Luxembourg City

October 21, 2016 · by Dano · in Luxembourg

A little less than an hour from Metz is the country and city called, “Luxembourg”. With a population the size of a small city in the US, around 115,000 people, Luxembourg City is a great historic tour. It was founded by the Franks (Beef and Kosher – sorry couldn’t help myself), a Germanic tribe that existed around 3AD. And during the Roman era (27BC-395AD) it was literally a crossroads that had a guard tower, that’s it.

Because of it’s natural geography, Luxembourg City has been a place of military significance. The 10th century saw the first fortifications, the 16th century Luxembourg castle was strengthened to be one of the most fortified castles in Europe, and the 17th century saw building of the casements which are there yet today.

Closer to modern times, Luxembourg City has bounced between French, Prussian, and German control until the end of WW2 when it became part of the country Luxembourg. This small city has the dubious honor of being the only city that was fired upon with the German V3 guns in WW2.

Never heard of the V3 gun? You can research it but basically it was a massive fixed-location cannon nicknamed, “the London Gun” for it’s intended purpose. The gun was designed to be fired from the French coast and have a projectile weighing 310 pounds. A series of solid-fuel rocket boosters were arranged along the barrel and ignited as the projectile past giving it a “boost”. Final velocity of the projectile could reach 4,900 ft/sec with a range of a little over 100 miles! Well with the reach of London from France!

Hitler, remember him, ordered many of these guns to be built but time was running out. As it was, Luxembourg felt 142 shells from the only operational V3 with 10 people killed and 35 wounded. The results were less than expected and the expense was too much for Nazi Germany so plans for deploying these guns was greatly scaled back. One of the guns located at Wetzler, Germany was captured by the US, disassembled and shipped back for testing. Once it was tested it was determined that the effort didn’t justify the results and the project was scrapped.

Back to Luxembourg City. We drove there from Metz, about 1 hr, and found the usual multi-Euro parking lot. But first things first, time to eat. We strolled into the pedestrian sector of town and had a nice lunch. Collette and I both vied for the chicken cordon-bleu which was pretty good. Of course, supplemented with a glass of white wine! We passed on the traditional dish of green bean soup with potatoes, bacon and onions called, “Bouneschlupp”.

Luxembourg City is home of the “Grand Duchy of Luxembourg” presided over by Grand Duke Henri Albert Gabriel Felix Marie Guillaume, known as “Henri”. Quite a mouthful!There were only a few sites we listed to see, but mainly our trip was just to see the city. There is the Grand Ducal Palace, originally built in 1573 as the City Hall, where the royal family resides. Happens to be located right in town so easy walk from the restaurant. We also wanted to see the casements, viaduct and the Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge. Didn’t really need to see the last one but you can’t miss it. Built in 1965, it is a modern expanse that rises above a beautiful medieval valley of homes and quaint little farms, beautiful setting. Kind of exemplifies the fact that the entire city is a juxtaposition of ancient and modern times.