Luxemburger Hall, Aurora, Illinois

              Luxemburger Hall, also colloquially referred to as ‘Luxie Hall’, located at 416 High Street, Aurora, Illinois was built on May 27, 1917 to house the American Luxemburger Independent Club. The club was founded in 1890 by Luxembourgers in order to create a society through which members and families could meet during an evening on weekends and enjoy themselves in a ‘Luxembourgish’ way. One of the other important functions of the club was to provide burial insurance for members, according to Dennis Buck, curator of the Aurora Historical Society. "Part of the dues were collected so that if anything happened to you, you wouldn't end up in the Potter's Field. Many of the Luxembourg immigrants were scraping along as farmers and wouldn't have been able to afford a funeral”.

              The American Luxemburger Independent Club began the process of planning the hall in 1915, through the efforts of younger members of the club who had formed a dramatic club and a singing society. By that time the membership of the club since its inception had grown to about 300 active members. The initial steps to building the hall took place on June 25th, 1916 when the then President of the Club, J.P. Mathieu, named nine men to a new Building Committee to begin planning a hall. In October 8 , 1916, the committee presented its findings regarding costs to the members and after a unanimous vote for the building, a contract was granted to Nick Frisch and William Assell.

              The club itself was founded by Phil Johns, John Meisch, J.P. May, and Frank Braun. The first meeting of the club was held in Weiland Hall on Main Street. For many years afterwards, their meetings took place in a hall on North Broadway.

              Since it was built, the building has been remodeled and redecorated several times. The homes next to the hall were bought by the club and eventually removed in order to create parking facilities for members The neighborhood around Luxemburger Hall has seen a shift in demographics over the past 20 years.  The neighborhood is heavily Hispanic.  Because of this, Luxemburger Hall is now also used for celebrations such as quinceanaras. 

              Luxemburger Hall continues to operate as a private, members-only club.  While its Luxembourger identity is less apparent, the Hall continues to be a social center for residents of Aurora.  The lower level of the building is a bar and the upper level is a hall that is available for rental.  Behind Luxemburger Hall are outdoor bowling alleys that are used by club members who are a part of an area bowling league.