U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, is taking a trip
back to his ancestral village in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg this week. The
Speaker traced his roots to a great-grandfather named Christian, who at the age
of 17 emigrated to the United States in 1868. The elder Hastert settled in
Aurora, Ill.
Speaker Hastert began the journey last week with a brief
audience with Grand Duke Henry in Luxembourg city and then was scheduled to go
on to the Hastert ancestral village of Osweiler. Speaker Hastert is scheduled to
receive honorary Luxembourg citizenship in a ceremony in Osweiler. Hastert will
also put a plaque on his ancestors' house, receive a copy of his grandfather's
1851 birth certificate, and be given a copy of his family tree, which local
authorities say dates back to 1695.
Hastert is making the trip in a personal capacity, as part of a
larger working visit to Europe. The event is generating strong interest in
Luxembourg, where people with the Hastert name are flooding the government with
phone calls.
Read the next article in this issue.
Return to the previous article in this issue.
Return to the Table of Contents.
Dick Eastman Online
