Minneapolis–Saint Paul meets Luxembourg

The connections

1. 1840s–1880s

   Iron ore, two continents

   Minnesota’s Iron Range and Luxembourg’s Minett region both discovered iron ore in the same era. Luxembourg’s national steelmaker ARBED—now ArcelorMittal—operated Hibbing Taconite and Minorca Mine in Minnesota for decades before selling to Cleveland-Cliffs in 2020.

2. 1883

   A Luxembourger founds American medicine

   Sister Alfred Moes, born in Remich, Luxembourg, had already built hospitals across Minnesota when a tornado devastated Rochester in 1883. She struck a deal with the Mayo brothers: she’d fund the hospital if they’d staff it. The result became Mayo Clinic.

3. Late 1800s

   A village that never forgot

   Rollingstone, Minnesota, population about 600, remains one of most intact Luxembourger-American communities in the United States. Its Luxembourg Heritage Museum was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. The town has been a sister city with Bertrange, Luxembourg, since 1980.

4. Today

   Dual citizens

   The Twin Cities metro is home to roughly 2,040 people holding both American and Luxembourgish passports—by some counts, more than any other U.S. metro area. TCLAS is where they find each other.