In August 1914, following the invasion of Luxembourg by German troops, approximately 3,000 young Luxembourgers voluntarily signed up to the allied military forces. The majority of them lost their lives or were wounded during the course of the First World War (1914-1918).
In December 1918, a committee was founded with the aim of erecting a national monument to remember the Luxembourg war heroes who fell in the French battlefields.
When selecting the site, various suggestions throughout the country and in the capital city were rejected one by one until only the “Place de la Constitution”, formerly known as Bastion Beck, remained.
Originally unveiled in 1923 following a citizens' initiative to pay tribute to the Luxembourg soldiers who died in the First World War, the Gëlle Fra has lived an emotional life punctuated by controversy.
