50 Years of the Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge

The Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge — the main artery linking Luxembourg City centre with the Kirchberg district, home to the institutions of the European Union. The inscription "Pont Grande-Duchesse Charlotte" and the year "1966" are engraved on the depicted bridge. In the upper part of the design: Grand Duke Henri's portrait and the year "2016". In the lower part: the issuing state "LUXEMBOURG".

In 2018 a retrospective set was issued comprising the Luxembourg €2 commemorative coins of 2016–2018 (LU-16 G2, LU-17 G2, LU-17 G4, LU-18 G3, LU-18 G6) with the 2018 mint marks.

The Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge came into being during a period of profound urban transformation in Luxembourg. In the mid-1960s, the Grand Duchy faced the challenge of connecting its growing capital centre with the northern Kirchberg plateau - at the time a largely undeveloped area that had been designated since 1959 as the seat of European institutions. Opened in 1966, the bridge spans the Alzette valley over a length of around 355 metres at a height of about 74 metres and was, on completion, one of the country's most striking feats of engineering. Its curved steel structure, in its characteristic red, is today one of the best-known landmarks of Luxembourg City.

Following the bridge's opening, Kirchberg quickly developed into the institutional heart of Europe in Luxembourg: the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Auditors and other EU institutions settled there, making the district a central hub of European administration. Without the bridge, this development would not have been possible in this form - it remains today the most important direct link between the old town and Kirchberg. The structure is named after Grand Duchess Charlotte, who ruled the country from 1919 to 1964 and whose name in Luxembourg is closely associated with national continuity and the overcoming of German occupation in the Second World War. To mark the 50th anniversary of its inauguration, Luxembourg issued a 2-euro commemorative coin in 2016.