One of the more distinctive pavilions at the World Expo in Shanghai this summer belongs to Luxembourg. Taking the literal translation of the country's name into Chinese - lu sen bao - designers came up with a 'forest and fortress' theme, presenting some of Luxembourg's most salient characteristics, while simultaneously nodding to sustainable development.
However, Luxembourg's reputation rests not simply on its rolling countryside and historical buildings. It is not only one of the more unusual countries in Europe - a parliamentary democracy that nevertheless styles itself The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg - it is also one of the most financially successful.
The road to nationhood and prosperity was long and arduous, as landlocked Luxembourg has often been at the mercy of more powerful states. In keeping with the Expo pavilion, the story starts with a fort called Lucilinburhuc - known today as Luxembourg Castle - by Siegfried, Count of Ardennes in 963 AD. A town grew up beyond its walls, which became the centre of a small state of great strategic value, so that during the 14th and early 15th centuries, three members of the House of Luxembourg reigned as Holy Roman emperors. Due to the lack of a male heir, a succession crisis in 1437 led to the territory being sold to Philip the Good of Burgundy.
In the years that followed, Luxembourg's fortress was steadily strengthened by successive rulers, who included such great dynasties as the Bourbons, Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the French. After Napoleon's defeat at the battle of Waterloo in 1815, Prussia and the Netherlands squabbled over Luxembourg, and the matter was only resolved when the Congress of Vienna - which had been convened by the victorious powers - formed the country into a Grand Duchy in union with the Netherlands. Luxembourg also became a member of the German Confederation, with a confederate fortress manned by Prussian troops.
The revolution that convulsed Belgium in the 1830s also affected Luxembourg, which had to give up the largely French-speaking western half of the country. Luxembourg's independence and neutrality was confirmed at the Treaty of London in 1839, and again at the signing of the second treaty in 1867. To reduce tension between France and Prussia, the Confederate fortress was demolished.
Luxembourg continued on its Ruritanian course in the 19th century, with the King of the Netherlands, also acting as head of state as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, maintaining personal union between the two countries until 1890. After William III died, the Dutch throne passed to his daughter Wilhelmina, while Luxembourg passed to Adolph of Nassau-Weilburg.
