Esch-sur-Alzette

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Esch-sur-Alzette

| native_name = {{native name|lb|Esch-Uelzecht}}
{{small|{{native name|de|Esch an der Alzette}}}}

| settlement_type = City and commune

| image_skyline = {{multiple image

| border = infobox

| perrow = 1/2/2/1

| total_width = 260

| align = center

| caption_align = center

| image1 = View of Esch-sur-Alzette 2025-04 --2.jpg

| caption1 = Esch-sur-Alzette seen from South-east (2025)

| image2 = Esch-sur-Alzette Place de l'Hôtel de Ville 2022-05 ---4.jpg

| caption2 = City Hall

| image3 = Esch-sur-Alzette - Rue de l'Hôpital 2016-08 --2.jpg

| caption3 = Rue de l'Hôpital and St. Joseph's Church

| image4 = Esch. Uelzechtstrooss.jpg

| caption4 = Rue de l'Alzette

| image5 = Esch-Belval 07.jpg

| caption5 = Belval Campus

}}

| image_shield = Coat of arms esch alzette luxbrg.png

| shield_size = 100x80px

| image_blank_emblem = Esch-sur-Alzette_(logo).png

| blank_emblem_type = Brandmark

| image_map = Esch Alzette map.svg

| mapsize = 200px

| map_caption = Map of Luxembourg with Esch-sur-Alzette highlighted in orange, and the canton in dark red

| coordinates = {{coord|3=region:LU_type:adm3rd|display=inline,title}}

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = {{flag|Luxembourg}}

| subdivision_type1 = Canton

| subdivision_name1 = Esch-sur-Alzette

| leader_party = CSV

| leader_title = Mayor

| leader_name = Christian Weis

| unit_pref = Metric

| area_total_km2 = {{Luxembourg commune area|LAU2=0204}}

| area_rank = {{Luxembourg commune area rank|LAU2=0204}} of 100

| elevation_max_m = {{Luxembourg commune high|LAU2=0204}}

| elevation_max_rank = {{Luxembourg commune high rank|LAU2=0204}} of 100

| elevation_min_m = {{Luxembourg commune low|LAU2=0204}}

| elevation_min_rank = {{Luxembourg commune low rank|LAU2=0204}} of 100

| population_total = 36625

| population_as_of = 2023

| population_rank = {{Luxembourg commune population rank|LAU2=0204}} of 100

| population_density_km2 = auto

| population_density_rank = {{Luxembourg commune density rank|LAU2=0204}} of 100

| timezone1 = CET

| utc_offset1 = +1

| timezone1_DST = CEST

| utc_offset1_DST = +2

| blank_name_sec1 = LAU 2

| blank_info_sec1 = LU0000204

| website = [http://www.esch.lu esch.lu]

| module =

| footnotes = Click on the map for a fullscreen view

}}

Esch-sur-Alzette ({{IPA|fr|ɛʃ syʁ alzɛt}}, {{lit|Esch on Alzette}}; {{langx|lb|Esch-Uelzecht}} {{IPA|lb|ˌæʒ ˈuəltsəɕt||Lb-Esch-Uelzecht.ogg}}; {{langx|de|Esch an der Alzette}} {{IPA|de|ˈɛʃ ʔan deːɐ̯ ʔalˈzɛt|}} or Esch an der Alzig) is a city in Luxembourg and the country's second-most populous commune, with a population of 36,625 inhabitants, {{as of|2023|lc=y}}. It lies in the south-west of the country, on the border with France and in the valley of the Alzette, which flows through the city. The city is usually referred to as just Esch; however, the full name distinguishes it from the village and commune of Esch-sur-Sûre which lies {{convert|45|km|abbr=off}} further north. The country's capital, Luxembourg City, is roughly {{convert|15|km|abbr=on}} to the north-east. Esch was selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2022, alongside Kaunas and Novi Sad.

History

The town was mentioned for the first time in 12 April 1128 in a message for Pope Honorius II.Georges Buchler: Esch-sur-Alzette. Guide historique. 2020. p. 19 [in French]

For a long time Esch was a small farming village in the valley of the Uelzecht 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. In 1911 the steel- and iron-producing company ARBED was founded.{{cite web|url=http://luxembourg.arcelormittal.com/About-us/History/|title=ArcelorMittal - History|access-date=16 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328022641/http://luxembourg.arcelormittal.com/About-us/History/|archive-date=28 March 2015|url-status=dead}} The development of the steel industry, especially in the south of the country, provided Luxembourg with sustained economic growth during the second half of the 19th century.{{cite web|url=http://www.portrait.public.lu/en/introduction/index.html|title=Economic and social portrait of Luxembourg : Introduction|access-date=13 August 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114213256/http://www.portrait.public.lu/en/introduction/index.html|archive-date=14 November 2007}}

In the 1970s, as a result of the steel crisis, the mines and many of the blast furnaces were shut down, the last one, in Esch-Belval, definitively halting its operations in 1997. The blast furnaces were replaced by an electric furnace that is fed with scrap metal rather than iron ore.{{cite web|url=http://www.belval.lu/en/belval/history/|title=History|date=1 June 2017|access-date=13 August 2017}}

Today the industrial wastelands on Belval left behind by the steel industry, are being redeveloped and converted into a new, modern town quarter. New cultural buildings such as the cinema Kinepolis Belval in the Belval Plaza shopping mall{{cite web|url=http://www.utopolis.lu/fr/cinemas/23|title=Utopolis.lu - Utopolis Belval|access-date=13 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304214003/http://www.utopolis.lu/fr/cinemas/23|archive-date=4 March 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} and the Rockhal, Luxembourg's biggest concert hall have been made.{{cite web|url=http://www.rockhal.lu/|title=Rockhal: Featured|website=www.rockhal.lu|access-date=13 August 2017}}

The area around the old blast furnaces will host different structures of the University of Luxembourg, many research centres and the national archives.{{Cite web |url=http://www.esch.lu/tourisme/attractions_sites/Pages/site_esch_belval_gb.aspx |title=Site Esch/Belval - esch.lu |access-date=2013-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017153639/http://www.esch.lu/tourisme/attractions_sites/Pages/site_esch_belval_gb.aspx |archive-date=2015-10-17 |url-status=dead }}

Government and politics

=Local=

Esch is governed by its communal council, consisting of 19 councillors. Communal elections take place every 6 years, under a system of proportional representation. Currently the mayor is Christian Weis, of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV). The governing majority on the council consists of the CSV, the DP and The Greens.{{Cite web|url=http://www.esch.lu/laville/viepolitique/Pages/le-conseil-communal.aspx|title=Le Conseil Communal|website=Ville d'Esch-sur-Alzette|access-date=2024-02-13|archive-date=2012-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129215900/http://www.esch.lu/laville/viepolitique/Pages/le-conseil-communal.aspx|url-status=dead}}

class="wikitable"

|+2017 election results{{Cite news|url=http://www.elections.public.lu/fr/elections-communales/2017/resultats/communes/esch-sur-alzette.html|title=Esch-sur-Alzette|access-date=2017-10-31|language=fr}}

! colspan="2" width="300px" |Party

! colspan="2" |Popular vote

! width="50px" |Seats

!Change

style="background-color: {{party color|Christian Social People's Party}}" |G

| valign="top" |Christian Social People's Party (CSV)

|30.87%

|{{percentage bar|30.87

c={{party color|Christian Social People's Party}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| valign="top" |6

|{{Increase}} 2

style="background-color: {{party color|Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party}}" |

| valign="top" |Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP)

|27.86%

|{{percentage bar|27.86

c={{party color|Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| valign="top" |6

|{{Decrease}} 3

style="background-color: {{party color|The Greens (Luxembourg)}}" |G

| valign="top" |The Greens

|13.54%

|{{percentage bar|13.54

c={{party color|The Greens (Luxembourg)}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| valign="top" |3

|{{Increase}} 1

width="5px" style="background-color: {{party color|Democratic Party (Luxembourg)}}" |G

| valign="top" |Democratic Party (DP)

|9.11%

|{{percentage bar|9.11

c={{party color|Democratic Party (Luxembourg)}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| valign="top" |2

|{{Increase}} 1

style="background-color: {{party color|The Left (Luxembourg)}}" |

| valign="top" |The Left

|9.53%

|{{percentage bar|9.53

c={{party color|The Left (Luxembourg)}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| valign="top" |2

|{{Steady}} 0

style="background-color: {{party color|Communist Party of Luxembourg}}" |

|Communist Party of Luxembourg (KPL)

|4.14%

|{{percentage bar|4.14

c={{party color|Communist Party of Luxembourg}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| -

|{{Decrease}} 1

style="background-color: {{party color|Alternative Democratic Reform Party}}" |

|Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR)

|3.29%

|{{percentage bar|3.29

c={{party color|Alternative Democratic Reform Party}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| -

style="background-color: {{party color|Pirate Party Luxembourg}}" |

|Pirate Party of Luxembourg

|1.66%

|{{percentage bar|1.66

c={{party color|Pirate Party Luxembourg}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| -

| valign="top" |Total

| valign="top" |19

class="wikitable"

|+2023 election results{{Cite news|url=http://www.elections.public.lu/fr/elections-communales/2023/resultats/communes/esch-sur-alzette.html|title=Esch-sur-Alzette|access-date=2024-02-13|language=fr}}

! colspan="2" width="300px" |Party

! colspan="2" |Popular vote

! width="50px" |Seats

!Change

style="background-color: {{party color|Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party}}" |

| valign="top" |Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP)

|29.57%

|{{percentage bar|29.57

c={{party color|Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| valign="top" |6

|{{Steady}} 0

style="background-color: {{party color|Christian Social People's Party}}" |G

| valign="top" |Christian Social People's Party (CSV)

|29.55%

|{{percentage bar|29.55

c={{party color|Christian Social People's Party}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| valign="top" |6

|{{Steady}} 0

width="5px" style="background-color: {{party color|Democratic Party (Luxembourg)}}" |G

| valign="top" |Democratic Party (DP)

|10.85%

|{{percentage bar|10.85

c={{party color|Democratic Party (Luxembourg)}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| valign="top" |2

|{{Steady}} 0

style="background-color: {{party color|The Greens (Luxembourg)}}" |G

| valign="top" |The Greens

|9.17%

|{{percentage bar|9.17

c={{party color|The Greens (Luxembourg)}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| valign="top" |2

|{{Decrease}} 1

style="background-color: {{party color|The Left (Luxembourg)}}" |

| valign="top" |The Left

|7.92%

|{{percentage bar|7.92

c={{party color|The Left (Luxembourg)}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| valign="top" |1

|{{Decrease}} 1

style="background-color: {{party color|Alternative Democratic Reform Party}}" |

|Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR)

|5.56%

|{{percentage bar|5.56

c={{party color|Alternative Democratic Reform Party}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| 1

|{{Increase}} 1

style="background-color: {{party color|Pirate Party Luxembourg}}" |

|Pirate Party of Luxembourg

|5.31%

|{{percentage bar|5.31

c={{party color|Pirate Party Luxembourg}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| 1

|{{Increase}} 1

style="background-color: {{party color|Communist Party of Luxembourg}}" |

|Communist Party of Luxembourg (KPL)

|2.08%

|{{percentage bar|2.08

c={{party color|Communist Party of Luxembourg}}|border-color=#c0c0c0|background-color=#f0f0f0}}

| -

| valign="top" |Total

| valign="top" |19

Demographics

{{Historical populations|1821|810|1851|1489|1871|3946|1880|5082|1890|6855|1900|10971|1910|16461|1922|20437|1930|29429|1947|26851|1960|27954|1970|27574|1981|25144|1991|24018|2001|27146|2011|30125|2021|36228|cols=2|align=none|footnote=Source: Le Portail des Statistiques du Luxembourg}}

Places of interest

The Lankelz miniature railway operates on Sunday afternoons and public holidays from May to mid-October.[http://www.visitluxembourg.lu/site_cityspor-en-67.html "Welcome to Esch-sur-Alzette"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722160150/http://www.visitluxembourg.lu/site_cityspor-en-67.html |date=2011-07-22 }}, Luxembourg National Tourist Office. Retrieved 20 February 2011.

Esch is home to the Esch Conservatory of Music.{{cite web |title=Conservatoire de Musique - esch.lu |url=http://www.esch.lu/culture/conservatoire/pages/conservatoire.aspx |access-date=13 January 2020 |date=30 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130165229/http://www.esch.lu/culture/conservatoire/pages/conservatoire.aspx |archive-date=2012-01-30 }}

The city has the longest shopping street in Luxembourg.{{cite web|url=http://www.luxembourg.public.lu/en/visit-luxembourg/shopping-in-luxembourg/index.html|title=Shopping in Luxembourg - Luxembourg.lu - Visit Luxembourg|access-date=13 August 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130912125443/http://www.luxembourg.public.lu/en/visit-luxembourg/shopping-in-luxembourg/index.html|archive-date=12 September 2013}}

Culture

=Film production=

File:VenedEsch2 2001-09.JPG

In 2001, a Luxembourg film production company had depicted a 40,000 m² and 15 meter high backdrop built for the feature film Secret Passage with John Turturro on the Terre Rouge, a site of a former steelwork in Esch-sur Alzette. The filmset represents the contemporary Venice of the 16th century with a 600 meter long copy of the Grand Canal and 118 house facades. The "Venice-sur-Alzette" was built for around 5 million Euro and was one of the largest open-air film sets in European film history.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fMJkv6ZHdI|title=Das Mädchen mit dem Perlenohrring - Venedig Filmkulisse|via=www.youtube.com}}

Between 2001 and 2007 many film productions used the gigantic filmset. Among others the feature films The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino and The Girl with the Pearl Earring with Scarlett Johansson were shot in Esch. In the summer of 2007, the filmset was torn down because the weather was affecting the buildings.

=European Capital of Culture for 2022=

The city of Esch-sur-Alzette was selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2022, alongside Kaunas and Novi Sad.{{cite web|title=European Capitals of Culture|url=https://culture.ec.europa.eu/policies/culture-in-cities-and-regions/european-capitals-of-culture|access-date=2022-05-08}}

Transport

File:Esch-sur-Alzette railway station 2025-04 --2.jpg]]

Esch is connected by the bus lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 15, and 17 of the communal public transport company T.I.C.E{{Cite web|url=http://www.tice.lu/index.php?option=com_chronocontact&Itemid=66|title=Linien und Fahrpläne (Gültig ab 5. Dezember)|website=www.tice.lu|access-date=2016-12-06}} (transports intercommunales du canton Esch/Alzette, intercommunal transportation of the canton Esch/Alzette), their maintenance depot and headquarter is situated in Esch, and Esch also is connected by lines 307, 312, 313 and 314 of the R.G.T.R.{{Cite news|url=http://www.mobiliteit.lu/se-deplacer/horaires-et-reseaux/bus?field_zone_geographique_value=luxembourg&field_operateurs_value=operateur_rgtr&keys=|title=Bus|newspaper=Mobilitéitszentral|access-date=2016-12-06}}File:Jeunesse Stadion 1.jpg]]

Notable people

File:René Deltgen, “Das Mädchen Johanna”, 1935.jpg, 1935]]

File:Victor Thorn (1844-1930).png]]

François Biltgen (born 1958), politician, Minister for Justice and judge at the European Court of Justice
Dominique Brasseur (1833–1906), politician and jurist, Mayor of Luxembourg City 1891/1894.
René Deltgen (1909–1979), stage and film actor
Jean Ellis (1946–2006), emergency department physician and climber
Camillo Felgen (1920–2005), singer, lyricist, disc jockey & TV presenter
Fernand Franck (born 1934), prelate of the Catholic Church & Archbishop of Luxembourg, 1990/2011.
Luc Frieden (born 1963), politician and lawyer, 25th Prime Minister of Luxembourg
Gust Graas (1924–2020), abstract painter and businessman, helped develop radio and television group RTL.
Pierre Gramegna (born 1958), career diplomat and politician
Émile Hamilius (1897–1971), footballer, politician & Mayor of Luxembourg City, 1946/1963
Paul Helminger (1940–2021), politician who was Mayor of Luxembourg City, 1999/2011
William Justin Kroll (1889–1973), metallurgist, invented the Kroll process in 1940
Gérard López (born 1971), Luxembourgish-Spanish businessman
Karin Monschauer (born 1960), embroiderer and digital artist
Désirée Nosbusch (born 1965), actress and TV presenter.
Viviane Reding (born 1951), politician, MEP, European Commissioner & Vice-president of the European Commission
Maggy Stein (1931–1999), sculptor, died locally
Victor Thorn (1844–1930), politician & the 11th Prime Minister of Luxembourg, 1916/1917.
Steve Thull (born 1967), Army general & Chief of Defence (Luxembourg)

= Sport =

Gilles Bettmer (born 1989), footballer with over 240 games and 58 for Luxembourg
Mandy Minella (born 1985), former tennis player, now Member of Parliament
Louis Pilot (1940–2016), footballer and manager, played over 450 games and 49 for Luxembourg

Twin towns — sister cities

Esch-sur-Alzette is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Affaires Internationales|url=https://administration.esch.lu/affaires-internationales/|website=esch.lu|publisher=Esch-sur-Alzette|language=fr|access-date=2019-09-03}}

{{flagicon|POR}} Coimbra, Portugal
{{flagicon|GER}} Cologne, Germany
{{flagicon|BEL}} Liège, Belgium
{{flagicon|FRA}} Lille, France
{{flagicon|AUT}} Mödling, Austria
{{flagicon|GER}} Offenbach am Main, Germany
{{flagicon|FRA}} Puteaux, France
{{flagicon|NED}} Rotterdam, Netherlands
{{flagicon|ITA}} Turin, Italy
{{flagicon|ITA}} Velletri, Italy
{{flagicon|SRB}} Zemun, Serbia
{{flagicon|UKR}} Stryi, Ukraine

References

External links

{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.esch.lu/ Official website of the town of Esch-sur-Alzette]
[http://www.eschalzette.com/ A large private collection of pictures of the town and its surroundings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621055341/http://www.eschalzette.com/ |date=2008-06-21 }} — articles in German, French and Luxembourgish
[http://HoloGuides.com/cities/Esch_Alzette_LU/ HoloGuides : Esch/Alzette - photos, events, etc.]
[http://www.feats.org/archive/news/news1299.htm FEATS Newsletter, December 1999] - discusses quite a few matters relating to Esch

{{Geographic location

|Centre = Esch-sur-Alzette

|N = Mondercange

|E = Schifflange
Kayl

|SE = Rumelange

|SW = Audun-le-Tiche (FR-57)

|W = Russange (FR-57)

|NW = Sanem

}}

Category:Alzette

Category:Cities in Luxembourg

Category:Communes in Esch-sur-Alzette (canton)

Category:Towns in Luxembourg