Esch-sur-Alzette

Esch-sur-Alzette (Esch-Uelzecht in Luxembourgish, Esch an der Alzig in German), or simply Esch, is a 35,040 inhabitants town in the southwestern part of Luxembourg, the second most important and populated in Luxembourg. This town is crossed by Alzette river and it's near the French border of the country, in the south-west part of the country.

How do I arrive to Esch-sur-Alzette?

  Esch-sur-Alzette is a town quite well communicated by public transportation. 

• Train: there are trains from Esch-sur-Alzette to Luxembourg City every 30 minutes (aprox. 25 minutes).
• Bus: there are often buses Luxembourg City (aprox. 25 minutes) from Esch-sur-Alzette.  
• Car: if you rented a car, from Esch-sur-Alzette it can be reached Dudelange (aprox. 15 minutes), Luxembourg City (aprox. 20 minutes) and Diekrich (aprox. 45 minutes). It's close to the border with France so it's can be reached from French towns and cities like Thionville (aprox. 25 minutes) or Metz (aprox. 45 minutes) too.

History

During many centuries Esch was a small village (turnt into town by John of Bohemia and since the French Revolution it was turnt into a village again) by the river Alzette untill in the 1850s iron ores were found in the area. Therefore mines were digged and a steel industry started developing, increasing Esch-sur-Alzette's population in a very fast way. The new industry provided Luxembourg economic development during the last part of the 19th century and in 1911 ARBED was founded as a state company. In the 1970s the mines and many of the blast furnaces were shut down (the last one, in Esch-Belval, definitely halting its operations in 1997) and the blast furnaces were replaced by an electric furnace. Today the industrial wastelands on Belval left behind by the steel industry, are being redeveloped and converted into a new, modern town quarter with different structures of the University of Luxembourg. In 2002 ARBED merged into Arcelor, taking over from Mittal and forming the biggest steel company in the world. 

 

What can I visit in Esch-sur-Alzette?

Esch-sur-Alzette isn't a touristic place, usually forgotten by visitors, but it's vital to understand Luxembourg's history and a good idea to go out of the beaten track.

These are Esch-sur-Alzette's main attractions:

• Luxembourg Science Center (9-17 Mon-Fri; 10-18 Sat-Sun; 10€/ 7€/ free  adults/ retiree and students/ kids under 6): amazing science and technology museum which makes you discover and test more than 100 stations and shows. It's especially recommend for people travelling with children.
• City of Science and Blast Furnace in Belval (10-19 Wed-Fri, 10-18 Sat and 14-18 Sun from Apr to Oct; 5€/ 3€/ free  adults/ retiree and students/ kids under 12): former high oven where cast iron was produced untill 1997 in Belval district. When it was shut down the area was transformed and integrated in the town, creating this museum. It explains how cast iron is produced, an overview of southern Luxembourg development and has a 40 m high viewing point from where you can have a nice view of the town.
• National Museum of the Resistence (14-18 Tue-Sun; free): museum which shows traces of Luxembourgish history between 1940 and 1945 during the Nazi Germany occupation, the reactions of the people, Nazi represion and concentration camps and the Luxembourgish Jews fate. 
• Museum of the Cockerill Mine (8-12 and 13-17 Mon-Fri; free): unique mine which major role in Luxembourg’s economic boom and whose extraction was largely made by galleries. Nowadays it hosts a museum which displays minery objects and vehicles, fossils found during work and photographies.
• In the nearby town of Rumelange (Rëmeleng in Luxembourgish, Rümelingen in German), 7 km south-east from Esch, can be found the National Mining Museum (14-18 Tue-Sun from Jul to Aug; 14-18 Thu-Sun from Apr to Jun and Sep; 9€/ 7€/ 5€  adults/ retiree and students/ kids under 15), a museum about minery history from the 19th century to the 1980s, partially placed in a mine gallery. It shows the arduous nature of the miner's work.
• Just 11 km west from Esch is located Differdange (Déifferdeng in Luxembourgish and Differdingen in German), a town with 26,000 inhabitants which is the third most populated in the country. It some interesting attractions like Differdange Castle (16th century castle used as headquarters of the University of Miami in Europe), Differdange Old Abbey (13th century Cistercian abbey) and Fond-de-Gras, a complex formed by the mining train (7€/ 5.50€/ free  adults/ kids under 12/ kids under 4) which takes the visitor to the village of Lasauvage. Near it there are also Titelberg (a Celtic settlement) and the Giele Botter (former mine being redeveloped).
• In the area there are some trails like RedRock MTB Trail "Haard-red", a demanding mountainbike trail which goes around Rumelange and Dudelange.

Blast Furnace in Belval

National Museum of Resistence

Local Museum Dudelange

 In the east of Esch-sur-Alzette, 10 km from it, can be found Dudelange (Diddeleng in Luxembourgish, Düdelingen in German), a town with 19,734 inhabitants and the fourth most populated in the country. There are some interesting museums like Regional Museum of Forced Conscription (9-12 Thu and booking in advance; free), museum about the evacuation of the men of Dudelange, the German occupation, the forced enlistment, the militia and the liberation; Local Museum Dudelange (13-17 Mon-Sat; free), small museum with a rich collection of paleontological objects; Documentation Centre for Human Migrations, institution which carries on researches and organises exhibitions on history of migrations, mainly in the context of Luxembourg and its neighbouring regions; and Exhibition "The Bitter Years"(12-18 Wed-Sun from Mar to Jan; 6€/ 4€/ free  adults/ reduced/ people under 21), photography exposition by E. Steichen about the rural America during the Great Depression. The town has some castle ruins, Dudelange Castle ones, which was destroyed in the 16th century by Charles V and it has a museum (15-18 Wed-Sun) too.

Where can I eat in Esch-sur-Alzette?

There aren't many culinary offers in Esch-sur-Alzette but you can try one among them, for example in the Italian Il Belvedere (52 Rue du Stade) or Tower Café (4 pl Boltgen).

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Posted in: Europe,Luxembourg

Wiltz

Wiltz (Wolz in Luxembourgish) is a 5,469 inhabitants town in the banks of the river Wiltz, located in the northern part of Luxembourg. The town's name comes from its Celtic past and it's one of the oldest counts of the coutnry. It was the battleground of the Battle of the Bulge, when the end of WW2 was near, and after the war was nicknamed Martyr Town. Wiltz is also a major center for the international scouting movement.

How do I arrive to Wiltz?

  Wiltz is a town that is quite well communicated by public transportation. 

• Train: there is a train per hour to Wiltz from Luxembourg City (aprox. 1 hour), also stopping at Clervaux (aprox. 1 hour). There are also trains from Clervaux to Liège (aprox. 1.5 hours) in Belgium.
  
• Bus: there are at least 8 buses to buses to Esch-sur-Sûre (aprox. 20 minutes), every hour to Clervaux (aprox. 40 minutes). It's also possible to reach Esch-sur-Sûre from Ettelbruck (aprox. 25 minutes) and Clervaux from Vianden (aprox. 45 minutes). 
• Car: in case you rented a car, Wiltz can be reached from Esch-sur-Sûre and Ettelbruck (aprox. 15 minutes), from Clervaux (aprox. 20 minutes), from Diekrich (aprox. 40 minutes) or Luxembourg City (aprox. 1 hour). It is located in the border with Belgium so it can be reached from many places in Wallonia such as Bastogne (aprox. 2 minutes).

History

The name Wiltz comes from a Celtic word meaning "on the creek" and it was originally inhabited by the Celts, and was first documented in 764 AD. Wiltz received its town rights in 1240. The town has Wiltz Castle, which belonged to the former Counts of Wiltz (among the oldest in Luxembourg). It was completed in 1727, and the final Count died in 1793. The industrialisation of Wiltz was advanced in the late 19th and early 20th century by the leather industry, namely by IDÉAL Tannerie de Wiltz S.A. belonging to the Adler & Oppenheimer trust. During World War II, Luxembourg was occupied 10 May 1940 (the first day of the Battle of France) by Nazi Germany and on 31 August 1942, a general strike was initiated in Wiltz, that spread throughout the country (Wiltz has a monument commemorating the victims of the repression following the strike). When the Wehrmacht surprisingly began the Ardennes Offensive. Norman Cota the last Americans left Wiltz but on January 1945, Wiltz was liberated by American troops after intensive combats during the days before.

What can I visit in Wiltz?

Wiltz is a nice town and is considered Ardennes region capital. It has an interesting Renaissance town hall and it's a good point to explore the north of Luxembourg. Every July takes place the Festival of Wiltz around in Wiltz castle, an appointment of artists as well as theatrical and musical ensembles of international breadth.

These are Wiltz's main attractions:

• Wiltz Castle: Renaissance castle built in the remains of a 12th century one. It was built by the Counts of Wiltz, one of the oldest families in the country (the last count died after the French Invation during the Napoleonic Wars).
• National Brewery Museum and Tannery Museum (9-18 from Jul to Aug; 9-12 and 14-17 Mon-Sat from Sep to Jun; 4€/ free  adults/ students and kids): museums located in the stables of the castles that show the history and evolution of beers in Luxembourg and former tanneries that made Wiltz grow since the 16th century.
• Battle of the Bulge Museum (10-18 from Jul to Aug; 2.50€/ free  adults/ students and kids): museum which shows pictures, objects, documents and testimonies from locals who suffered this battle from the 6th December 1944 to 21st January 1945, the date when Wiltz was finally liberated.
• Wiltz Gardens: 2.5 ha garden of art which has been landscaped and maintained by persons with disabilities, longterm unemployed persons, participants in temporary workshops, craftpersons and artists.
• Notre-Dame Catholic Church: 18th century church placed in the Luxembourgish list of classified monuments.
• Nidderwiltz Church: late Gothic church built in 1510 after a fire in the previous one.
• National Strike Monument: monument to commemorate the victims of the national strike from August 31 to September 1 1942, done to protest against the recruiting process of the Wehrmacht.

Wiltz Castle

Wiltz Town Hall

Esch-sur-Sûre

Just 11 km south from Wiltz can be found Esch-sur-Sûre (Esch-Sauer in Luxembourgish and German), small and beautiful 2,641 people town in a Sauer bend. The main touristic attraction is the Ancient Cloth Factory (10-18 from Jul to Aug; 10-12 and 14-17 Thu-Tue from Sep to Jun; 3€/ free   adults/ people under 21), museum which is a living testament to the craft of cloth production with old looms. It also has a permanent exhibition offering an overview of the landscape and the sites of the region. But there are other interesting things like the Esch-sur-Sûre Castle (daily; free), 10th century castle with a Gothic extension and a 15th century observation tower. Esch-sur Sûre is inside the Nature Park of Upper Sûre, largest water reserve of Luxembourg. There are many ways of enjoying it, like hiking, by bike or with activities around the lake.

Clervaux Castle

Near Wiltz, 17 km from Wiltz is Clervaux (Klierf in Lixembourgish, Clerf in German), town and commune by the river Clerve with 5,228 inhabitants. The main attraction is Clervaux Castle, 12th century castle enlarged in the 15th century (rebuilt after its destruction in WW2). It contains The Family of Man (12-18 Wed-Sun from Mar to Dec; 6€/ 4€/ free  adults/ reduced/ people under 21), a 20th century black-and-white photography collection by E. Steichen; Museum of the Battle of the Ardennes (10-18 Tue-Sun from Jul to Aug; 10-18 Sat-Sun from Sep to Jun; 3.50€/ 2.50€/ free  adults/ students/ people under 21; combined ticket with the exhibition of models 5€/ 3€  adults/ reduced), museum with objects of this WW2 battle; and an Exhibition of Models of Ancient Castles (10-18 Tue-Sun from Jul to Aug; 10-18 Sat-Sun from Sep to Jun; 3.50€/ 2.50€/ free  adults/ students/ people under 21) from all over Luxembourg. It also has St. Cosmas und Damian Catholic Church, a Neo-Romanesque style church with a mixture of styles and the Clervaux Abbey, built in 1890 by Benedictine monks. Clervaux is located in the Natural Park Our, a park created to promote sustainable development of the region, economic development in harmony with the natural wealth of the region and the quality of life of its inhabitants. One of its more interesting trails is Relais Clervaux-Our (15 km) which takes you to the heart of the Luxembourgish Ardennes.

Where can I eat in Wiltz?

There aren't many culinary offers in Wiltz but a very good one for high budget is the hotel-restaurant Beim Schlass (1 Grand-Rue) with tasty French food. In Esch-sur-Sûre a good choice is hotel-restaurant de la Sûre (1 Rue du Pont).

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Posted in: Europe,Luxembourg