Food price inflation and rationing

In summer of 2017, there was a food bank-style potato counter in the store on the lower corner of Place Guillaume II. During the war, hunger had been widespread among the city’s labourers and white-collar workers alike. They had all become victims of the war without themselves ever having been in the trenches.

Prior to 1914, Luxembourg had imported a large part of its grain from countries with which Germany was now at war. Attempts on the part of the Luxembourg government to import grain from neutral countries such as Switzerland were thwarted by the opposition of the Allies and the reluctance of Germany. Poor harvests and some 5,000 German troops stationed in Luxembourg, who also had to be fed, exacerbated the situation. The government responded by taxing and rationing food. The isolation of Luxembourg also caused industry to stagnate. This led to famine, unemployment, quite staggering price increases, and a thriving black market. This dire situation came to a head in 1916 and 1917. Extreme food rationing, together with the inequalities between the classes, sowed seeds of discord throughout the entire population.

City dwellers saw themselves forced to go and beg for food from those living in the country. Yet hoarding was prohibited and severely punished.

Even before the war, there had been a “people’s kitchen” on Rue Beaumont. Children up to the age of twelve were given one free meal a day, while needy adults paid using inexpensive vouchers. They could eat the meals, which consisted of potatoes and bread, yet also of meat and fish, either there or at home. This social service was financed by Luxembourg City, which also made the rooms available, and by private donations. The kitchen was run by the sisters of the order of Saint Elisabeth and by wealthier lady volunteers from the Catholic community. During the prewar period, the soup kitchen operated between January and March, providing meals for 600-700 people each day. Upon outbreak of the war, the number of needy persons shot up quite dramatically. Due to the supply shortages occasioned by the war, the socialist physician and minister Michel Welter was in 1916 no longer able to keep the soup kitchen supplied with the provisions it required. Welter was chided by farmers and cursed by consumers.