Jackie Messerich, Wikimedia Luxembourg Honoured for Promoting Luxembourgish Language

On Tuesday 5 May 2026, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture awarded the National Prize for Services to the Luxembourgish Language to Jackie Messerich (2025) and Wikimedia Luxembourg (2026) at the National Library.

According to the ministry, the prize is part of the Action Plan for the Luxembourgish Language, which aims to strengthen the development and consolidation of the language. It honours an individual or association for a particular commitment to the use or preservation of Luxembourgish. The award was presented by Eric Thill, Luxembourg’s Minister of Culture.

2025 laureate: Jackie Messerich

Jackie Messerich has been teaching Luxembourgish courses in Luxembourg since 1994 and began developing teaching materials for the health, care and retail sectors in 1999. In 2002, she co-led the MOIEN! project and later became president of Moien asbl, contributing to the expansion and diversification of Luxembourgish language courses to support the socio-professional integration of non-Luxembourgish speakers. She was also involved in training instructors and assistants.

Through the conference series “Luxembourgish – Quo vadis?”, she helped raise awareness of the Luxembourgish language among both Luxembourgish and non-Luxembourgish speakers, promoting interest in the language and integrating aspects of history and culture into teaching, the ministry noted. It added that she has also addressed the role of Luxembourgish in fostering cohesion in a multicultural and multilingual society. As a teacher of Luxembourgish language and culture courses at the City of Luxembourg (VdL), she developed a portfolio for course participants. Until 2022, she taught at the University of Luxembourg within the continuing education programme “Luxembourgish Language and Culture Certificate”. She currently works at the Institut National des Langues Luxembourg (INLL), where she teaches Luxembourgish and contributes to the development of teaching materials for different levels.

2026 laureate: Wikimedia Luxembourg

The association Wikimedia Luxembourg promotes the dissemination and use of free educational content and knowledge, supports Wikimedia projects and communities (such as Wikipedia and Wiktionary), collaborates with the Wikimedia Foundation and its network, and raises awareness of intellectual property issues, particularly copyright.

For almost ten years, Wikimedia Luxembourg has supported a community of volunteers who create and edit lexicographic content in Luxembourgish and make it accessible to the public, notably via Wikipedia, the ministry noted. Since July 2004, more than 64,000 articles have been published in Luxembourgish, with the Luxembourgish Wikipedia ranking 93rd out of 342 language versions in terms of contributions. The ministry added that this work has increased the visibility of the Luxembourgish language on an open platform and demonstrated its use in both general and specialised written content.

The prize includes a cash award of €5,000 and is presented in the form of a sculpture by the Minister of Culture. The sculpture, a squirrel, was created in 2023 by a class from the BTS Game Art and Game Design programme at the Lycée des Arts et Métiers. The squirrel was chosen due to its popularity among Luxembourgish learners and as a distinctive word in the language.

The jury comprises five members: Alexandre Ecker, Director of the Centre for the Luxembourgish Language; Maisy Gorza, Director of the Luxembourg National Institute of Languages; Myriam Welschbillig, President of the Permanent Council of the Luxembourgish Language; Mélanie Wagner, representative of the Department of Luxembourg Studies at the University of Luxembourg; and Pierre Reding, Commissioner for the Luxembourgish Language.