€5.8m Redevelopment Project Announced for MS Princesse Marie-Astrid

Luxembourg's General Directorate for Tourism and the Municipality of Schengen have announced the planned acquisition and transformation of the old boat "MS Princesse Marie-Astrid" into a meeting place.

On Thursday 6 May 2021, Luxembourg's Minister of Tourism, Lex Delles, and the Mayor of the municipality of Schengen, Michel Gloden, presented at a press conference the "touristc redevelopment" of the MS Princesse Marie-Astrid, the boat on which the Schengen Agreement was signed on 14 June 1985. This redevelopment project is seen as a unique opportunity to further enhance the role of the Grand Duchy in the process of European integration.

As such, the relevant authorities decided to acquire this old boat, which has been sailing for several years under the name “MS Regensburg” as an excursion boat on the Danube. The transformation of the boat into a meeting place offers an opportunity for remembrance tourism, one of the government priorities which combines three axes that have helped to shape Luxembourg's contemporary identity: remembering the 20th-century wars, industrial heritage and the construction of the European project. 

The authorities plan to set up an exhibition and performance space adaptable to various forms of art or activities on the MS Princesse Marie-Astrid. The boat will be kept in seaworthy condition and docked in Schengen, near the European Museum Schengen. It will complete the museum's tourist offer and help make Schengen a cultural and historical place of high tourist value, dedicated to the idea of ​​a unified Europe. The completion of this project, the cost of which amounts to €5.81 million, is scheduled for the year 2025.

Tourism Minister Lex Delles pointed out: “Schengen is synonymous with free movement and the abolition of borders. Major advances that are of particular importance at the present time. It is important to me to develop remembrance tourism in order to raise awareness of the history and common values ​​of Europe. The acquisition and transformation into a meeting place of the ship on which the Schengen Agreement was signed play a crucial role in this context”.

Schengen Mayot Michel Gloden added that “the return of the boat 'MS Princesse Marie-Astrid' will become a very important additional attraction for the Moselle region and particularly for the municipality of Schengen, the symbol of the cradle of a Europe without borders”.