I
had just arrived in Luxembourg. One fine evening in August 2013, we were
strolling along Avenue de la Liberte, which is in close proximity to my house. My
husband stopped by a huge mansion, with twinkle in his eyes pointed towards the
Arcelor
Mittal head quarter. After all when we are abroad
then only we take pride in being Indian. Back at home we are Punjabis, Gujratis,
South Indians, Brahmins, Rajputs etc, etc.
It
was a moment of pride for me too, as I had read about Mr. Laxmi Mittal and his
company Arcelor Mittal too. It is a huge mansion, built by the Luxembourg steel
giant Arbed in 1920s much before Mr. Mittal acquired Arcelor. It is one of the notable
heritage buildings of Luxembourg city, in a very pristine location. The
beautiful Rose garden across the street enhances its magnificence.
It
is one of the tourist sites, a stopover for city sightseeing HOHO bus. On Luxembourg
national day, the stage is set right in front of the mansion for the Duke and Duchess
and other VIPs; from where they view the military parade.
In
year 2014, the news started flashing, Arcelor mittal all set to sell off the head
quarter because of high maintenance cost. Rumours started afloat, first a
shopping mall, then being sold off to Bank of China. But finally it was sold to
BCEE (also known as Spuerkeess, a state owned
bank) which has its headquarters in place de la Metz, the historical building
near the Adolphe (blue) bridge.
As
of now the building is under renovation. I do not have much knowledge of the
architecture but this one is my personal favourite. It must be one of the
finest amongst all buildings/mansions of
the Grand Duchy.
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