Description
Bernard Graf was born in 1831 in Merscheid. After completing his studies at the Athénée, he was appointed to the teaching staff at the Diekirch secondary school. While he was there, he published his Beitrag zur Geschichte des Schlosses und der Herrschaft Brandenburg in the Diekirch secondary school curriculum; it appeared in 1861. Graf was subsequently appointed to teach at the Grand Ducal Athénée Royal. He was also interested in business, and acquired a stake in the "Der Fortschritt" sugar refinery in Diekirch in 1869, and then in the Société des laminoirs et forges du Luxembourg in 1873. In terms of his involvement in cultural activities, Bernard Graf co-founded the "reading society", the goal of which was to set up a reading room and buy and sell wine, spirits and food products for the society's members and third parties.
In 1900, he joined the Committee of the Grand Ducal Institute's History Section. He died at Grevels Castle in the municipality of Bertrange, at the home of his sister, Eugénie Graf, who was married to City of Luxembourg Mayor Alphonse Munchen. Bernard Graf was married to Marie Ulveling (1836–1899). The couple had two children: Charles Henri Ernst Graf (born 1858), who became a doctor, and Julie Graf (born 1860), who in 1887 married François Martin Victor Rischard (1857–1934). Bernard Graf purchased a burial plot for a vault in Notre-Dame Cemetery where he erected a representative monument in honour of his wife. He followed her into eternity one year later. Bernard Graf was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the Oak Crown.
His son-in-law, Victor Rischard, was a doctor of law, and in 1893 became court magistrate for the canton of Capellen, and then a judge in the Diekirch court. He sat on the Supervisory Committee of the Ettelbruck central hospice. In 1904, he was appointed vice-president of the Luxembourg district court. In 1924, Rischard was appointed public prosecutor, a position he held until he retired. He died on 18 June 1934, after receiving the sacraments of the Holy Church. He was buried in a civil ceremony. The funeral procession travelled from his home at 9, Boulevard Joseph II to Notre-Dame Cemetery, without flowers or wreaths. His wife, Julie Graf, passed away on 6 December 1950. In accordance with her wishes, she was buried in a private ceremony.
In 1926, Victor Rischard was awarded the titles of Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy and Officer of the Order of the Oak Crown.
