940 resulted in the closure of the publishing house and newspaper. They were merged with the "Moselfränkischer Zeitungsverlag" publishing house. Jean Origer was arrested by the Gestapo, the Third Reich's political police, and imprisoned in Trier. He was then deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, then to Dachau where he died on 17 September 1942.

After the war, on 15 March 1947, the City of Luxembourg decided to honour the memory of this resistance fighter by renaming Rue Sigefried as Rue Jean Origer. The headquarters of the Luxemburger Wort were therefore now on the street named after its former director. The Saint-Paul company reformed after the liberation in 1944. The technical facilities were in need of a major upgrade, so much so that the premises became too small once again. Storerooms for paper were rented in the Gare district. The buildings that had been acquired on Rue Bourbon were demolished in 1955 to make way for new types of rotary press. The company also took the opportunity to add a large reception room. Offset printing machines were slowly taking over, and the days of the old lead printing press were numbered. In 1976, the decision was made that offset printing would replace the traditional methods in all publishing departments. As a result, a Goss-Metroliner-Rotation printing machine was acquired, which alone required new premises. Saint-Paul was to expand further. The Board of Directors thus decided to transfer the editing, administration, publishing, printing and the Luxemburger Wort all to Gasperich. The new premises opened on 14 September 1979. The building complex between Rue Jean Origer and Rue Bourbon, now called "Am ale Wort", has since been transformed to house a book shop and shopping centre. The administrative premises are occupied by the Luxemburger Wort advertising desk, the editorial staff of the TV magazine Télécran and several companies belonging to the Saint-Paul group. Studies are being carried out to find a new use for the building complex.

© Archives Luxemburger Wort, Syndicat des Intérêts Locaux Luxembourg-Gare, 60e anniversaire, 1991, p.166

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