Ettelbruck is a commune with town status in central Luxembourg. The towns of Warken and Grentzingen are also within the commune.
Transportation
Ettelbruck lies at the exact spot where three rivers meet: the Sauer, the Wark and the Alzette. This location has historically made Ettelbruck a major transportation hub for the country second only to the city of Luxembourg.
Ettelbruck serves as a junction, where the line to Diekirch branches off the main line Luxembourg – Liège. The station is on Line 10, which connects Luxembourg City to central and northern Luxembourg towards Gouvy and Wiltz, with a branch line connecting to Diekirch.
The A7 motorway, known as the Motorway of the North, runs through Ettelbruck.
Attractions
The General George S. Patton Memorial Museum in Ettelbruck honors the general who liberated the town. The museum exhibits photographs, uniforms (both military and prison camp), weapons and documents from the period of German occupation of Luxembourg (May 1940 to September 1944). The museum was opened on 7 July 1995 and represents a main tourist attraction in the town.
The Ettelbruck parish church—D’ Kierch Ettelbréck—is a decagonal structure. Restored in 1849, the church contains tombstones dating as far back to the 15th century.
Sport
Ettelbruck since 1917 has been the home of the football team FC Etzella Ettelbruck. The team plays in Ettelbruck’s football stadium Stade Am Deich which has capacity of about 2,000.
Health
Ettelbruck is a medical center for northern Luxembourg, as it is home to the Central Hospice (founded in 1855) which is now the location of the Ettelbruck Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital (in French, CHNP = Centre Hospitalier Neuro-Psychiatrique) with approximately 500 beds. Lucien Wercollier‘s marble sculpture La Vague (“The Wave”) is located in Ettelbruck on the grounds of the CHNP.
The New Saint Louis Hospital (French: Nouvel Hôpital St Louis) was renovated and reopened as a state of the art medical facility in 2003 on the site of the earlier Charles Marx Clinic and Saint Louis Clinic. The original clinic was founded by Dr. Charles Marx in 1936. The Saint Louis Clinic became a point of resistance preceding the Nazi occupation, when its founder Charles Marx treated downed French airmen (including the future general Marcel-Pierre Faure) in April, 1940. Following the occupation of Luxembourg, Marx fled to France. Following the Nazi occupation, Marx was arrested and jailed for treating the airmen. In 1946, following liberation and Marx’s accidental death in that year, the clinic was renamed as the Charles Marx Clinic to honor him. In 1963, the clinic was renamed the New Saint Louis Clinic when it was revamped and modernized, becoming the New Saint Louis Hospital in 2003.
Education
Ettelbruck is an educational center for the north of the country. It is home to the St. Anne Girls’ Boarding School (founded in 1852) and the State Agricultural School (founded in 1883). Ettelbruck is also the location of the vocational school of Lycée Technique Ettelbruck.
Ons Heemecht
Ons Heemecht (“Our Homeland”), the national anthem of Luxembourg, was first sung publicly in Ettelbruck on 5 June 1864. Both the Alzette and Sauer rivers are named in the song, and since Ettelbruck is located at the point where they both meet, the location was appropriate for its public introduction.
