Ettelbruck
Encyclopedia
Communes of Luxembourg
The communes of Luxembourg are the lowest nation-wide administrative division in Luxembourg. They conform to LAU level 2.Within the hierarchy of administrative subdivisions, communes come directly below cantons, which are directly below districts. Communes are often re-arranged, being merged or...
with city status in central Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, with a population of approximately 7,500. As of 2005, the town of Ettelbruck itself, which lies in the east of the commune, has a population of 6,191. The town of Warken
Warken
Warken is a town in the commune of Ettelbruck, in central Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 1,670 and lies near the Wark River. Warken is a part of Ettelbruck and is split in five departments: Cité Bourschterbach, Cité Warkdall, Cité Breechen. rue de Welscheid and rue de Buerden....
and Grentzingen are also within the commune. Until 1850, both Erpeldange
Erpeldange
Erpeldange is a commune and small town in north-eastern Luxembourg. It lies along the river Sauer, between Ettelbruck and Diekirch. It is part of the canton of Diekirch, which is part of the district of Diekirch....
Schieren
Schieren
Schieren is a commune and town in central Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Diekirch, which is part of the district of Diekirch., the town of Schieren, which lies in the west of the commune, has a population of 1,358....
were part of the Ettelbruck commune as well, but both towns were detached from Ettelbruck by law on 1 July 1850.
Government
Ettelbruck is one of the 12 communesCommunes of Luxembourg
The communes of Luxembourg are the lowest nation-wide administrative division in Luxembourg. They conform to LAU level 2.Within the hierarchy of administrative subdivisions, communes come directly below cantons, which are directly below districts. Communes are often re-arranged, being merged or...
of the canton of Diekirch
Diekirch (canton)
Diekirch is a canton in Luxembourg in Diekirch District, consisting of 12 communes:*Bettendorf*Bourscheid*Diekirch*Ermsdorf*Erpeldange*Ettelbruck*Feulen*Hoscheid*Medernach*Mertzig*Reisdorf*Schieren...
, which is part of the district of Diekirch
Diekirch (district)
The District of Diekirch is one of three districts of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It contains 5 cantons divided into 43 communes:#Clervaux#*Clervaux#*Consthum#*Heinerscheid#*Hosingen#*Munshausen#*Troisvierges#*Weiswampach#*Wincrange#Diekirch...
. Governmentally, the Ettelbruck communal council
Ettelbruck communal council
Ettelbruck communal council is the local council for the commune of Ettelbruck, in central Luxembourg.It consists of thirteen members, elected every six years by proportional representation. The last elections were held on 9 October 2005, and resulted in a victory for the Christian Social...
serves as the commune's local council
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
. The council consists of thirteen members, elected every six years.
Origin of Name
Ettelbruck's name dates back to the invasion of the Low CountriesLow Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
by Attila the Hun
Attila the Hun
Attila , more frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from the Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. During his reign he was one of the most feared...
in 451 AD. Attila and his army built a bridge (a"Bruck") and crossed the Alzette
Alzette
The Alzette is a river with a length of 73 kilometers in France and Luxembourg. It is a right tributary of the Sauer.It rises in Thil near the town Villerupt in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département, France. It crosses the border with Luxembourg after a few kilometres. In Lameschmillen it is joined...
river near Schieren
Schieren
Schieren is a commune and town in central Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Diekirch, which is part of the district of Diekirch., the town of Schieren, which lies in the west of the commune, has a population of 1,358....
. The local language variant of Attila's name was "Ettel" so the bridge became known as the location of Attila's bridge, or "Ettelbruck."
Transportation Center
Ettelbruck lies at the exact spot where three rivers meet: the SauerSauer
The Sauer or Sûre is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the river Moselle, its total length is 173 km....
, the Wark and the Alzette
Alzette
The Alzette is a river with a length of 73 kilometers in France and Luxembourg. It is a right tributary of the Sauer.It rises in Thil near the town Villerupt in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département, France. It crosses the border with Luxembourg after a few kilometres. In Lameschmillen it is joined...
. This location has historically made Ettelbruck a major transportation hub for the country second only to Luxembourg City.
Ettelbruck serves as a junction
Junction (rail)
A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...
, where the line to Diekirch
Diekirch
Diekirch is a commune with city status in north-eastern Luxembourg, capital city of the canton Diekirch and the district of Diekirch. The city is situated on the banks of the Sauer river....
branches off the main line Luxembourg
Luxembourg (city)
The city of Luxembourg , also known as Luxembourg City , is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg...
- Liège. state-owned railway company. The station is on Line 10, which connects Luxembourg City to central and northern Luxembourg towards Gouvy
Gouvy
Gouvy is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg.On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers 165.11 km², had 4,780 inhabitants, giving a population density of 29 inhabitants per km²....
and Wiltz
Wiltz
Wiltz is a commune with city status in north-western Luxembourg, capital of the canton Wiltz. Wiltz is situated on the banks of the river Wiltz. It was also a battleground in the Battle of the Bulge, near the end of World War II...
, with a branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
connecting to Diekirch
Diekirch
Diekirch is a commune with city status in north-eastern Luxembourg, capital city of the canton Diekirch and the district of Diekirch. The city is situated on the banks of the Sauer river....
.
The A7 Motorway, known as the Motorway of the North, runs through Ettelbruck.
Educational and Medical Facilities
Ettelbruck is an educational center for the north of the country. It is home to the St. Anne Girls' Boarding School (founded in 1852) and the State Agricultural School (founded in 1883). Ettelbruck is also the location of the vocational school of Lycée Technique Ettelbruck.Ettelbruck is also a medical center for northern Luxembourg, as it is home to the Central Hospice (founded in 1855) which is now the location of the Ettelbruck Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital (in French, CHNP = Centre Hospitalier Neuro-Psychiatrique) with approximately 500 beds. Lucien Wercollier
Lucien Wercollier
Lucien Wercollier was a sculptor from Luxembourg.While he worked primarily in bronze and marble, some of his work is sculpted in wood, alabaster, stone and onyx. His public monuments in bronze and marble are of particular importance...
's marble sculpture La Vague ("The Wave") is located in Ettelbruck on the grounds of the CHNP.
The New Saint Louis Hospital was renovated and reopened as a state of the art medical facility in 2003 on the site of the earlier Charles Marx Clinic and Saint Louis Clinic. The original clinic was founded by Dr. Charles Marx
Charles Marx
Louis Charles Marx was a Luxembourgian politician for the Communist Party of Luxembourg. He was a physician by profession, and fought for the French Resistance during the Second World War....
in 1936. The Saint Louis Clinic became a point of resistance preceding the Nazi occupation, when its founder Charles Marx treated downed French airmen (including the future general Marcel-Pierre Faure) in April, 1940. Following the occupation of Luxembourg, Marx fled to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Following the Nazi occupation, Marx was arrested and jailed for treating the airmen. In 1946, following liberation and Marx's accidental death in that year, the clinic was renamed as the Charles Marx Clinic to honor him. In 1963, the clinic was renamed the New Saint Louis Clinic when it was revamped and modernized, becoming the New Saint Louis Hospital in 2003.
World War II Occupation and Liberation
Nazi Germany occupied Ettelbruck on May 10, 1940.US forces first liberated the town on September 11, 1944, but Germany retook the town on December 16, 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
. US General George S. Patton
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
on Christmas Day, December 25, 1944 led US troops in the final liberation Ettelbruck from Nazi occupation. One of Ettelbruck's main squares is named Patton Square, and is located at the exact spot where the German offensive into Luxembourg's Alzette Valley was stopped, ending its attempt to reoccupy the country as a whole. Since 1954, the town has held a Remembrance Day celebration each July honoring General Patton and the US, British, French, Belgian and Luxembourgish troops who fought with him there.
Notable Sites
The General George S. PattonGeorge S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
Memorial Museum is located in the town honoring the general who The museum exhibits photographs, uniforms (both military and prison camp), weapons and documents from the period of German occupation of Luxembourg (May 1940 to September 1944). The museum was opened on July 7, 1995, and represents a main tourist attraction in the town.
The Ettelbruck parish church—D' Kierch Ettelbréck—is a decagonal structure. Restored in 1849, the church contains tombstones dating as far back to the 15th century.
Sport
Ettelbruck since 1917 has been the home of the football team FC Etzella EttelbruckFC Etzella Ettelbruck
Football Club Etzella Ettelbruck, abbreviated to either FC Etzella or Etzella Ettelbruck, is a football club, based in Ettelbruck, in north-eastern Luxembourg.-History:...
. The team plays in Ettelbruck's football stadium Stade Am Deich
Stade Am Deich
Stade Am Deich is a football stadium in Ettelbruck, in central Luxembourg. It is currently the home stadium of FC Etzella Ettelbruck. The stadium has a capacity of about 2,020.-References:*...
which has capacity of about 2,000.
Ons Heemecht
Ons Heemecht ("Our Homeland"), the national anthem of Luxembourg, was first sung publicly in Ettelbruck on June 5, 1864. Both the AlzetteAlzette
The Alzette is a river with a length of 73 kilometers in France and Luxembourg. It is a right tributary of the Sauer.It rises in Thil near the town Villerupt in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département, France. It crosses the border with Luxembourg after a few kilometres. In Lameschmillen it is joined...
and Sauer
Sauer
The Sauer or Sûre is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the river Moselle, its total length is 173 km....
rivers are named in the song, and since Ettelbruck is located at the point where they both meet, the location was appropriate for its public introduction.
Notable Ettelbruckers
- François DiederichFrançois DiederichProfessor François Diederich is a Luxembourgian chemist specialising in organic chemistry. He obtained both his diploma and PhD from the University of Heidelberg in 1977 and 1979, respectively. After postdoctoral studies with Prof...
, chemist - Charles GoerensCharles GoerensCharles Goerens is a politician from Luxembourg.He studied agricultural science before he was first elected to the northern district constituency as a member of the Democratic Party in 1979...
former Luxembourg cabinet member and member of the European ParliamentEuropean ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
from 1982 to 1984, and again from 1994 to 1999. - Pierre JorisPierre JorisPierre Joris, born in Strasbourg, France in 1946 and raised in Ettelbruck, Luxembourg, is a poet and translator. He left Luxembourg at nineteen and since then has lived in the US, Great Britain, North Africa and France...
(born in Strasbourg, France, raised in Ettelbruck), poet and translator - Charles MarxCharles MarxLouis Charles Marx was a Luxembourgian politician for the Communist Party of Luxembourg. He was a physician by profession, and fought for the French Resistance during the Second World War....
, physician and WWII resistance leader - Monique MelsenMonique MelsenMonique Melsen is a Luxembourgian singer, best known for her participation in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest...
, singer - Bady MinckBady MinckBady Minck is a filmmaker, film producer and artist. She studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts and experimental film at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Her work has been screened at international film festivals and exhibited at museums like the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
, filmmaker - Ernest MühlenErnest MühlenErnest Mühlen is a retired Luxembourgian politician for the Christian Social People's Party, economist, and financial journalist. He won a place on Luxembourg City's communal council in 1973. He was a government minister under Pierre Werner, in the early 1980s, before sitting in the European...
, politician and representative to the European Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopmentEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopmentFounded in 1991, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development uses the tools of investment to help build market economies and democracies in 30 countries from central Europe to central Asia. Its mission was to support the formerly communist countries in the process of establishing their...
(1991–1996). - Marco SchankMarco SchankMarco Schank is a Luxembourgian politician for the Christian Social People's Party and author. He is a member of the national legislature, the Chamber of Deputies, representing the Nord constituency since 2 February 1999.He has been the mayor of Heiderscheid since 1 January 1994...
, politician and author - Lucien WeilerLucien WeilerLucien Weiler is a Luxembourgian politician and jurist. He is a member of the Christian Social People's Party, and served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 3 August 2004 to 7 June 2009...
, politician - Ni XialianNi XialianNi Xialian is a female Chinese-born table tennis player who now represents Luxembourg. She was born in Shanghai, and resides in Ettelbruck.She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, reaching the third round of the singles competition....
, table tennis player - Georges Barthelme, doctor
External links
- http://homepage.internet.lu/marc.hirt/info/ettelbruck.htm
- http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/NMMH/patton.html
- http://www.ettelbruck.lu/fr/accueil In French