The EIB will donate three 17th century Flemish tapestries to Vianden Castle, in Luxembourg, the most-visited heritage site in the Grand Duchy.

This donation underlines the EIB’s enduring commitment to Luxembourg on the occasion of its EU presidency by supporting a leading Luxembourg tourist destination (160 000 visitors in 2014).

The tapestries had been on loan at the castle since 1995. Vianden Castle is one of the most impressive feudal residences of the Romanesque and Gothic periods in Europe (11th to 14th centuries) and a unique example of entirely remaining fortifications from the late Middle Ages. During his exile in 1871, Victor Hugo viewed the ruins of the fortified castle as symbols of the domination and repression of the feudal and monarchic regime and assessed the exceptional universal value of “Vianden, which the whole Europe will come to visit one day”.

The castle is managed by the not-for-profit heritage association, Les Amis du Château de Vianden which recently joined Europa Nostra’s network of Member Organisations.  

The EIB Institute manages the EIB art collection which focuses on contemporary, post 1958 works of art.