Athus (german: Athem, lb, Attem, wa, Atu) is a part of Aubange city
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...
and a
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...
of the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
of
Aubange
Aubange (; german: Ibingen; lb, Éibeng; wa, Åbindje) is a municipality and city of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium.
On 1 January 2012 the municipality, which covers 45.6 km2, had 16,042 inhabitants, giving a p ...
, located in the
province of Luxembourg
Luxembourg (french: Luxembourg ; nl, Luxemburg ; german: Luxemburg ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; wa, Lussimbork), also called Belgian Luxembourg, is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the country of Luxembourg to the e ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
.
It is located in the far south of the country, just near the borders with France and
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. It is a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
speaking city, though the traditional language is
Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.
As a standard form of th ...
. The poet and novelist
Hubert Juin
Hubert Juin, pseudonym for Hubert Loescher, (5 June 1926 – 3 June 1987) was a Francophone Belgian poet, novelist, essayist and literary critic.
Works (selection) Novels
*1978: ''Les Hameaux'' Verviers, Marabout, (with a preface by André Dh ...
(1926–1987) was born in Athus.
The city was famous during the 19th and 20th century because of its steelworks factory which closed in the 1970s.
Geography
The city is surrounded by two boundaries: the one with France and the other one with Luxembourg; city was built around the
Messancy river and the river
Chiers
The Chiers (; lb, Kuer, german: Korn) is a river in Luxembourg, Belgium and France. It is a right tributary of the Meuse. The total length of the Chiers is aproxamately , of which in France.
The source of the Chiers is near Differdange, i ...
, both right tributaries to the
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...
. Directly across the border with Luxembourg is the town of
Rodange
Rodange (german: Rodingen) is a town in the commune of Pétange, in south-western Luxembourg. It lies next to the border with Belgium, across which is the town of Athus. The town is to the south-west of the town of Pétange and to the west o ...
and the town of
Pétange
Pétange (; lb, Péiteng, ; german: Petingen) is a commune and town in south-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette. Pétange lies on the borders with both Belgium and France.
, the town of Pétange, which lies in t ...
is to the east. On the French side, the main neighbouring city is
Longwy
Longwy (; older german: Langich, ; lb, label= Luxemburgish, Lonkech) is a commune in the French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France.
The inhabitants are known as ''Longoviciens'' ...
in
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.[Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...]
, 25 from
Luxembourg City
Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...
and 15 from
Arlon
Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...
.
History
Athus has always been a
Germanic place though its first origins are during the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
period. It was a little village until the 17th century when the
steelworks
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finis ...
began to develop in the whole region. It was during the 19th century that Athus started to become relatively famous in the neighborhood and especially in 1872 when the first steel factory was founded.
At the same time, in 1878, Athus also became an independent
commune until the reorganization of the 1970s, when it was merged with the surrounding communes to create the enlarged municipality of
Aubange
Aubange (; german: Ibingen; lb, Éibeng; wa, Åbindje) is a municipality and city of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium.
On 1 January 2012 the municipality, which covers 45.6 km2, had 16,042 inhabitants, giving a p ...
on 1 January 1977. But 1977 was a tragic year for the city because the factory closed its doors due to the iron and steel crisis of that moment. At that time, the city was at the top of its fame and of its number of inhabitants which reached approximately 7,500. That event led to a social and economic crisis for the city and the whole region which is not yet totally solved today. But Athus is still the biggest locality of the municipality of Aubange, and the most important because many services are still there; (the
townhall
Townhall is an American politically conservative website, print magazine and radio news service. Previously published by The Heritage Foundation, it is now owned and operated by Salem Communications. The website features more than 80 columns (b ...
, the main schools, the main bus lines stops and train station, the police station or the firehouse are examples.)
Steelworks
The steelworks in Athus was founded in 1872 as the company ''Société des Hauts Fourneaux d'Athus'', a
blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheri ...
was constructed and in 1880 a
steelworks
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finis ...
. In 1882, the company became ''Société des Hauts Fourneaux et Aciéries d'Athus''; by 1914 there were four blast furnaces, and by 1928 five. In 1927 merger with the '' S.A. des Aciéries d'Angleur et des Charbonnages belges de Tilleu'' formed ''
S.A. d´Angleur-Athus''. In 1945 the company was taken over by the ''
Société anonyme John Cockerill
Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA.
Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...
''. Production continued until the steel works at Athus was merged with the ''
Minière et Métallurgique de Rodange
The Minière et Métallurgique de Rodange (MMR) (mines and steelworks of Rodange) was a Luxembourgian blast furnace steel producer and mining company originally established in 1872 as the Hauts-Fourneaux de Rodange. From 1905 to 1935 the company wa ...
'' (MMR) in 1973; restructuring as a result of the
Steel crisis of the
1973–75 recession led to the complete closure of the plant in Athus in the late 1970s.
The site of the plant is now a rail-served
container terminal
A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...
which deals with containers from the ports of the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
to the interior of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and Belgium.
Demographics
Athus had a population of 7227 inhabitants in January 2012.
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Transportation
Athus has a railway station, which connects it to other stations in the
Belgian railway network and to those of Luxembourg and France. It is connected hourly to
Luxembourg City
Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...
and
Esch-sur-Alzette
Esch-sur-Alzette (; lb, Esch-Uelzecht ; german: Esch an der Alzette or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is the second city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the country's second-most populous commune, with a population of 35,040 inhabitants, . It lies ...
for the Luxembourgish part, and also hourly to
Arlon
Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...
,
Libramont and
Virton
Virton (; Gaumais: ''Viertån''; wa, Vierton) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. It is also the administrative centre of the district (''arrondissement'') of the same name, as well as the pr ...
on the Belgian routes. This railway route hosts cargo trains as well as passenger trains and has been operating for a number of years.
The city is situated just 10 kilometres south of European highway E 411/E42 between Luxembourg and Brussels.
Culture
Museums
Athus has two museums:
* ''Athus et l'acier'' (Athus and Steel), which is about the history of the steelworks and the factory of the city.
* ''L'Univers des pompiers'' (
fr) (The Fireman's World), which is about
firemen
A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...
.
Religion
Athus is
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, though today there is a very limited number of people who go to church. The church is dedicated to
Saint Stephen
Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...
and was built in 1833.
Pictures
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Coord, 49, 33, 48, N, 5, 50, 16, E, region:BE_type:city, display=title
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Belgium–Luxembourg border crossings
Former municipalities of Luxembourg (Belgium)
Aubange