The most Luxembourgish of Germans

Wearing casual clothes and sports shoes, Franz Peter Basten welcomes us with a smile in his office at the Pierret law firm in Bonnevoie. On his desk is "my last case", he says cheerfully. Hard to believe, but the lawyer is now 81 years old and is indeed preparing to put away his black robe 44 years after being sworn in Germany – and 21 years in Luxembourg. A very combination in the legal profession. "I met Georges Pierret at a dinner party. That's where the collaboration between our studies began. He told me that I could also work as a lawyer in Luxembourg. I told him that I didn't know the civil code or the procedural laws, which are different. Dat léiers du! (You will learn it, ed.)" he said. And that's what I did. Just goes to show that, even at 60, you can still learn a lot. I've learnt and improved my French too." It was in very good French that the lawyer made a point of speaking for our interview.