On 12 July 1950, in connection with the negotiations on the Schuman Plan, the Head of the Luxembourg delegation, Albert Wehrer, sends a letter to Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, in which he stresses that it is important for Luxembourg to be a candidate for the seat of the institutions of the future European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 30 October 1950, Albert Wehrer, Luxembourg diplomatic representative in Bonn, sends a report to Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, in which he outlines the procedure that should be followed so that Luxembourg will be in a favourable position regarding the question of the seat of the institutions of the Coal and Steel Community.

On 11 June 1951, Peter Zimmer, Mayor of Saarbrücken, sends a letter to Robert Schuman, Chairman of the Conference on the European Union of Coal and Steel, in which he proposes that Saarbrücken be chosen as the seat of the Community institutions.

On 30 January 1952, Charles Frey, Mayor of the City of Strasbourg and President of the Temporary Strasbourg Committee for the European Movement, informs Jacques-Camille Paris, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, that he is willing to propose Strasbourg as the seat of the European institutions.

On 25 February 1952, the Strasbourg City Council, chaired by the Mayor, Charles Frey, President of the Temporary Strasbourg Committee for the European Movement, emphasises the benefits to be derived from the selection of Strasbourg as the seat of the institutions of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

Dans ses Mémoires, Jean Monnet évoque les raisons pour lesquelles la ville de Luxembourg fut choisie pour accueillir les institutions de la CECA.

In his diary, Herbert Blankenhorn, diplomatic adviser to Konrad Adenauer in the German Foreign Ministry and Ambassador of the FRG to NATO from 1955 to 1959, comments on the meeting held in Paris on 23 and 24 July 1952 regarding the Saar question and the seat of the ECSC institutions.

In an article printed on 25 July 1952, the Luxembourg newspaper Luxemburger Wort looks back at the difficult negotiations regarding the choice of headquarters for the institutions of the the European Coal and Steel Community, which eventually opted, provisionally, for Luxembourg.

On 27 July 1952, Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, holds a press conference on the implementation of the Schuman Plan and the question of the seat of the ECSC institutions.

The residents of Saarbrücken prepare themselves for the possible location of the institutions of the European Coal and Steel Community in their town. 'Adapt! Adapt! That's the motto now!'

The issue of where to locate the permanent seats of the institutions of the European Coal and Steel Community remained undecided for a long time. According to the cartoonist of the satirical newspaper Der Tintenfisch, one must prepare for all eventualities: ‘The Sculpture Department of the Federation of Plastic Arts may have an interesting proposal for your town …’

On 26 May 1954, at a meeting held in the presence of a large number of Belgian MPs, the City of Brussels Tourist Information Office argues for Brussels to be selected as the capital city of the European Community.

On 29 June 1954, the City of Liège officially submits its application to become the seat of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), setting out in a dossier its arguments and the support given to these arguments by an international college of town planners.

On 23 June 1954, the City of Liège sends an open letter to the Belgian Government in which it submits its application to become the seat of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

In the summary record of its meeting of 26 November 1954, the Permanent Committee for Consultation on Foreign Policy of the Benelux countries expresses its opposition to the Franco-German bilateral arrangement to transfer the ECSC’s seat to the City of Saarbrücken.

This internal note from the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry dated 14 December 1954 describes the negotiations on the seat of the ECSC which took place at the Conference of Ministers in Paris during the night of 25 to 26 July 1952.

On 31 January 1957, Lambert Schaus, Luxembourg Ambassador to Brussels, sends a letter to Joseph Bech, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, in which he reviews the positions of the ECSC Member States on the question of the seat of the European institutions.