(Re)discover our city - Monopol

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.

Monopol (42–44 Avenue de la Gare)

Monopol department stores first opened in 1957. This building existed until 2009/10.

On 14 February 1931, the merchant Antoine Scholer opened his first clothing store at 18, Rue Notre-Dame in Luxembourg. He offered items for a purchase price and wholesale price. The formula was successful and he went on to open branches in Differdange and Dudelange (1932), in Pétange and Bettembourg (1933), and at 18 Avenue de la Gare in 1934. Faced with ever-increasing demand, the store was redeveloped in 1937 to offer increasingly rich and varied clothing collections. In 1938, an additional store was opened under the name of Nicolas Scholer in Esch-sur-Alzette. During the war, the shops were reunited under the name "Monopol Vereinigte Kaufhäuser GmbH vormals Anton Scholer". In 1948 the limited company "Grands Magasins Monopol S.A." was founded, with the Zurich Jelmoli department stores as co-shareholders. In 1950, the brand had three addresses in Luxembourg City: 18, Rue Notre-Dame (hosiery); 18, Avenue de la Gare; and 53 Avenue de la Gare (hosiery). In 1955, Nicolas Scholer consulted expert architects in the construction of department stores, Fehr in Zurich (Jelmoli) and Feldmann in Essen. They were also on the panel for an architectural competition launched the same year, under which four Luxembourg architectural firms had won prizes. The aim was to bring the various Monopol sales outlets in Luxembourg City and their administrative divisions together in one large store worthy of a big city.

Construction work began in November 1955, and on 3 April 1957, the Monopol department store welcomed customers at its new address, 42–44 Avenue de la Gare. The land extending between Avenue de la Gare and Avenue de la Liberté spanned 700 m², with 14 m of frontage along each of these roads. On the Avenue de la Gare side, the department store extended over five floors; on Avenue de la Liberté, over four. The depth of the ground floor between the two avenues varied between 47 and 53 m. The floors were connected by a lift and an escalator located centrally in the departments. The clothing store, which therefore provided a passage between the two avenues, also boasted a customer café. The basement was also used for sales, meaning seven floors were available for women's, men's and children's clothes.

The winners of the 1955 architects competition, Nicolas Schmidt-Noesen and his son Laurent, would carry out this ambitious project. The architect Robert Heintz, whose particular project had been acquired by Monopol S.A. as part of the 1955 competition, was involved in bringing the design to fruition. The work was carried out with the help of the Zambelli firm in Esch-sur-Alzette.

With its large unpartitioned areas, the store with its multiple fashion departments was able to arrange and rearrange its space to create endless new experiences for its customers. On the southern side (Avenue de la Gare), the modernist facade featured huge bay windows that allowed the light to flood in. On the Avenue de la Liberté side, the facade featured a curtain wall with blue glass panels. The building had to stand out in the street in order to be seen from afar. Besides clothing, "the choice of the smart housewife" offered stockings and socks, underwear, ties, hats and braces, plus a range of household linen. In 1963, Monopol was to open a second, similar department store in Luxembourg City's Grand-Rue. The store experienced different phases of transformation, ranging from a re-design of the facade to the inclusion of the neighbouring building, and respectively the addition of a canopy over the windows in the 1990s. In 2006, Monopol ceased operating its 10 branches in Luxembourg and the passage at 45 Avenue de la Gare. The buildings were acquired the following year by Breevast, a Dutch property developer. In 2009/2012, the architectural firm Beiler + François designed a brand-new construction spanning 8557 m².

© Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg - Fischer Batty 1957