A Belgium–Luxembourg mix-up

Hinzugefügt: 2026-06-03

[00:00:06]In Wisconsin, there's a town called Belgium, whose residents largely descend from Luxembourg.

[00:00:12]There's also a town called Luxemburg that was settled mainly by Belgians.

[00:00:17]How did they end up with each other's names?

[00:00:21]I'll read that one more time.

[00:00:23]In Wisconsin, there's a town called Belgium, whose residents largely descend from Luxembourg.

[00:00:28]There's also a town called Luxemburg that was settled mainly by Belgians.

[00:00:33]How did they end up with each other's names?

[00:00:36]School exchange.

[00:00:38](others laughing) For, like, whole town.

[00:00:40]Whole town. For cultural exchange.

[00:00:42]And they just never went back.

[00:00:44]And they were like, "This is great."

[00:00:45]"This is convenient. We like each other's towns more.

[00:00:47]We'll just stay here."

[00:00:49](guests giggling) "It's a nice place."

[00:00:51]When was this? Do we have a date on this?

[00:00:54]So this happened in the year 1857.

[00:00:58]Oh, that's specific.

[00:01:00]Mid-19th century, this happened.

[00:01:03]So that isn't just a town that steadily had immigrants over the years.

[00:01:08]This is towns that were founded 1857 specifically with these names?

[00:01:13]Correct. Okay.

[00:01:15]Were they— Were the places named by someone else who was like, fundamentally, these places aren't that different?

[00:01:23]Or that thing of like, in The Muppets, the Swedish Chef in Sweden is called a Norwegian Chef.

[00:01:29]Because fundamentally they're the same.

[00:01:30]They're the same thing. Yeah.

[00:01:32]They were named by someone from the Netherlands who was just like, "This will really mess them up."

[00:01:38](laughs) I— Okay.

[00:01:40]I will say, Verity, you're kind of on the right track there.

[00:01:45]Ooh.

[00:01:46]I'm not gonna give the full ding-ding-ding on this, but you're— Continue with a similar thought with what you were just saying about that.

[00:01:54]So Jim Henson was there.

[00:01:56](group laughing) "Kermit the Frog".

[00:02:03]Was it just confusion somehow?

[00:02:05]Although, it's not like you always name a town after the people who've settled there.

[00:02:10]They can be named after people or rivers or locations.

[00:02:13]It's not usual to name a town after the old country.

[00:02:18]Were they just like, "It's probably one of them"?

[00:02:22]Were there just a bunch of Belgians that came over, and they were like... 'cause I'm from Belgium, so I'm trying to figure out what— I should know this.

[00:02:29]I feel like I should know some kind of context here.

[00:02:31]You were taught this. (group laughing) I was taught, yeah.

[00:02:33]We did this whole module of this.

[00:02:35]I feel like maybe a... maybe a French person.

[00:02:40]Someone did it to annoy them?

[00:02:42]Could it be that, like, yeah, a Dutch person did it to annoy them?

[00:02:45]I don't know.

[00:02:46]Maybe they were all just speaking Dutch.

[00:02:48]Maybe the towns were made or ready for the settlers to arrive... and they just went to the wrong one.

[00:02:55]The wrong one. (giggles) Yeah!

[00:02:57]We've got a town called Belgium for the Belgians. We've got a town called— Oh, they've gone to the wr— Who gave them the maps?

[00:03:03](Rosalie and Bob laugh) Were they just looking to rebrand?

[00:03:07]Like, were the Belgians like, "We just, we'd like, we'd love a change.

[00:03:11]We think that it would be cooler to be from Luxembourg"?

[00:03:14]Was that— Are they looking for something, like... (laughs) You know, they're in a new country, they're looking for a new look?

[00:03:21]They're trying to leave Belgium behind.

[00:03:22]We don't wanna be associated with Belgium.

[00:03:24]You know who's cool? Luxembourg.

[00:03:26]Luxembourg. (giggles) Are the— Is it just that, very last minute, they thought they were— like, the Belgians thought they were in Belgium, and the Luxembourgians thought they were in Luxemburg, and then they looked at the road sign, and the wrong one had been put up?

[00:03:39]Oh, that is actually... on the edge there.

[00:03:44]Yeah, so... (chuckles) Ooh.

[00:03:47]I'll lead with this, 'cause Verity, you're two for two for getting us to the finish line right there.

[00:03:54](cackles) So think about... 'Cause— so I gave the date, right?

[00:03:57]Think about... What would it take to put these names officially?

[00:04:01]How would you go about naming these areas, right? So... You would put the town down and play— Saying this like it's Sim City.

[00:04:11]You found the town. I actually don't know.

[00:04:13]I assume there's a... town hall or a post office.

[00:04:18]You create the admin building, and then you file paperwork with the state, I guess?

[00:04:24]You said a key word there, Tom.

[00:04:27]You said postal service. Yes, so... Oh, 'cause that's how American towns... like, you're a town basically if you have a post office and a ZIP code.

[00:04:36]At some point, someone has to assign you... Yep.

[00:04:38]I mean, it wouldn't have been a ZIP code back then, but someone would've had to go, "Alright, there is now a town called this.

[00:04:43]Mark it down on the map."

[00:04:44]Correct, correct, and then— So was it a mail issue?

[00:04:47]Like, they were meant to be Belgium, but they missed the postal delivery, so they're gonna have to go to the shop to pick it up later, and then only Luxemburg was left?

[00:04:56]It was delivered... but remember your first point, when you said something like... So the— In the post office, they have the names there.

[00:05:05]What could possibly cause it— Did someone swap the names by accident?

[00:05:09]Exactly!

[00:05:11](guessers groan and chortle) It was a clerical error.

[00:05:14]So the names were submitted. Ohh!

[00:05:16]But it was a clerical error, where someone actually swapped the two names.

[00:05:21]So yeah, back in 1857, the two communities independently proposed the names, reflecting the residents' origins.

[00:05:28]According to Robert E Gard's The Romance of Wisconsin Placenames, the names were accidentally reversed while being processed by the US Postal Service.

[00:05:37]So it was just somebody who got the names, and made an accident and just swapped them.

[00:05:43]So that's how you got those two confused.

[00:05:46]'Cause back then, you didn't have technology or fact-checking or AI, right?

[00:05:51]You just had someone going, "Yeah, these look right. Okay, we're good."

[00:05:55]And they just accepted that.

[00:05:56]They were like, "I'm not gonna cause a fuss.

[00:05:58]We'll just run with this." (laughs) They're all polite. They're all polite.

[00:06:02]It's Wisconsin. They are.

[00:06:03](chuckles) The Lateral Producer's Club is at lateralcast.com if you would like more Lateral, fewer adverts, and to support the show.

[00:06:15]Caption+ by JS* caption.plus | @caption_plus