Luxemburger Wort

What is the Luxemburger Wort?

The Luxemburger Wort is a daily newspaper published in German by Mediahuis Luxembourg. The Euromedia Ownership Monitor's Luxembourg report of December 2025, by Christian Lamour of LISER, refers to “the German-language Luxemburger Wort” and states: “Mediahuis Luxembourg has continued the strategy initiated by Saint-Paul of attracting the multilingual public in the Grand Duchy through online newsrooms in French (Virgule.lu), English (Luxtimes.lu), German (Wort.lu), and Portuguese (Contacto.lu) associated with Luxemburger Wort.”^[1] The Portuguese-language title Contacto is thus part of the same publisher's range; the government's 2013 overview called Contacto “Le premier journal destiné à la large communauté portugaise” and dated it to 1970.^[4]

The report also states: “For Mediahuis Luxembourg, the Luxemburger Wort was founded in the nineteenth century, and is associated with moderate center-right Christian Democracy.” That is the report's characterisation.^[1] The newspaper's own site, wort.lu, could not be retrieved.

What does the Luxemburger Wort cover?

The Wort is a general daily, and sport is one of its fields. The membership list of sportspress.lu, the association of sports journalists, dated 25 February 2026, includes members from the Luxemburger Wort among its journalists and among its photographers.^[5] The association's committee, which its page describes as in office “depuis février 2026”, lists a vice-president from the Wort.^[6]

The government's 2013 overview described it as “un quotidien très complet recourant à un style particulièrement sobre”, a very complete daily in a sober style, and stated that its site was then published in German, French and English versions.^[4] That description dates from 2013.

How large is the Luxemburger Wort's audience?

Readership in Luxembourg's press is measured by ILRES. Its Étude Presse 2025 was commissioned by the publishers Mediahuis, Edita and Editpress; Adada.lu reported that it surveyed 3,520 residents and 806 cross-border workers, and that daily print newspapers reached 50.7 per cent of residents, and print with websites 67.4 per cent.^[7] Those are market figures, not the Wort's. L'essentiel, reporting the same study, described it as “menée par ILRES avec Kantar Belgium et des experts du CIM (Belgique)” for the three publishers.^[8] No per-title figure for the Wort from that study could be retrieved, because ILRES's own site could not be fetched.

Reporters Without Borders, in its 2026 entry, states that the Wort “is read daily by around a quarter of the population.”^[2] The government's 2013 overview gave a daily distribution of “quelque 69000 exemplaires en 2011” and a penetration of 43.2 per cent; those figures are fifteen years old.^[4]

Since when has the Luxemburger Wort existed?

The government's 2013 overview states: “Le quotidien catholique Luxemburger Wort, fondé en 1848 et donc un des plus anciens journaux d'Europe, domine ainsi le marché avec une distribution quotidienne de quelque 69000 exemplaires en 2011 et une pénétration de 43,2%.” It recorded that “L'actionnaire principal de Saint-Paul Luxembourg est ainsi l'archevêché du Luxembourg”.^[4] Those were the conditions in 2013.

Ownership changed in 2020. Reporters Without Borders describes the Wort as “a daily newspaper bought from the archdiocese in 2020 by the Belgian publisher Mediahuis”.^[2] The Euromedia Ownership Monitor, in December 2025, states: “According to the Luxembourg business registers, Mediahuis Luxembourg has overtaken Saint-Paul as the unitary print media company with the highest net turnover (45.7 million euros in 2023).”^[1]

Why does the Luxemburger Wort matter in Luxembourg's sport?

The Wort is one of the two paid-for dailies around which, in the Euromedia Ownership Monitor's words, public debate has long revolved: “Mediahuis Luxembourg and Editpress control the two most widely circulated paid-for print dailies, around which public debate has long revolved”.^[1] Its journalists and photographers are members of the national sports journalists' association.^[5]

Two monitoring bodies have published on the print market it belongs to. The Media Pluralism Monitor's 2026 page states: “CLT-UFA (RTL) dominates the television and radio sectors while EditPress and Mediahuis maintain control over the print press.”^[3] Reporters Without Borders states: “The leading daily newspapers have seen a decline in subscriptions and advertising in recent years, which has forced them to reorient their activities. In the name of pluralism, a law passed in 2021 provides each journalist with 30,000 euros a year in state aid and every publication with a lump sum of 200,000 euros.”^[2] Those are the two bodies' words.

On the Wort itself, Reporters Without Borders' 2026 entry states: “When Prime Minister Luc Frieden was at the helm of the Saint Paul group, the country's biggest publishing house, he led the main daily newspaper, Luxemburger Wort, towards a more business-friendly editorial line. In 2025, the Belgian publishing house appointed a new editor-in-chief.” The same entry states: “For the most part, the media operate independently and journalists enjoy plenty of freedom from political power.”^[2] The Media Pluralism Monitor adds: “There are currently no concentration limits or cross-media ownership rules in place.”^[3] Those are the bodies' own characterisations.