Clervaux
| coat of arms | map |
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| Basic data | |
 View of the city center with castle and parish church |
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| State : |
 Luxembourg
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| Coordinates : | 50 ° 3 ' N , 6 ° 2' E |
| Canton : | Clervaux |
| Residents : | 5340 (January 1, 2019) |
| Area : | 25.5 km² |
| Population density : | 209.5 inhabitants / km² |
| Municipality number: | 0501 |
| Website: | www.clervaux.lu |
| politics | |
| Mayor: | Emile Eicher ( CSV ) |
| Elective system : | Proportional vote |
Clervaux ( French Clervaux , Luxembourgish Klierf, Cliärref ) is a municipality in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the main town of the same name Canton .
Location, geography and climate
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The municipality is located in Ösling , part of the Ardennes . The average geographic height is around 500 meters above sea level. The highest point of the municipality is the Schwaarzenhiwwel near Marnach with 544 m, the lowest point is at 274 m in the valley of the Our near Roder. The river Our, a tributary of the Sauer , forms the border with Germany and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in the east . To the northeast, Belgium joins the municipality of Burg-Reuland in the province of Liège. Neighboring municipalities in Luxembourg are Parc Hosingen in the southeast, Kiischpelt and Wiltz in the south, Wintger in the west and Weiswampach in the north. The triangle of Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg runs through the municipality of Clervaux. The Klerf flows through the eponymous place .
local community
Localities
After the merger, the following 17 villages form the municipality of Clervaux (in alphabetical order):
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Other parts of the community
The following hamlets, farms and mills also belong to the municipality of Clervaux:
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coat of arms
The coat of arms of the town of Clervaux was created in the 19th century by modifying the family coat of arms of those of Clervaux (the merlettes were silver and the head of the shield was red) and was approved by a grand ducal resolution of May 30, 1896.
Blazon : in red under a golden shield head with three black, red-armored and beaked blackbirds placed in bars (French: de gueules au chef d'or chargé de trois merles de sable becqués et membrés de gueules, rangés en fasce ). The city's coat of arms was designed as a floor mosaic made of small paving stones at the southernmost end of the Grand Rue . A tape with the place name is inserted around it in four languages. The birds shown here are more reminiscent of ducks .
For the new municipality, all coats of arms previously used in the places are no longer in use. The new representation shows the silhouette of the Clerfer Castle as a line drawing. The colors gray and red determine the appearance of the logo and "combine neutrality (gray) with dynamism and liveliness", as it says on the city website. Under the castle is the name Cliärref mixed and to the right of it vertically .
Residents
On October 12, 2017, there were 5,153 inhabitants in the municipality of Clervaux, 1,771 of them non-Luxembourgers (34.37 percent) representing 75 nationalities. The foreign nationalities are mainly composed of: Portuguese (717 inhabitants), Belgians (309 inhabitants), Dutch (108 inhabitants), Germans (95 inhabitants), French (93 inhabitants), Italians (52 inhabitants), Poles (34 inhabitants) and Syrians (30 inhabitants).
education
In the Reuler district there is the primary school for the entire community, which includes all levels from early education and pre-school to primary school. It consists of 4 cycles each (cycle 1 - early education and preschool; cycle 2–4 primary school) which includes the classes from cycle 1–4. A total of around 480 students attend the school. A sports hall, a soccer field, the after-school care center and the crèche complete the children's education offer on the same campus in Reuler. There are no higher schools in the municipality so far. The opening of a lyceum is planned for 2018.
Buildings, museums, monuments
lock
The castle, or rather the castle castle, was built in the 12th century, perhaps earlier, by the Counts of Clervaux on a ledge. It is believed that the first Counts of Clervaux were related to the Counts of Sponheim . In a document from the 12th century, Count Gerhard von Clervaux is referred to as the brother of Friedrich von Vianden . After the Counts of Clervaux died out, the castle and the lordship passed to the Lords of Meysenburg, and later to the Lords of Brandenburg (a sideline of the Counts of Vianden). The castle was expanded to its present size in the 15th and 16th centuries and was to be auctioned off in 1691 to pay off war debts - but remained in the family's possession. The castle then fell into disrepair and in 1927 was auctioned off into private ownership. During the Ardennes offensive in December 1944, German troops destroyed the castle. The restoration work on the castle castle, which is now owned by the State of Luxembourg, was not completed until 1994. In the castle there are parts of the municipal administration and also (as of 2013) three exhibitions:
- The Family of Man - Edward Steichen's photo exhibition started in 1950 and is now world-famous(in Clervaux since 1994). The exhibition was in 2003 the Memory of the World Register of UNESCO added.
- the Battle of the Bulge Museum with documentation.
- Luxembourg Castle Model Museum with 22 miniature Luxembourg castles and palaces.
Toy exhibition
The exhibition of historical toys, located in Clervaux, was relocated to neighboring Munshausen in 2018, and can be viewed all year round in the Robbesscheier open-air museum .
Local government
In the center of the village stands the former town hall, since the Batiment Administratif municipal merger , with the areas of cadastre and geography, site mapping, tax office and bridge and road office. In the small square in front of it, a fountain delights residents and tourists.
monastery
Another building ensemble is the Benedictine Abbey of St. Mauritius and St. Maurus , which was designed by the Dutch architect Johannes Franziskus Klomp (1865–1946). The monastic community from Solesmes founded it in 1909/1910. During the reconstruction after the Second World War , the church was largely changed. The abbey is not accessible to visitors with the exception of the forecourt, the monastery church and the crypt . In the crypt there is a small exhibition about the manners and customs of monastic life. In the literary world, the abbey gained some fame when the Icelandic writer and later Nobel Prize winner Halldór Laxness converted to Catholicism there in 1923. The organ composer Dom Paul Benoit also lived and worked here .
Churches
- To the west of the castle, on a rocky ridge, is the parish church , which was built in 1910–1912 in the Rhenish- Romanesque style. The rich and artistic interior - altars, crucifixion stations and pulpit - were created by the Aachen church sculptor Lambert Piedboeuf . There is also an organ in the church .
- Worth mentioning is also the Clervaux from Count de Lannoy in 1762 in the Rococo style built Loretto Chapel , which is located near the railway station on a small hill.
- Holy Cross Church in the Lieler district with a choir tower from the 14th century.
Liberation Monuments
On the road below the castle rock there is a large bronze plaque with the inscription (in Lützebürgisch) "For those who died during our liberation, 1940, 1945".
In 1983 the study group for the exploration of the Battle of the Bulge, together with the local administration, had a bronze monument built showing an American GI in the typical clothing of the time. The sculpture stands on a roughly hewn boulder. Two memorial plaques attached to it commemorate this event. One of them reads: "Our Liberators 1944 - 1945". It is surrounded by numerous coats of arms of military units. A second plaque explains: “In recognition of the citizens of Clervaux and the members of the study group of the Battle of the Bulge by the grateful friends of the 6th Armored Division of the USA. December 1, 1994 ". The last-mentioned date probably relates to the further design of the surroundings: from windows of a house that look out onto the small memorial square, figures cast in bronze peek out, waving a flag, also made of bronze. The portrayal means the friendly welcome that the inhabitants had given their liberators. The sculpture on the stone foundation is surrounded by a small flower ring, which contains four entrances, but is otherwise separated from the pedestrian area by low chains.
history
In September 1944, the town of Clervaux was initially captured by American troops, but was recaptured by German troops on December 18, 1944 as part of the Ardennes offensive against fierce American resistance. It was not until January 25, 1945 that Clerf was finally liberated from German rule.
On 12 October 2008, the inhabitants of the municipalities of Clervaux have Heinerscheid and Munshausen by referendum in favor of a merger of their communities to a new Clervaux. After the municipal elections on October 9, 2011, the merger came into force.
Economy and Transport
The main industry of the municipality is tourism . This is borne out by 13 hotels and numerous restaurants in Clervaux alone. There are also holiday apartments and campsites on the edge of the settlement centers.
Clervaux has an express train stop on the Luxembourg northern line . The following national roads run through the municipality: N7 Luxembourg – Ettelbrück – Diekirch – Wemperhardt – Belgium, N10 Schengen – Wasserbillig – Echternach – Vianden – Marnach, N18 Marnach – Antoniushof. The community is connected by 23 buses.
Personalities
Were born in Clervaux Damian Kratzenberg (1878-1946), Chairman of the ethnic Germans movement (Vd) of Luxembourg, and the German-speaking writer Léopold Hoffmann (1915-2008) and the politician Emile Colling (1899-1981).
The Luxembourg politician Pierre Prüm (1886–1950) and the organist Dom Paul Benoit (1893–1979) died in Clervaux.
literature
- Reinhard Tiburzy: Luxembourg (Dumont travel paperbacks No. 2137). Verlag DuMont, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-7701-3805-8
- Martin Thomas, Michael Neumann-Adrian: Belgium - Luxembourg . Verlag CJ Bucher GmbH, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-7658-1097-5
- John Zimmer: The castles of the Luxembourg country . 2 volume, Luxembourg 1996
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ STATEC Luxembourg - Population par canton et commune 1821–2019 (French)
- ^ Memorial B 1896 , page 338. Reproduced in the profile of the community of Clervaux
- ↑ a b c d e details on the municipality of Clervaux (PDF); accessed on January 28, 2015
- ↑ wort.lu: "Cliärrwer Lycée": Start of construction planned for spring 2015 , accessed on January 28, 2015
- ↑ Brief information about the exhibition The family of man ; accessed on March 23, 2014
- ^ Website of the Museum of the Battle of the Bulge with pictures and information about the exhibition ; accessed on March 23, 2014
- ^ Website of the Museum of Castles ; accessed on March 23, 2014
- ↑ Klomp's detailed plans for the individual buildings and the equipment of the Benedictine Abbey Clervaux in the Architecture Museum of the Technical University of Berlin
- ↑ community merger ; accessed on March 23, 2014
Clervaux | Drauffelt | Eselborn | Fischbach | Grindhausen | Heinerscheid | Hüpperdingen | Kalborn | Lieler | Marnach | Mecher | Munshausen | Reuler | Harvester | Siebenaler | Urspelt | Soft things