“The travel sites all describe
Luxembourg as a fairy tale come to life, but it feels less like a Grimm
land of trolls and big bad wolves, and more like Disneyland Paris."
― Kristopher Jansma
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(in
the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg) A small landlocked country in Western
Europe, Luxembourg borders Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the
east, and France to the south. Its capital, Luxembourg city, is one
of the four institutional seats of the European Union (together with
Brussels, Frankfurt, and Strasbourg) and the seat of several EU
institutions, notably the Court of Justice of the European Union, the
EU's highest judicial authority.
+ Featured here is the city of
Esch-sur-Alzette, which is found on the upper Alzette River, southwest
of Luxembourg city, near the French border. A small village until 1870,
it later became the second largest town in this country, mainly because
of the local phosphoric iron ore (and the town becoming the center of
the country’s iron and steel industry). For a long time Esch-sur-Alzette
was a small farming village in the valley of the Alzette river. This
changed when important amounts of iron ore were found in the area in the
1850s. With the development of the mines and the steel industry, the
town's population multiplied tenfold in a couple of decades. On 29 May
1906, Esch-sur-Alzette was promoted to the status of a city. Located in
the southwest of the country, it is the capital of the Red Lands region.
In the valley of the Alzette river (which flows through the city),
Esch-sur-Alzette is surrounded by six communities of
Luxembourg: Mondercange to the north, Schifflange to the
northeast, Kayl to the east, Rumelange to the southeast, and Sanem to
the northwest. To the southwest, the city borders the Audun-le-Tiche
community in the Moselle department of France, and to the west Russange
(also in the Moselle department).
+ A cosmopolitan city with a lively
past, Esch-sur-Alzette is well-known for its charming architecture and
its large shopping facilities. A choice of cultural attractions awaits
its visitors: the National Museum of the Resistance, the metallurgical
factories, Berwart tower, monuments, an architectural walk in the city
center, Belvédère parks (Stübben), St. Joseph's church, grotto of O.L.
of Lourdes, City Hall, local theater, art galleries, libraries, a music
conservatory, and many popular events. The recreation center at
Galgenberg offers a beautiful park, with marked walking paths, a
rose-garden, waterfall and fountains, playgrounds, an animal park, and
several sports facilities.
+ Despite its industrial past, nearly 54%
of Esch-sur-Alzette is dedicated to forests, green spaces and parks, and
it is home to some great examples of art nouveau, neo-gothic and art
deco styles of architecture, as well as the former rejuvenated
steelworks site at Belval. (Today, they are home to the University of
Luxembourg, several research facilities, and the national archives.)
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