Luxembourg City In Brief

Thursday 13 Oct Schedule in the city of Luxembourg:
Arrival @ 9:38; Departure @ 14:10
There are plenty of good photo opportunities, especially around the valley that runs through the city, but no regrets over such a hasty departure.

Diekirch

Before moving on to the capital, it’s worth mentioning Diekirch, even if it was mostly just a place to sleep for two nights. The only reason anyone may have heard of it is on account of Diekirch beer, which was successful enough to be acquired by AB InBev. Just seven thousand people live in the town though, and the only points of interest are a comical statue and a small war museum. Still, abundant public transit and a central location make it ideal for visiting both the northern parts of Luxembourg and for onward travel to the capital.

You never know where you’re going to find a fountain of coins.

When in ~~Rome~~ Germanic regions, drink Apfelschorle (essentially sparkling apple juice).

Kniddelen (Knödel elsewhere) is Luxembourg’s version of the dumplings found all over this region of Europe. It may not look so appetizing, but the cream sauce and a kick of salt from the speck gave it a good balance of flavors. It’s heavy, but perfect after the long day at Vianden and Mullerthal.

World’s Largest Train Station – Bye, Diekirch!

Hearty bread for the train from a patisserie/convenience-store combo that was worth visiting two days in a row

Though public transit is now free, it’s clear from the worn curtain, yellowing plastics, and the “non-reserved seating” signs that the trains are from an era when one could still reserve a seat.

Luxembourg (City)

Disclaimer: What’s written here comes from a small amount of reading online, a two hour walking tour, and a general impression from a two days in the country. There really wasn’t time for anything other than coffee, the tour, and heading back to the station on this visit to the capital.

It’s certainly a unique place in a lot of respects, and that helps to make it confusing for an outsider on a brief visit. For starters, nearly 50% of the population is foreign born, with the greatest number coming from Portugal. French is used the most in the city, but the country’s other two languages, German and Luxembourgish, itself a mix of French, Dutch, and German, are also present. The French doesn’t quite sound French, nor does the German sound entirely German. The locals learn to navigate it, but trying to figure out whether to use broken bits of another language or to engage in English is a constant struggle. The latter was often received with a blank stare.

Ironically, their motto is “Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn,” which should be comprehensible as “We want to remain what we are” to anyone who can read Dutch or German. The thing is, no one knows exactly what they are. It’s such a melting pot that a national identity is clearly hard to come by, and probably means something different to people from one area to the next. The tour guide quipped that, “We take what we like from the cultures around us and call it Luxembourgish.”

It all made sense from the unusually thorough history lesson that the guide gave. The territory has been passed back and forth so many times that it’ll make your head spin trying to keep track of it. It was once four times larger, with a portion of the old territory making up the province of Luxembourg in present-day Belgium. It’s been the property of the Netherlands, occupied by Nazi Germany, and under Hapsburg rule both before and after the split into Spanish and Austro-Hungarian branches. They only achieved full independence in 1867.

The history also provides stark contrasts in architecture. While there are many wonderful views, some of the Austrian-influenced buildings stir as much emotion as a well-designed bank building. That comes down to personal preference, but unless one appreciates every style and era of European architecture, one section or another will be received with, “Eh, it’s impressive, but I can’t say I love it.”

Among the most impressive features of the city are the fortifications. The city was once considered impenetrable, with several lines of defense ranging from a ring of defensive forts to a 14-mile tunnel system extending 130 feet under the city that’s complete with everything needed to endure a months-long siege. Sadly, as a condition of one of the political transitions, the city had to agree to destroy most of the fortifications. It was considered too much of a strategic threat to let it exist as a part of a neighboring state.

Photo Tour

Here’s the mad dash through the city in four hours through fifty photos. Enjoy!

The main road between the north and south sections of the city, complete with a tram

One last snack brought along from Diekirch for the walk: a surprisingly light and crispy apple pastry

This is one of several bridges connecting the south, where the train station is, to the north where most of the historical buildings are located. The valley below makes many appearances in the photo series on account of the trees providing such wonderful contrast with the stone.

This leads into the valley and apparently is one of the access points for a small section of the tunnels that tourists can visit.

Monument of Dicks and Lentz – a tribute to two national poets

The Luxembourgish flags between those from the EU are a historical accident. At some point, the territory, while still under Dutch rule, needed a flag for official purposes. They just used a version of the Dutch flags with slightly lighter colors. The guide pointed out an alternative flag elsewhere in the city with blue/white stripes and a lion that is used mainly by ships to avoid confusion with Dutch vessels. Political efforts to make it the official flag have so far been unsuccessful.

The guide seemed very unhappy about this endless construction. A historical site was found while doing renovations, so things are a bit of a mess between research, preservation, and work crews.

A changing of the guard at the Ducal Palace

A church mostly destroyed by Louis XIV’s invasion, then rebuilt and marked with his fleur-de-lis

An original section of the tower still has a cannonball embedded in it as a gift from Louis. Look for a bump on the left side of the tower, located just above the roof that’s visible in the background.

Using a bit of imagination and knowledge of German and Dutch, it’s clear that this means “I’m hungry” in Luxembourgish

This bridge apparently replaced a drawbridge leading to a castle that was destroyed while removing fortifications. Where there was once a castle, it’s now just a viewing platform.

This is still close to the castle-site, but the remnants of a tower aren’t even original. Some of the old debris was used to put up this structure for tourists.

The modern bridge in the distance connects to the business center on the east side of the valley (not visited/depicted in this series) that includes an EU Parliament office, investment banks, and the European headquarters for many international firms.

Kaddish Monument – a memorial to the Jewish Luxembourgers who were victims of Nazi Germany; there was once a concentration camp in the north of the country, but they chose to destroy it completely

*not* an advertisement for Volkswagen; proximity to the last photo is coincidental based on chronology

Leaving Luxembourg

From Luxembourg, it was back to Belgium for one night to see Dinant (depicted below), into the Netherlands for a few nights in Rotterdam, and finally to Antwerp (present location in Belgium). That’s still around five days to cover, but the solo portion of the journey will come to an end on Friday with a night train from Brussels to Zürich.