| When in AD 963, Count Siegfried built his "Lucilinburhuc" (little castle) on a rocky promontory overlooking the river Alzette, little did he know that his home was to become the cradle of one of the smallest, yet one of the richest countries in the world.
Thanks to its strategic location at a crossing of Roman roads, "Lucillinburhuc" grew rapidly. Siegfried's dynasty promoted this growth by forging the right alliances, in marriage and political pacts. The Congress of Vienna settled the destiny of the country, by raising it to the rank of Grand Duchy, and by giving it as personal property to the King of the Netherlands (William I of Orange-Nassau). The personal union between Luxembourg and the Netherlands lasted until 1890.
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