An empty bottle of beer: Not much more is left of Luxembourg’s mighty steel industry. The bottle lies in an iron ore cart in the Fond-de-Gras open-air museum, carelessly disposed of and forgotten, like the history of the region. “Nobody was interested in our industrial culture for a long time,” says Frédéric Humbel, the museum’s director. “Most people think of the financial sector when it comes to Luxembourg. We were an industrial region for a very long time, just like the Ruhr area.”
The historical legacy is still alive in Fond-de-Gras. The 20 tunnels were closed in the 1960s. The associated workers’ village can still be visited today, with brick buildings, electricity generators, a corner shop and a fully functional train station. In summer the “Train 1900”, a steam locomotive that used to transport iron ore, stops here. Today volunteers take care of the locomotive. A completely different, but no less valuable cargo is now being transported: tourists.
The blast furnaces, steel factories and mines are revitalized with concerts, exhibitions and dancing
The open-air museum is part of “Esch 2022”, the border region between Luxembourg and France, which the EU has chosen to be the cultural capital of 2022. Esch, named after the second largest Luxembourg city Esch-sur-Alzette, wants to celebrate the change from an industrial juggernaut to a location for culture and knowledge. The old blast furnaces, steel factories and iron ore mines are to be filled with new life through concerts, exhibitions and dancing.
Iron ore used to be transported, today tourists: the “Train 1900” in Fond-de-Gras.
(Photo: Marc Lazzarini)
19 municipalities on the Luxembourg and French sides have set up a joint program for the year of culture. In the region, where around 200,000 people from 120 nations live, they want to celebrate diversity and change – “Remix Culture” is what the planners call it. Employees at the Fond-de-Gras open-air museum are currently converting an old train wagon into a comfortable holiday home. Up to six people should be able to sleep here once when the cultural program starts next year.
Until then, Frédéric Humbel, the museum director, still has a lot to do. As an art historian, he has been working for 13 years to make Fond-de-Gras as realistic as possible. But he still lacks a lot of information to this day. “We don’t know exactly how many people worked here,” admits Humbel. When the mines were closed, pretty much everything was thrown into the remaining blast furnaces: tools, machines, personnel files. That is why Humbel allows himself a certain historical freedom: the grocer that was built next to the historic train station was actually in the neighboring village.
The historic steam locomotive is run by volunteers
Humbel asserts that you cannot be one hundred percent authentic in the reconstruction. He is happy about every artifact that can be integrated into the exhibition. “Some things are saved from other places,” says the historian, “so we don’t ask for long. Our aim is to describe the cycle of iron ore processing in general.” To put yourself in the shoes of the past, he usually recommends a ride in the historic steam locomotive. But the “Train 1900” pauses in winter. “The points freeze over,” says Hubel. “In addition, the old locomotive would have to be heated up for hours. We mustn’t forget that all of this is done by volunteers.”
The region can also be explored on foot. A new hiking trail connects all Luxembourg municipalities that take part in the year of culture. In the center is the Ellergronn nature reserve, which was designated a Unesco Biosphere Reserve in 2020. It’s quiet here. A few birds are chirping in the trees, two joggers make the gravel path crunch with their running shoes. Otherwise: grass, a lot of grass. Part of the valley only exists because the former mountain was blown away – to mine iron ore, what else. Soon, holidaymakers will be spending the night in small huts along the hiking trails, also a project by “Esch 2022”. The construction work is still ongoing.
A few meters further on, a mine emerges, the Cockerill Mine, which closed in 1967. The entrance is secured with a massive grille, entry is prohibited. “We have 1,500 kilometers of tunnels here,” says Paul Ennesch, the cashier of the associated museum. “If we wanted, we could go underground to Nancy. But the danger of collapse is far too great. Bats also live in the tunnels. We don’t want to disturb them.” If you really want to drive into an old mine, you have to go back to the Fond-de-Gras open-air museum. It is one of the few places in Luxembourg where trains run into the underground tunnel systems.
The change is really tangible in Esch, where a residential and university district is emerging in the industrial area
In Ellergronn, historical exhibits have to suffice. Rusted trucks, wheel loaders and freight wagons are already standing in front of the museum. Rails lead over the damp forest floor, ventilation shafts rise up along the roadside. Paul Ennesch, the cashier, doesn’t usually have many guests. Since Esch was named Capital of Culture, there have been significantly more, including in the adjoining restaurant. “Our sewage treatment plant is designed for a maximum of 35 people,” says Ennesch. “If there are more to come, we would have to build new ones.” It still sounds more like wishful thinking.
The former industrial facilities in Esch are used differently today, exhibitions are presented in numerous buildings in the Capital of Culture year, and concerts are held in the Rockhal.
(Photo: Harald Tittel / dpa)
The structural change only becomes really tangible in Esch itself. The blast furnaces tower into the sky from afar, surrounded by shopping centers, libraries and a large exhibition and concert hall, the “Rockhal”. The conversion of the former industrial site into a residential, shopping and university district has been underway since the early 2000s. Over a billion euros have already flowed into the project; it’s not finished yet. Cranes and shell structures can be seen everywhere. The cultural year has not even begun, and locals are already complaining that rents are rising and Airbnb accommodations are sprouting up.
Belval’s blast furnaces are also suitable as a photo motif in the dark.
(Photo: Claude Piscitelli)
It is worth strolling between the old and new buildings. Everywhere steel, concrete and newly designed water features. In between there are students who have sat down on a bench with a coffee mug. And more and more foreign visitors who take photos with their cell phones. In the distance, smoke rises between the industrial skeletons: A factory is still working, although it no longer produces steel, it only recycles it. Most of the residents now work in the booming construction sector and in public administration. The university, retail and healthcare sectors also play an important role.
In Esch, the planners of the upcoming cultural year are meanwhile looking to the future. Around 160 projects and events are planned in the Luxembourg-French border region, from techno-rock orchestras to the “Escape Room”. The focus is on the old blast furnaces. The exhibition “Hacking Identity – Dancing Diversity” at the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (ZKM) will kick off on February 27th. It should be about the diversity of Europe and multiple identities, locally integrated into the old steel structure. “The Möllerei itself becomes a work of art, a diverse, vibrating space,” says the program.
At the start of the Capital of Culture year last autumn, actors from the Escher Theater (here as steel workers) appeared in the streets. 160 projects and events are planned for 2022.
(Photo: Patrick Galbats)
Other exhibitions deal with nature and sustainable development, with the exploration of Europe (“Pure Europe”) and a world in transition (“Ars Electronica”). Electronic concerts are also planned in the neighboring “Rockhal”. At the immersive show “Remixing Industrial Pasts”, visitors themselves become part of the program. The organizers have not yet revealed any details. Just this much: it will be about the history of the region, about change, about migration and individual life paths – combined with digital technologies. High wire dancers should also get their money’s worth between the old steel frames.
In the Fond-de-Gras open-air museum, the final program has not yet been set due to the pandemic. Museum director Frédéric Humbel already has one wish: “I hope that many contemporary witnesses who have worked in the mines and steelworks will come,” says the art historian. Recently, an 85-year-old former measurement technician came to Fond-de-Gras to pass on his knowledge to the younger generation. For Humbel it was worth more than any cultural title.
Information:
Getting there: You can take the train directly to Esch-sur-Alzette station (from Germany with a change at Gare de Luxembourg). Alternatively by car. There are parking garages around the Rockhal, 5 Av. you rock’n’roll.
Accomodation: The Ibis Esch Belval, 12 Rue du Rock’n’Roll, is directly opposite the “Rockhal”, double rooms from 71 euros, www.accor.com
Museums: The Cockerill Mine Museum, rue Jean-Pierre Bausch, in Esch-sur-Alzette, is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on weekends. The steam trains in the Fond-de-Gras open-air museum, 2 Fond-de-Gras, do not run in winter. Guided tours of the site can, however, be booked individually, flat rate 60 euros for a maximum of eleven people. The best way to get here is by car: www.minettpark.lu
Program: Information on all events at: https://esch2022.lu
Cooperation: Esch-sur-Alzette shares the title “Capital of Culture 2022” with the cities of Kaunas (Lithuania) and Novi Sad (Serbia).
In Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania, the motto of the Capital of Culture year is “From temporary to contemporary”. More than 40 festivals, 60 exhibitions and several hundred art and concert events are planned, including by and with William Kentridge, Yoko Ono, Marina Abramović and Robert Wilson. The centerpiece of the program is the “Myth of Kaunas” trilogy – a series of events taking place over three weekends. More information about the program can be found at https://kaunas2022.eu
The Serbian city Novi Sad was actually already European Capital of Culture in 2021, due to the pandemic the events were postponed. “4 new bridges” is the motto for the cultural program in the city on the Danube. To kick off on January 13th, the Slovenian avant-garde artist Dragan Zivadinov is creating an open-air spectacle entitled “Zeniteum”. More information about the program: https://novisad2022.rs
The research trip for this article was partly supported by tour operators, hotels, airlines and / or tourism agencies.