Zoé Konsbruck is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH) at the University of Luxembourg. Her research focuses on deindustrialisation in Luxembourg between 1970 and 1990, with a particular focus on the impact on cities in the south of Luxembourg that were dependent on the steel industry. The research examines the effects of deindustrialisation and analyses how local actors – such as politicians, workers, residents and trade unions – perceived and responded to these changes in Luxembourg and the Greater Region. 

The research is part of a broader project called “Confronting Decline” (CONDE), coordinated by the Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) in Munich, which examines the challenges of deindustrialisation in Western societies since the 1970s.  

In addition to her research, Zoé and three other PhD students from the C2DH have been awarded the “2024 Thinkering Grant”, with which they are currently developing an educational card game called “Rust and Research“, which is situated at the intersection of public history and industrial history in Luxembourg. The game is based on a journey through time on the University of Luxembourg’s own Belval campus, exploring its transition from steel industry to research. 

Zoé is also participating in the Europaeum Scholars Programme, a two-year European policy and leadership training initiative coordinated by the University of Oxford.  

She holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in History from the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich (LMU). 


Email: zoe.konsbruck@uni.lu