The Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg is perhaps best known as being the final resting place of members of the Luxembourg Grand Ducal family. Luxembourg became a Grand Duchy in 1815 and was subsequently ruled by the Kings of the Netherlands until the death of King William III of the Netherlands in 1890. As all three of William’s sons had predeceased him, he was succeeded by his daughter Wilhelmina as Queen of the Netherlands. However, Luxembourg still barred women from the succession and William was succeeded by Adolphe, Duke of Nassau, as Grand Duke of Luxembourg. The Dutch Kings and Queens were traditionally buried in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, and so it wasn’t until then that a separate burial place was necessary.
Adolphe and his second wife Adelheid-Marie were both buried at the Schlosskirche of Schloss Weilburg. Adolphe’s first wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, who died before he became Grand Duke, was buried in a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to her memory. Adolphe’s son William IV was buried at Schloss Weilburg as well, but his wife Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal was buried in the Notre Dame Cathedral after being returned from her exile in the United States. Their daughter, Marie-Adélaïde, who had become Luxembourg’s first Grand Duchess in her own right but had been forced to abdicate, was buried here as well. They were later joined in the crypt by Marie-Adélaïde’s younger sister and successor Charlotte, and her husband, Felix. Charlotte’s successor Jean and his wife Joséphine Charlotte were buried here too, just as Charlotte’s second son Charles. Jean was the latest addition to the crypt as he died in 2019 after having abdicated in 2000.
They are buried there together with, or close to, John of Bohemia, King of Bohemia and Count of Luxembourg, who died in 1346 and was moved to the Cathedral in 1945.
The Notre Dame Cathedral is free to visit, and the crypt is open to the public. Read more here.
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