Water cheap

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Moselle bank with car ferry in the spring sun
The Sauer flows into the Moselle
The electric ferry Sankta Maria 2
Town hall in Wasserbillig
Wasserbilliger Church

Wasserbillig ( Luxembourgish Waasserbëlleg ) is a village at the confluence of the Sauer and Moselle rivers in the east of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and belongs to the municipality of Mertert . It is right on the border with Germany . German border towns are Wasserbilligerbrück on the opposite bank of the Sauer and Oberbillig on the other bank of the Moselle.

history

The place was already known to the Romans under the name Biliacum .

location

Wasserbillig is 130  m above sea level. NN the lowest point of the Grand Duchy and seat of the municipality of Mertert , which belongs to the canton of Grevenmacher .

economy

The place has about 3000 inhabitants. Due to its proximity to Germany, Wasserbillig is a busy town that is particularly characterized by the brisk border trade. This is mainly fuel tourism because of the tax differences between Germany and Luxembourg. How important tank tourism has become is shown by the fact that the former border crossing on the A64 motorway has been converted into a petrol station. The Esso filling station in the direction of travel to Germany is, according to the company's own information, the largest in the world, with an area of ​​30,000 square meters . The community leaders announced, however, that no further permits for gas stations would be issued.

The only aquarium in Luxembourg is located in Wasserbillig , as is the Sankta Maria II Moselle ferry , which connects Wasserbillig with the German border town of Oberbillig .

Along the Grand-Rue and the Route de Luxembourg there are a large number of shops, craft shops and trading companies.

traffic

Road traffic

Along the northern outskirts, the E 44 is a major European route, the extension of the German A 64 . The Rue Nationale Luxembourgeoise (N 10) branches off to the north at the Saint-Martin church and leads through the Sauer Valley to Echternach . The main street of the village ("Grand Rue") crosses the Sauer with an arched bridge and connects the village with the B 49 in the neighboring municipality of Wasserbilligerbrück, which ends here on German soil . The B 418 to Echternach begins here on the German bank of the Sauer . A ferry enables car traffic across the Moselle to Oberbillig in Rhineland-Palatinate . The cross-border motorway A1 (Lux.) / A64 (Dtl.), That is the already mentioned European road, has greatly relieved the tense traffic situation in Wasserbillig.

Rail transport

In the station Wasserbillig several railway lines meet:

Wasserbillig train station is served by the Regional Bunn line of the CFL , which connects Wasserbillig with Betzdorf, Sandweiler-Contern, Oetrange and Luxembourg , as well as by the regional express RE 11, which runs from Luxembourg via Sandweiler-Contern, Trier Hbf, Wittlich Hbf, Bullay and Cochem (Mosel) to Koblenz Hbf. In addition, a wrong Intercity the line 37 in the 24-hour clock to Dusseldorf via Cologne .

politics

Jérôme Laurent ( LSAP ) has been mayor of the municipality of Mertert since October 2016 . Gust Stefanetti previously held the office for 17 years, but he had to resign for health reasons. Historically, the community was mostly governed by a CSV - LSAP coalition, with the DP doing opposition work. In the 2017 municipal elections, however , the LSAP won an absolute majority and has been ruling alone ever since. Current aldermen are Lucien Bechtold and Nadine Lang-Boever (all LSAP ). Since then, the DP and CSV have provided 2 and 3, respectively, of the 11 municipal councilors and are together in the opposition.

Hostage-taking in 2000

Wasserbillig became known for a short time in 2000 when a Tunisian immigrant stormed the Spatzennascht daycare center and took about 23 children and 3 teachers hostage. There was speculation about his motive until it was discovered that the man had recently been deprived of custody of his child. His request to get to Libya by plane was not complied with. Instead , after 30 hours of unsuccessful negotiations, officers from the Düsseldorf Special Operations Command who disguised themselves as television journalists injured the man with two head shots. It was thanks to the disciplined behavior of the staff in the day-care center that the perpetrator did not act too quickly. The perpetrator was subsequently sentenced to a long prison term.

Personalities

  • Jacques Santer (* 1937), President of the European Commission 1995–1999

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mertert - Découvrir la commune. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017 ; accessed on October 22, 2017 .
  2. ↑ http://www.gr-atlas.uni.lu/index.php/de/articles/wi55/ta169/at175/aw178?task=view&id=1047 , accessed on March 6, 2015
  3. ^ Moselle ferry "Sankta Maria": New Moselle ferry comes later . In: Wort.lu . October 16, 2017 ( wort.lu [accessed October 22, 2017]).
  4. ↑ Mertert . ( public.lu [accessed October 22, 2017]).
  5. ↑ http://daserste.ndr.de/panorama/archiv/2001/erste7732.html

Web links

Commons : Wasserbillig  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 43 '  N , 6 ° 30'  E