We’ve all been following the news, stories and rumours regarding the Golden Lady, or the Gëlle Fra and her controversial trip to a World Expo in Shanghai.  Even one of Luxembourg newspapers, who shall remain nameless, produced an interview with the Gëlla Fra!  Whether people agree or disagree with her trip, she is going and apparently not alone as Denmark’s little mermaid statue will make the same trip.

However, once the Gëlla Fra returns from her Chinese trip it looks as though she won’t be heading straight back to her spot on the top of the column in Place de la Constitution, in Luxembourg City, but will make a stop off in Bascharage.

The Deputy Mayor of Bascharage, Michel Wolter has invited Gëlla Fra to visit Bascharage for a few weeks so that the public can get up close and personal with her, after all, if the people of China get to see her close up, why not Luxembourg’s residents?

But why Bascharage, you may be wondering.  Michael Wolter explained that this is because the original artist of the statue, Klaus Cito, lived and worked in the town of Bascharage and that many residents of the town had no idea Cito was the artist responsible for the Gëlla Fra.

The trip to China and stop in Bascharage will no doubt educate a lot of people regarding the Gëlla Fra’s colourful history, from her creation in the 1920’s, to her removal during the war years in Nazi occupied Luxembourg.

While writing this article it was interesting to discover that the Gëlla Fra actually disappeared mysteriously for a few years only to be discovered behind the City’s stadium in 1982 and remounted on her column, however details here are vague and difficult to find.  If anyone has more information about this, please let us know at Station.lu.

The statue’s proposed stop in Bascharage has been met with positive reactions from residents and the local tourist office stated the town’s deputy mayor.

Where the three metre high statue could be displayed in Bascharage is not currently known although the town does have several cultural buildings that could be suitable.