“Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn”: where Luxembourg’s national motto comes from

“Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn” — we want to stay what we are. Luxembourg’s national motto began as the last line of a cheerful song about a steam train in 1859. Here is how a railway song became the country’s motto, and how to say it.

Updated November 3, 2026 · 4 min read

The words

Every word is everyday Luxembourgish: mir (we), wëllen (to want — the n drops before b, see the n-rule), bleiwen (to stay), wat (what) and sinn (to be). The verb tables have native recordings; here is how the dictionary uses bleiwen:

A song for a steam train

In 1859 Luxembourg opened its first railway lines, linking the capital with its neighbours. The poet Michel Lentz — who wrote the words of Ons Heemecht, the national anthem the same year — wrote a song for the occasion: De Feierwon, “the fire wagon”, as people called the steam train. Its chorus invites the neighbours in and ends with the line that became the motto:

The song is proud but not hostile: come and visit, see our country — and know that we intend to remain ourselves. In 1859 that was not obvious. Luxembourg had lost more than half its territory to Belgium in 1839, and Prussian soldiers still garrisoned its fortress (they left in 1867 — see village life in Luxembourgish sayings). Being neither French, nor Belgian, nor Prussian was the point.

Today’s spelling writes the motto Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn; the older form Mir wölle bleiwe wat mir sin can still be seen on old house fronts in Luxembourg City. For the spelling changes, see Luxembourgish spelling.

A motto about language

For many Luxembourgers, “staying what we are” has always included the language. The best-known moment came under German occupation: in the census of 10 October 1941, the occupier asked about nationality, mother tongue and ethnicity, the resistance called on people to answer “Luxembourgish” to all three, many did, and the occupier cancelled the census. Historians at the University of Luxembourg have shown that the high percentages often quoted afterwards came from resistance leaflets and cannot be checked — but the event itself became one of the founding stories of modern Luxembourg. The language was made the national language by law in 1984 — see the three languages of Luxembourg and is Luxembourgish a language or a dialect?.

Using the words of the motto in everyday Luxembourgish

• wëllen — to want: ech wëll, du wëlls, mir wëllen. It is a modal verb; see irregular verbs and the modals and the table for wëllen.
• bleiwen — to stay: mir bleiwen doheem (we are staying at home). Its past: ech si bliwwen — with sinn, see the past tense.
• sinn — to be: the most irregular verb of all, in the present tense.
• wat — what, also “that” after alles: alles wat ech weess. Questions with wat are in how to ask questions.

Other verbs you meet in the song are worth learning too: kommen (to come), weisen (to show) and froen (to ask). For a first conversation with Luxembourgers, start with greetings and nice to meet you.

Want to practise saying it — and much more — with a person? On Edluxio you can book 1-to-1 online lessons with independent teachers, native speakers among them. Book a trial lesson; if your first lesson isn’t right for you, you get a full refund.

Keep learning

• Ons Heemecht: the national anthem, words and history
• Luxembourg’s traditions and their words
• The first writers in Luxembourgish
• Where Luxembourgish proverbs come from
• Village life in Luxembourgish sayings
• 20 expressions every newcomer hears
• Is Luxembourgish a language or a dialect?
• The languages of Luxembourg
• A small language that is growing
• The Sproochentest vocabulary path
• What level of Luxembourgish do you need for citizenship?
• How to say hello · thank you · how are you
• Cheers in Luxembourgish · good luck
• How to learn Luxembourgish online
• Is Luxembourgish hard to learn?
• Every Luxembourgish verb table, with audio
• All free Luxembourgish resources
• Free Luxembourgish level test