Past Events

Thursday 3 April 2025: Dinner-talk with Mette Ahlefeldt-Laurvig at a Johannitter Order charity event

The Johanitter Order in Belgium and Luxembourg extended invitations to Oxbridge alumni societies for their charity event 3 April 2025 at Cercle Münster: a Dinner-Talk with Oxford Chair, Mette Ahlefeldt-Laurvig (Dphil, history), and the evening drew a good crowd from across the societies.

Mette gave a wide-ranging PowerPoint presentation on her subject of Reformation in a talk entitled: ‘Sin, Sex and Salvation: Marriage and Childbearing after the Reformation,’ focussing on legal, theologian and social issues with regard to the Lutheran regulation of marriage.

The talk was followed by a lively Q & A session in the cozy surroundings of the 1st floor restaurant of Cercle Münster.

The event was arranged by the Jan Könighaus and Moritz von Kunow and all net proceeds go to the charitable work of the Johanitter Hëllefsgemeinschaft.

Tuesday 25 March 2025: Dinner-Talk with Jens Tholstrup: The Hanseatic League and its Legacy

What a fabulous evening we had with Jens Tholstrup at Cercle. Jens’ talk on the Hanseatic League took us back to the late Middle Ages when the League was at its height and in control of the trade in the wider Baltics area of many essential products, from herring to cloth. The talk inspired a host of excellent questions and this in turn was followed by a delicious and congenial dinner with members and friends from both Oxbridge, LSE, the Johanitter Order and Deutscher Verein. A Warm thank-you to Jens Tholstrup and to all our guests for making it such an enjoyable evening.

For some great pictures of the event see below

Jens Tholstrup is Executive Chairman of Oxford Innovation Finance and Senior Adviser, PMB Capital. He is Chair of Governor of St Clare’s, Director of Advanced Oxford and a Visiting Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford. Previously, Jens was Managing Director UK, Oxford Economics, Executive Director, Oxford Analytica and Executive Director, UBS/UBS Warburg. 

Jens holds a MA in PPE and an MSc in Economic History (both Oxford). 

New Year’s Dinner Event, 21 February 2025

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.

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.

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.

The Literary Event with James Leader
James Leader at the Cafe des Capucins 14 January 2025
Into Babel Book Cover

Christmas Dinner, St. Nicholas Eve, 5 December 2024

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.

From left to right: Dr. Felix Pflücke (Brasenose College), Prof. Herwig Hofmann (St Peter’s College), Prof. Birke Häcker (Bonn University, Brasenose College), Louise Benjamin (Cambridge), Dr. Elif Biber (University of Luxembourg), Prof. Gilles Cuniberti (Trinity College), Justine Yansenne (Cambridge)

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.