Michel Lentz

• Name — Michel Lentz • Born — 21 May 1820 • Birthplace — Luxembourg City • Died — 7 September 1893 • Place of death — Luxembourg City • Education — Athénée de Luxembourg • Genres — hymn • Notable Works — Ons Heemecht

• Illustration — Memorial plaque on Rue Notre-Dame, commemorating Michel Lentz Michel Lentz, the son of master baker Jean-Pierre Lentz and his wife Marguerite Spresser, was born on Dräikinneksgaass on 21 May 1820. Around 1820, his father bought the house on the corner of Rue Chimay and Ënneschtgaass. Shortly afterwards, he bought a small house on Rue Notre-Dame to run his bakery. After primary school, Lentz went to the Athénée de Luxembourg, where he received his first diploma in 1840. After a year of studying philology at the Free University of Brussels, he was appointed to the government secretariat at the end of 1842. On 10 September 1851, when Lentz was already a first-class clerk, he married Jeanne Reuter, the daughter of a retired schoolteacher. They had three children. As a writer, Lentz published satirical and patriotic poems and songs, among other things. Luxembourg's national motto, "Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn", is derived from De Feierwon, which he wrote in 1859 on the occasion of the inauguration of the city's railway, on 4 October. Lentz also wrote the lyrics for Ons Heemecht (1864), which became the official anthem of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 1993. Many of his poems were published in the anthologies Spâss an Iérscht (1873) and Hierschtblummen (1887), in the newspaper Das Luxemburger Land. By 1857, Michel Lentz was deputy head of the office, and from 1869 onwards, he was head of the office and advisor in the Court of Auditors (Luxembourg), a position he held until his retirement in 1892. Lentz died at the age of 73 on 7 September 1893. He was given a state funeral at the Notre-Dame Cemetery, at which Prime Minister Paul Eyschen delivered a eulogy.

Lentz wrote his first poem at the age of 17. The first collection of his poems was published in 1873, under the title Spâss an Erscht. Fourteen years later, Hirschblummen was published. A third volume, named Wantergreng, was never printed. Many of his poems were set to music, partly by himself but also by other composers, including Jean Antoine Zinnen, Laurent Menager, J. A. Müller, Gustave Kahnt, and Albert Thorn.

• Miniminimo • Zéng Froen • Merenchen • Wé méng Mamm nach hûet gesponnen • De Be'fchen a sei Peiâss • De Fresch an den Ochs • Ons Heemecht • Fidelitas • Schuobermess • An Amérika • Mir si glëcklech • D'Margréitchen • Den Text vum Hämmelsmarsch • Hemwe • De Feierwon • Wât d'Hémécht as • Beim Weier • E schlèchte Witz • Den Zeîtsgenoch • Op der Léder • Wîen ass dât Kand? • Zwó Kaatzen

• Illustration — Dicks-Lentz Monument in Luxembourg City • Illustration — Monument Lentz in Hesper Park, Hesperange • Illustration — Plaque in Luxembourg City

Michel Lentz is recorded as writer, poet and beamter.