Esch-sur-Alzette
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Esch-sur-Alzette seen from Gaalgebierg Park
City Hall
Rue de l'Hôpital and St. Joseph's Church
Rue de l'Alzette
Belval Campus
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Coat of arms | |
Map of Luxembourg with Esch-sur-Alzette highlighted in orange, and the canton in dark red
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| Coordinates: 49°29′49″N 5°58′50″E / 49.4969°N 5.9806°E / 49.4969; 5.9806 | |
| Country |  Luxembourg |
| Canton | Esch-sur-Alzette |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Christian Weis (CSV) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 14.35 km2 (5.54 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 81st of 100 |
| Highest elevation | 426 m (1,398 ft) |
| • Rank | 32nd of 100 |
| Lowest elevation | 279 m (915 ft) |
| • Rank | 84th of 100 |
| Population
(2023)
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| • Total | 36,625 |
| • Rank | 2nd of 100 |
| • Density | 2,600/km2 (6,600/sq mi) |
| • Rank | 1st of 100 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| LAU 2 | LU0000204 |
| Website | esch.lu |
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| Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
Esch-sur-Alzette (French: [ɛʃ syʁ alzɛt]; Luxembourgish: Esch-Uelzecht [ˌæʒ ˈuəltsəɕt] ⓘ; German: Esch an der Alzette [ˈɛʃ ʔan deːɐ̯ ʔalˈzɛt]orEsch an der Alzig) is a city in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the country's second-most populous commune, with a population of 36,625 inhabitants, as of 2023[update]. 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 45 kilometres (28 miles) further north. The country's capital, Luxembourg City, is roughly 15 km (9.3 mi) to the north-east. Esch was selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2022, alongside Kaunas and Novi Sad.
The town was mentioned for the first time in 12 April 1128 in a message for Pope Honorius II.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]
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.[3] The blast furnaces were replaced by an electric furnace that is fed with scrap metal rather than iron ore.[4]
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[5] and the Rockhal, Luxembourg's biggest concert hall.[6]
The area around the old blast furnaces will host different structures of the University of Luxembourg, many research centres and the national archives.[7]
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.[8]
| Party | Popular vote | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Christian Social People's Party (CSV) | 30.87% |
|
6 |  2 |
| Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) | 27.86% |
|
6 |  3 | |
| G | The Greens | 13.54% |
|
3 | 1 |
| G | Democratic Party (DP) | 9.11% |
|
2 | 1 |
| The Left | 9.53% |
|
2 |  0
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| Communist Party of Luxembourg (KPL) | 4.14% |
|
- | 1 | |
| Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) | 3.29% |
|
- | ||
| Pirate Party of Luxembourg | 1.66% |
|
- | ||
| Total | 19 | ||||
| Party | Popular vote | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) | 29.57% |
|
6 | 0
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| G | Christian Social People's Party (CSV) | 29.55% |
|
6 | 0
|
| G | Democratic Party (DP) | 10.85% |
|
2 | 0
|
| G | The Greens | 9.17% |
|
2 | 1 |
| The Left | 7.92% |
|
1 | 1 | |
| Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) | 5.56% |
|
1 | 1 | |
| Pirate Party of Luxembourg | 5.31% |
|
1 | 1 | |
| Communist Party of Luxembourg (KPL) | 2.08% |
|
- | ||
| Total | 19 | ||||
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Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
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The Lankelz miniature railway operates on Sunday afternoons and public holidays from May to mid-October.[12]
Esch is home to the Conservatoire de Musique.[13]
The city has the longest shopping street in Luxembourg.[14]
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.[15]
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.
The city of Esch-sur-Alzette was selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2022, alongside Kaunas and Novi Sad.[16]
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[17] (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.[18]
Esch-sur-Alzette is twinned with:[19]
Coimbra, Portugal
Cologne, Germany
Liège, Belgium
Lille, France
Mödling, Austria Offenbach am Main, Germany Puteaux, France
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Turin, Italy Velletri, Italy
Zemun, Serbia
Stryi, Ukraine
Places adjacent to Esch-sur-Alzette
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