Butteck Um Feschmaart, Luxembourg

Butteck Um Feschmaart, located at 10 rue Sigefroi, is a long-standing souvenir shop in the old town. Selling everything Luxembourg, from wines and beers to t-shirts and tote bags, the shop also offers a selection of colorful Peckvillchen.

What to buy here: Peckvillchen bird whistles.

Part of a very old Luxembourgish tradition, a Peckvillchen is a ceramic whistle in the form of a bird, made especially for Emaishen, the whistle festival held each year on Easter Monday. It is an annual tradition for families to bring their children to the Fish Market in the center of Luxembourg City to choose a bird whistle from the wide array of stalls. The most famous come from the village of Nospelt, in the south-west of the country. The center of Luxembourg’s ceramics industry in the 19th century, when there were 17 potteries in the village, production wound down in the early 20th century. However, the tradition of producing Peckvillchen was revived in 1937 by residents of the village and today Nospelt is synonymous with these little bird whistles.

Luckily, you don’t need to wait for Easter Monday to come around again to get your own Peckvillchen. A number of shops in the centre of town, as well as the Tourist Office, sell the whistles in a variety of colours and styles starting from €8.