Esch-sur-Alzette
Encyclopedia
Esch-sur-Alzette is a commune
with city status, in south-western Luxembourg
. It is the country's second city, and its second-most populous commune, with a population of 29,853 people. The town of Esch-sur-Alzette lies in the centre of the commune; with a population of 27,146 , it is Luxembourg's second-most populous town.
It lies in the south-west of the country, on the border with France. The town is usually referred to just as Esch, but there is also a village and commune further north named Esch-sur-Sûre
from which to distinguish it. Esch lies in the valley
of the Alzette
, which flows through the town. The capital, Luxembourg City
, is roughly 15 km (9.3 mi) to the north-east.
. Lucien Wercollier
's sculpture The Political Prisoner is in its entrance hall. Other tourist attractions include the large park
, and the Berwart Tower, built in 1621.
The Lankelz miniature railway
operates on Sunday afternoons and public holidays from May to mid-October.
There are two cinemas
, called the 'Ariston' and the 'Kinosch'. The main theatre
is the Théâtre d’Esch
. There is also the Kulturfabrik, a cultural centre in a reconverted abattoir which hosts performances of various kinds. The town is the site of one of the six regional headquarters of the Grand Ducal Police
.
The city is the centre of the country's steel
manufacture. One of the largest employers in the town is Arcelor
, the world's largest steel producer, which formed from the merger of Aceralia
, ARBED
, Mittal
, and Usinor
.
(founded in 1906) and Jeunesse Esch
(1907), both come from the town. Jeunesse have been the most successful Luxembourgian club, winning an unrivalled twenty-seven National Division
titles; combined with twelve Luxembourg Cup
victories, Jeunesse have won eight The Double
s. They play at Stade de la Frontière
, in the south of the town. Fola were very important in the early history of the sport in Luxembourg, winning five titles up to 1930, but have since declined, currently playing in the second-tier Division of Honour
. Fola's home stadium is Stade Émile Mayrisch
, in the south-east of Esch, which it shares with its sister athletics club CA Fola Esch
.
At the 2006 Tour de France
, Esch-sur-Alzette hosted the end of Stage 2 and the start of Stage 3.
Esch-sur-Alzette is the southern terminus of the A4 motorway, which runs northwards to Luxembourg City. The east-west A13 meets the A4 just to the north of Esch, and terminates at Pétange
in the west and meets the German
Bundesautobahn 8
at its eastern end.
Esch is one of four Luxembourgian towns to have multiple railway stations
. Esch's three railway stations, Esch-sur-Alzette
, Belval-Rédange
, and Belval-Université, all lie on Line 60
of the Chemins de fer luxembourgeois
network.
, England Coimbra
, Portugal
Cologne
, Germany Liège
, Belgium
Lille
, France Mödling
, Austria
Offenbach am Main, Germany Puteaux
, France Rotterdam
, Netherlands
Saint-Gilles
, Belgium
Turin
, Italy
Velletri
, Italy
Zemun
, Serbia
Communes of Luxembourg
The communes of Luxembourg are the lowest nation-wide administrative division in Luxembourg. They conform to LAU level 2.Within the hierarchy of administrative subdivisions, communes come directly below cantons, which are directly below districts. Communes are often re-arranged, being merged or...
with city status, in south-western Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
. It is the country's second city, and its second-most populous commune, with a population of 29,853 people. The town of Esch-sur-Alzette lies in the centre of the commune; with a population of 27,146 , it is Luxembourg's second-most populous town.
It lies in the south-west of the country, on the border with France. The town is usually referred to just as Esch, but there is also a village and commune further north named Esch-sur-Sûre
Esch-sur-Sûre
Esch-sur-Sûre is a commune and small town in north-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Wiltz, which is part of the district of Diekirch...
from which to distinguish it. Esch lies in the valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
of the Alzette
Alzette
The Alzette is a river with a length of 73 kilometers in France and Luxembourg. It is a right tributary of the Sauer.It rises in Thil near the town Villerupt in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département, France. It crosses the border with Luxembourg after a few kilometres. In Lameschmillen it is joined...
, which flows through the town. The capital, Luxembourg City
Luxembourg (city)
The city of Luxembourg , also known as Luxembourg City , is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg...
, is roughly 15 km (9.3 mi) to the north-east.
Places of interest
Esch-sur-Alzette is home to the National Museum of the Resistance, which has material related to the resistance to German occupation during the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Lucien Wercollier
Lucien Wercollier
Lucien Wercollier was a sculptor from Luxembourg.While he worked primarily in bronze and marble, some of his work is sculpted in wood, alabaster, stone and onyx. His public monuments in bronze and marble are of particular importance...
's sculpture The Political Prisoner is in its entrance hall. Other tourist attractions include the large park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
, and the Berwart Tower, built in 1621.
The Lankelz miniature railway
Lankelz Railway
The Lankelz Railway in Esch-sur-Alzette, south-eastern Luxembourg, is a miniature railway on a scale of one third normal size...
operates on Sunday afternoons and public holidays from May to mid-October.
There are two cinemas
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, called the 'Ariston' and the 'Kinosch'. The main theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
is the Théâtre d’Esch
Théâtre d’Esch
Théâtre d’Esch is a theatre in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. Directed by Charles Muller, the main auditorium has 517 numbered seats. The theatre puts on performances of operas, operettas, concerts, dance performances, variety, jazz, songs, musicals and other entertainment.The smaller hall, with 100...
. There is also the Kulturfabrik, a cultural centre in a reconverted abattoir which hosts performances of various kinds. The town is the site of one of the six regional headquarters of the Grand Ducal Police
Grand Ducal Police
The Grand Ducal Police is the primary law enforcement agency in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The police is under the control of the Minister for the Interior of Luxembourg, although they operate in the name, and under the ultimate control, of the Grand Duke. Day-to-day executive control is...
.
The city is the centre of the country's steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
manufacture. One of the largest employers in the town is Arcelor
Arcelor
Arcelor S.A. was the world's largest steel producer in terms of turnover and the second largest in terms of steel output, with a turnover of €30.2 billion and shipments of 45 million metric tons of steel in 2004...
, the world's largest steel producer, which formed from the merger of Aceralia
Aceralia
Aceralia was a large Spanish steel producer formed in 1997 by restructuring of a group formed from earlier mergers of the steel producers ENSIDESA and Altos Hornos de Vizcaya....
, ARBED
Arbed
ARBED was a major Luxembourg-based steel and iron producing company. Created in 1911 after the merger of three steel producing companies, ARBED was a major actor in the economic history of the Grand-Duchy until it merged in 2002 with two other European steel companies to create Arcelor.- Origins ...
, Mittal
Mittal
Mittal was once an enormous worldwide steel company before merging to create ArcelorMittal.Mittal is a gotra in the Agrawal community in India that is often used as a family name...
, and Usinor
Usinor
Usinor was a French steel making group formed in 1948. The group was merged with Sacilor in 1986, becoming Usinor-Sacilor and was privatised in 1995, and renamed Usinor in 1997....
.
Sport
Esch is in the heart of the traditional footballing heartland of the south of the country, and the town was the first place in the country to embrace the game. The first two football clubs in the country, CS Fola EschCS Fola Esch
Sporting Circle Fola Esch , usually abbreviated to Fola Esch or simply Fola, is a football club, based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg...
(founded in 1906) and Jeunesse Esch
Jeunesse Esch
Jeunesse Esch is a football club, based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg.- History :...
(1907), both come from the town. Jeunesse have been the most successful Luxembourgian club, winning an unrivalled twenty-seven National Division
Luxembourg National Division
The National Division is the highest football league in Luxembourg. Until 2011, it is to be known as the BGL Ligue, after the Luxembourg Football Federation managed to seal a sponsorship deal with Fortis. Before 2006, it contained twelve teams, but it expanded to fourteen for the 2006-07 season,...
titles; combined with twelve Luxembourg Cup
Luxembourg Cup
The Luxembourg Cup is the national knockout cup competition in Luxembourgian football. It was first held in 1922, and has been held annually since, with the exception of the four seasons during the German occupation during Second World War.-Winners:...
victories, Jeunesse have won eight The Double
The Double
The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...
s. They play at Stade de la Frontière
Stade de la Frontière
Stade de la Frontiere is a multi-purpose stadium in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Jeunesse Esch...
, in the south of the town. Fola were very important in the early history of the sport in Luxembourg, winning five titles up to 1930, but have since declined, currently playing in the second-tier Division of Honour
Luxembourg Division of Honour
The Division of Honour is the second-level football league in Luxembourg. It lies below the National Division and above the 1. Division.-2011–12 clubs:-References:**...
. Fola's home stadium is Stade Émile Mayrisch
Stade Emile Mayrisch
Stade Émile Mayrisch is a football and athletics stadium, in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. The stadium has a capacity of 3,900. It is named after Luxembourgian industrialist and steel industry trail-blazer Émile Mayrisch. It is currently the home stadium of the football club CS...
, in the south-east of Esch, which it shares with its sister athletics club CA Fola Esch
CA Fola Esch
Athletics Club Fola Esch is an amateur athletics club in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. Founded in 1950, the club is based at Stade Émile Mayrisch, which it shares with its sister football club, CS Fola Esch, in the south of the city....
.
At the 2006 Tour de France
2006 Tour de France
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....
, Esch-sur-Alzette hosted the end of Stage 2 and the start of Stage 3.
Transport
Pétange
Pétange is a commune and town in south-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette, which is part of the district of Luxembourg. Pétange lies on the borders with both Belgium and France....
in the west and meets the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Bundesautobahn 8
Bundesautobahn 8
is an autobahn in southern Germany that runs 497 km from the Luxembourg A13 motorway at Schengen via Neunkirchen, Pirmasens, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg and Munich to the Austrian West Autobahn near Salzburg....
at its eastern end.
Esch is one of four Luxembourgian towns to have multiple railway stations
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
. Esch's three railway stations, Esch-sur-Alzette
Esch-sur-Alzette railway station
Esch-sur-Alzette railway station is a railway station serving Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. It is operated by Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois, the state-owned railway company. CFL general refer to the station as Esch/Alzette as shown on the sign.The station is situated on Line 60,...
, Belval-Rédange
Belval-Rédange railway station
Belval-Rédange railway station is a railway station serving the neighbourhood of Belval, in the west of Esch-sur-Alzette, in southern Luxembourg. The 'Rédange' in the name is a reference to the French town of Rédange, which lies just across the border...
, and Belval-Université, all lie on Line 60
CFL Line 60
Line 60 is a railway line connecting Luxembourg City to the Red Lands of the south of Luxembourg, and on to France. The terminus at the northern end is Luxembourg railway station, whilst the terminals at the south are Rumelange, Pétange, and the French towns of Thionville, Volmerange-les-Mines,...
of the Chemins de fer luxembourgeois
Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois
Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois is the national railway company of Luxembourg. In 2005, the company carried approximately 14.1 million passengers and 11.7 million tonnes of goods...
network.
Twin towns — Sister cities
Esch-sur-Alzette is twinned with: Bethnal GreenBethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
, England Coimbra
Coimbra
Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, France Mödling
Mödling
Mödling is the capital of the Austrian district of the same name located approximately 14 km south of Vienna.The settlement dates back to the Neolithic. In medieval times, the town was the residence of a branch of the Babenberger family, as a result of which it received the nickname...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
Offenbach am Main, Germany Puteaux
Puteaux
Puteaux is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department from the center of Paris....
, France Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Saint-Gilles
Saint-Gilles, Belgium
Saint-Gilles or Sint-Gillis is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.Saint-Gilles has a multicultural identity stemming from its diverse population...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Velletri
Velletri
Velletri is an Italian town of 53,298 inhabitants. It is a comune in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Lazio - Italy. It is bounded by other communes of Rocca di Papa, Lariano, Cisterna di Latina, Artena, Aprilia, Nemi, Genzano di Roma, Lanuvio...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Zemun
Zemun
Zemun is a historical town and one of the 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
External links
The city's website- A large private collection of pictures of the city and its surroundings — articles in German, French and Luxembourgish
- HoloGuides : Esch/Alzette - photos, events, etc.
- FEATS Newsletter, December 1999 - discusses quite a few matters relating to Esch