LUXEMBOURG CITY, SITE AND SITUATION REPORT

Georgia Luxembourg City is the capital of Luxembourg, a country in Western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany

PART A: The Site

The site is a Defence Site

First and foremost, Luxembourg City is a defence site. It is a defence site because of its geographical natural benefits. From the South, East, and North-East, it is surrounded by deep, narrow valleys of the River Alzette and the River Pretrusse. The height was invincible, leading to a sheer drop and certain death. Anybody who wanted to be safe on the sight would only have to defend themselves from the West and North-West. They were near to resources, and were easy to defend. Today we still see the remains of the fortress that was built on the site and which existed for 9 centuries between 963 and 1867.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg_%28city%29

River Alzette

Steep Cliffs

The Bock Promontory where Count Sigfried built the first fortress in 963 on top of a steep cliff

River Petrusse

Remains of the original fortress perched on top of the steep cliffs. These cliffs meant that the site was a natural defence site.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Luxembourg

The Site is a Bridging Site

Second it is a bridging site. Part of the reason that count Siegfried wanted his castle to be where it was because it was at the crossroad of the two Roman routes. The first connected Metz in what is now France with Aachen which is in what is now Germany. The second connected Arlon in what is now Belgium with Trier which is in what is now Germany.

These roads crossed at the Marche du Poisson which was located immediately outside the original fort built by Count Sigfried in 963. (Luxembourg Tourist Office) These routes have been referred a major military route linking Germanic and Frankish areas. (https://www.britannica.com/place/Luxembourg) This is reflected by the fact that French and German are spoken in Luxembourg, along with Luxembourgish, their national language which is a mixture in part of French and German

PART B: The Situation

Luxembourg City was near to resources, water, and had excellent defence. Because of the river running through the city, causing the huge cliff, it provided excellent natural defence, meaning a good chance of survival.

It was first built by the Romans in 53.There is evidence that roman settlements were in this area, taking advantage of the fertile land in the River Alzette valley around 300AD. (Luxembourg Tourist Information)

The cliffs which make Luxembourg a natural defence site.

To Aachen

To Trier

To Metz

To Arlon Site of Count Sigfried fortress

Marche du Poisson which was at the crossroads of the ancient Roman roads

The first Fort

Luxembourg was a fortified city for nine centuries between 963 and 1867. It beganin 963, a man named Siegred, count des Ardennes, exchanged his land for a castle called Lucilinburhuc, meaning little fortress. This was

built on the promontory. He expanded it into an admirable fortification, a castle which would gradually evolve into the fortified city of Luxembourg..

In the late 900s a church was built outside the Lucilinburhuc castle. Today, the Saint Michel Church can still be seen just next to te Marche

du Poisson (where the old Roman roads crossed and where a regular market was held) and is the oldest church in Luxembourg. Around the 12th century, the settlement near the castle was protected by a stone fort wall, which was extended in the 14th and 15th centuries “In the 11th,12th and 13th century, this fortified site became a foothold allowing the count of Luxembourg to accumalate territory”. (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Everything you ned to know about the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg) Taking advantage of the site’s natural attribute as a defence site, people used it and modified it to make it into a bigger and bigger fortress.

The fort grows over several centuries

Because of it’s strategic location, the fortress was fought over and it exchanged hands over several centuries.. As the fortress was traded through different owners, it was improved and more fortified than ever before. After a brief period of Burgundinian rule, it fell to the Habsburgs in 1477, the Southern Netherlands in 1713, then it forms a union with the Netherlands, in 1815, then falling under German influence in 1890, The town of Luxembourg was gradually transformed into a formidable fortress dubbed ’’Gibraltar of the North’’, which European powers fought to control.’ Because of its strategic importance and the fact that it was fought over, Luxembourg continued to grow as a fortress. Because the site was naturally protected on the southeast, east and northeast sides by the cliffs, the defences only needed to be built initially on the western sides.

(LE GOUVERNEMENT DU GRAND-DUCHE DE LUXEMBOURG, Everything you need to know about the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg)

While the wealthy and influential population like the soldiers and knights were living within the walls of the fortress, development was also occuring at the bottom of the cliff in the river valley. Artisants and traders lived along the River in the Grund, Clausen and Pfaffenthal , while the soildiers and knights were at the top, between the walls of the fortress. The fertile valley, a natural attribute of the site, allowed for farming and growing of crops for the people

Count Siegred’s fortress on the promontory

Early fortifications outside Count Sigfried’s castle around 1200

Siegred’s castle on the promontory

River Alzette

Fortress wall along what is today Rue du Fosse, enclosing Marche de Poisson, and St Michel church

of the fortified city.The following series of images shows Luxembourg’s city’s development into a fortress

1649

https://www.google.lu/search?q=LUXEMBOURG+FORTRESS+MAPS&biw=1093&bih=521&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj23uCF8vbQAhUFNxQKHYgTCIgQsAQIHg#imgrc=_

1660

A map from 1581 showing Luxembourg starting to evolve into a fortress town

Development at the bottom of the cliff in the Grund is where the artisans and traders lived

The walls were pushed further out to allow the fortified city to expand.

A plan from 1660 showing the fortress city. The walls have been pushed further out and the defences on the western side of the city have become a more elaborate fortress wall.

By 1660 the walls have extended down into the river valley on the eastern side of the city to incorporate parts of the Grund, Clausen and Pfaffenthal

1730 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg_City

Painting by Christophe-Guillaume Selig of the Luxembourg fortifications as seen from Pfaffenthal around 1814. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg_City

The Fort is dismantled

In 1867 under the Treaty of London, Luxembourg was declared a neutral state and the fortress was dismantled. It took 16 years for the fort to be dismantled. This allowed many opportunities for growth and started a major process of changing how the city looked They built a massive park, called the Municipal Park, and the Avenue de la Liberté, a beautiful road filled with a harmonious blend of houses, and has several edifices, such as; The National Savings Bank, The Railways Administration, Arbed, and The Central Railway Station. They also built the new neighbourhoods of Limpertsberg and Belair, and some lovely squares such as Place de Paris. Below is a map what Luxembourg City looked like about 30 years after the fortress was dismantled.

1895 Plan of the city of Luxembourg showing that after the fort was dismantled, development started to happen outside of the old fortress walls. A green belt was created and then new housing areas.

Luxembourg fortress before its demolition in 1867

By 1730, there fortress walls on the east side of the city look larger and the drawing shows the fields around the city on all sides being used for farming.

Fields around the city being used for farming

Larger fortifications developed on the other east side of the Alzette River, now enclosing the river within the fortress

https://www.britannica.com/place/Luxembourg

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/699

1895

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=luxembourg+fortress+history+maps&FORM=HDRSC2

Despite having been occupied for 900 years, the city’s population was only 13,129 in the mid 1800s, due to being constrained by the fortress wallls. The walls were dismantled in 1867, and by 1905, the population reached 20,984, and by 2011, the city.was at 94,034. So human intervention by taking down the walls has allowed the city to grow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Luxembourg_City

EXTENSION: MODERN DAY LUXEMBOURG CITY

Luxembourg City has grown hugely since they took down the fortress and started expanding. It has attracted hundreds of businesses, banks, and workers. Because of this, Luxembourg City is now one of the richest countries in the world. It’s landscape has changed considerably because of the business. A whole new part of the city, Kirchberg, has been created to provide a home for businesses, European Institutions and International Organizations. The big challenges in the future would be to deal with traffic created by growth. As much as possible, there should be more house and apartements built in the City Centre so people wont have to drive to the centre in the first place. It could be built on the huge car parks near the city centre, such as Glacis. The new Cloche D’or development in

New parks were located where fortress walls had previously stood

The new Avenue de la Gare which would be followed by Avenue de la Liberte and new development

New development outside the former fortress walls led up to Limbertsberg

the Southern part of Luxemboutrg City which includes a train station is a step in the right direction.