The New Year’s dinner-talk organised by Markus Brandstetter at our sister organisation, the Oxbridge Rhineland, Düsseldorf was a great success and several of our members made the trip to meet with our German counterparts and to enjoy the talk by Dr. Dennis Lehmkuhl (Oriel, Oxford, 2005), Department of Philosophy, University at Bonn. Dr. Lehmkuhl gave a fascinating talk on ‘Einstein’s first visit to Oxford and how it convinced him that the universe is expanding.
Category: past-posts
Concert and Dinner at Cercle Münster, 1 February 2025
An evening with Franz Schubert’s Winterreise
On 1 February, alumni of Oxford, Cambridge and Cercle Club members enjoyed a beautiful late afternoon & evening Concert-Dinner with Oxbridge tenor Alexander Gebhard (Trinity College, 2012; St Edmund Hall, 2016) and French pianist Grégoire Baumberger, whose intimate and spellbinding performance took us through Franz Schubert’s Winterreise. After the concert, the (beautiful) melancholy was washed away with cocktails followed by a delicious dinner by Cercle’s new chef. The event, which was spearheaded by Jan Könighaus, had a really good turnout and great atmosphere.
Charity Concert, 15 January 2025
On 15 January 2025, Beverly and Peter Carter spearheaded a charity concert in support of Nyamirama Primary School in Uganda. Turnout was good and the voluntary donations (through ticket sale) surpassed all expectations. We are pleased to have been able to pass on details on this event.
Literary Evening with James Leader, 14 January 2025
As can be seen from the pictures below, the Café des Capucins in the Luxembourg City centre had a packed audience at this year’s first event, a literary evening 14 January, organised by our member, James Leader (Wadham, 1983) and Olivia Katrandjian. James spoke of his new novel ‘Into Babel’, currently #1 on the Ernster bestseller list, and Olivia moderated. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion with the audience over a glass of wine.
James and Olivia are envisioning making another literary event later in the spring.
Christmas Dinner
Last St. Nicholas eve, 5 December 2024, the OUSL held their first Christmas dinner. It was a black tie event with live music, crackers, carol singing and a nice meal at the Cercle Münster in the Grund.
Linda and Mette put together a wonderful evening at which alumni caught up with each other and made new friends. It was also an opportunity for the new committee to present themselves and thank the outgoing committee members. The evening was a great success and will surely be repeated next year.
Happy holidays to all!!
Tripartite dinner 24 September 2024
Last September 24th, we had the annual Tripartite Dinner together the Cambridge and LSE alumni societies. The event was held at the SKYBAR Restaurant.
After canepés and drinks, Luxembourg Minister Elisabeth Margue gave a insightful and entertaining talk about the Luxembourg penitentiary system. We then had excellent dinner which was accompanied by fine wines and lively conversations at the mixed tables. The atmosphere was delightful and the mingling continued long past dessert. We thank the LSE alumni Society, who organised the event this year, for a magnificent evening.
Comparative Law ‘in Layers’
On 3rd October, our member Dr. Felix Pflücke organised a talk for the Society titled ‘Comparative Law “in Layers“’, featuring Professor Birke Häcker, Director of the Institute of International and Comparative Private Law at the University of Bonn. Prof. Häcker, a former student of Brasenose College, Oxford, has held prestigious positions as an All Souls Examination Fellow and then Professor of Comparative Law at Oxford. The talk delved into a crucial point in comparative law: how legal systems may seem to converge or diverge depending on the ‘level’ of comparison. Prof. Häcker used specific examples to highlight how conclusions can shift as one moves from macro- to micro-level comparisons, prompting a discussion on the practical implications for the study of comparative law. The event concluded with an engaging discussion session.
Freshers Dinner Sept 16, 2024
On September 16, 2024 the OUSL continued the tradition of hosting an annual dinner for Freshers joining the university of Oxford. This year we had 17 people attend of which 10 were alumni members and 7 students. The event was held at Chiche! in Limpertsberg, a restaurant that combines authentic, home-made Lebanese food with a positive social impact. The Chiche! project offers jobs to 55 refugees and migrants, empowering them and fostering inclusion into Luxembourg society. The venue was a fitting choice to host a festive evening welcoming new members to Oxford. Freshers will be studying diverse fields including computer science, English language and literature to also mindfulness based cognitive therapy. Thank to you all the Freshers who joined us and to all the alumni members for warmly welcoming the new students.
AGM
Last June 17th, we had our AGM and an EGM, which was attended by 16 members in person, and 3 represented by proxy.
Our chairmen, Peter Munro and Jan Könighaus reported on another successful year full of activities, and on the society’s finances. Please find the 2023 Chairman’s Report below.
Despite the many events, the society’s finances are in very good shape, with funds at the same level as last year. Our honorary auditor gave an unqualified favorable opinion on the accounts. The accounts were then unanimously approved, and the honorary auditor and Committee were unanimously discharged.
After a brief discussion on the budget (no membership fee increase this year nor in the foreseeable future), we elected the Committee for 2024, which includes three new members (Katia Volodine, Linda Chirila, and Sam Vinandy-Lau) and one returning member, David Clark. The committee said goodbye to recently married Lidiya Cherneva, who contributed tremendously to the committee and the OUSL. We look forward to to seeing her at future events.
The EGM was held to amend the articles of association of our society, so as to better adapt ourselves to modern times. As the necessary quorum to amend the articles of association (two thirds of all members) was not met, a second EGM will be convened where quorum will be reduced to the number of attending members. Members will shortly receive, by mail, an invitation for this EGM. If all goes well, this will be the final ‘snail-mail’ invitation, so that future communication with our members can take place via e-mail.
After the AGM and EGM, we enjoyed drinks, canapés, and a “cheese tasting quiz”, which challenged our members to identify four national cheeses in a blind tasting test.
Dinner with Oxford Professor of Education
On May 23rd a dinner was hosted by OUSL with Simon Marginson, Linacre Fellow and Professor of Higher Education at Oxford, during his visit to Luxembourg. He presented on higher education strategy and rankings before an evening meal at Cercle Munster. The event underlined the importance of dialogue on education in the Society’s activities, and was the excellent initiative of Committee Member Agnieszka Walczak, with support from Committee Advisor David Clark.
