Six years. It has been six years since the owner of Chiche! has been trying to get a response from the City of Luxembourg. It has been six years since Marianne Donven has been trying to raise the alarm about the risks posed by the fact that ‘her’ restaurant has no emergency exit. Following the horrific images from Crans-Montana, the restaurant owner has once again put her foot in it. And on Monday 15 June, at the City of Luxembourg’s municipal council meeting, it was the city councillor 
Without batting an eyelid, at the local council meeting, the mayor 
A case that has been ongoing since 2020
What Lydie Polfer describes as de facto tolerance is experienced quite differently by Marianne Donven. She herself discovered right from the start that no operating licence had ever been issued for the premises (the previous restaurant and dance hall had operated there for 25 years without one). She applied for one as early as 2020. This was followed by several meetings with the CGDIS, the City Council, a security firm commissioned by the property owner and the building’s management agency. The conclusion was the same each time: the only viable emergency exit would have to be via the rear, through the garden of the non-profit organisation Zaltimbanq Zirkus.
The only current exit leads through the garage and opens out on the same side as the main entrance; this is insufficient in the event of a fire at the front. “I am no longer willing to take on this responsibility. Every time there are more than 50 people in the hall, I risk going to prison,” she tells Paperjam. She sends a firm email, copying in all parties, to demand a decision. “That’s when the refusal came,” she says. In a letter dated 18 May, which Paperjam has obtained, the City of Luxembourg informs Marianne Donven that it cannot grant the request.
I no longer agree to take on this responsibility.
Two grounds are put forward. Firstly, ‘the plots in question are subject to a lease in favour of the non-profit organisation Zaltimbanq Zirkus’, the terms of which ‘guarantee the tenant exclusive use of the premises and do not provide for any right of way for third parties’. Secondly, “granting a right of way would constitute an easement encumbering the land, which would limit the City’s scope for development or future construction projects on these plots.”
Ms Donven replied by letter on 2 June, asking for at least a year’s notice to wind up the business properly and find solutions for her staff. “I received the acknowledgement of receipt on 9 June. But after that, I didn’t receive a reply to that letter,” she said.
No solution in sight
Whilst Lydie Polfer has said she is willing to meet with Marianne Donven to explore any other possibilities, Ms Donven remains sceptical. “I get the feeling the mayor isn’t all that interested in us,” she says, also referring to the incident involving the cycle path that destroyed the street’s terraces after the Covid pandemic. Should the City propose another venue, however, she says she is open to the idea. “If she offers me something like the Brasserie Schuman, which is currently undergoing renovation, I’d be absolutely up for it,” she says with a touch of humour – a sign that all is not lost.
The Limpertsberg situation comes at a turbulent time for the chain: Chiche! Bonnevoie closed at the end of 2025 following serious technical problems, and Chiche! Bettange-sur-Mess is set to close at the end of June 2026. Plans to open a branch on Avenue de la Gare had also been mooted, before Chiche! withdrew due to a lack of mutual agreement. In the meantime, the future of the Limpertsberg site (and the project as a whole) remains in limbo. “We’re a bit in the dark,” admits Marianne Donven.
