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 in the south-west of the country, on the border with France and in the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

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 Esch-sur-Sûre ( lb, Esch-Sauer, , german: Esch-Sauer ) 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. At one point it was the second smallest commune by ar ...

which lies further north. The country's capital,

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 G ...

, is roughly to the north-east. Esch was selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2022, alongside

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Tra ...

and

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...

History

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. 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. 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. 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 and the Rockhal, Luxembourg's biggest concert hall. The area around the old blast furnaces will host different structures of the University of Luxembourg, many research centres and the national archives.

Places of interest

The Lankelz miniature railway operates on Sunday afternoons and public holidays from May to mid-October. Esch is home to the Conservatoire de Musique. The city has the longest shopping street in Luxembourg.

Population

Government and politics

Local

Esch is governed by its communal council, consisting of 19 councillors. Elections take place to this body every 6 years, under a system of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. Currently the mayor is Vera Spautz, of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP). The governing majority on the council consists of the LSAP and The Greens. 'G' denotes parties that went on to form the governing majority. ; 2017 elections The most recent elections were held on 8 October 2017; the results are listed below. After the elections, a coalition agreement was signed between 3 parties, the CSV, the Greens, and the DP, who will form the new governing majority on the council. The designated new mayor is Tom Schlesser of Dei Lénk.

Culture

Film production

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 Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

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. Between 2001 and 2007 many film productions used the gigantic filmset. Among others the feature films

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

with

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Al Pacino, numerous accolades: including an Aca ...

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

and

Notable people

Jean Ellis Dr. Jean Ellis (November 23, 1946 – May 15, 2006) was an emergency department physician who practiced the latter part of his career at St. Vincent Healthcare located in Billings, Montana, and was nationally known for his accomplishments as a cl ...

(1946–2006), emergency department physician and climber * Maggy Stein (1931- 1999), sculptor

Transport

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 (''tramways intercommunales du canton Esch/Alzette'', intercommunal tramway of the canton Esch/Alzette), which maintenance depot and headquarter is situated in Esch, and by lines 307, 312, 313 and 314 of the R.G.T.R. Jeunesse Stadion 1

Twin towns — sister cities

Esch-sur-Alzette is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

, Portugal *

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Germany * Liège, Belgium *

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...

, France * Mödling, Austria * Offenbach am Main, Germany * Puteaux, France *

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands *

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

, Italy * Velletri, Italy * Zemun, Serbia * Stryi, Ukraine

References

External links

*
Official website of the town of Esch-sur-Alzette

A large private collection of pictures of the town and its surroundings
— ''articles in German, French and Luxembourgish''
HoloGuides : Esch/Alzette - photos, events, etc.

- discusses quite a few matters relating to Esch {{DEFAULTSORT:Esch-Sur-Alzette Alzette Cities in Luxembourg Communes in Esch-sur-Alzette (canton) Towns in Luxembourg