“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===================================================================
(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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