Bertrange, whose lords sealed two towns' charters

Bertrange has more history than its look of a quiet residential suburb west of the capital lets on. Its lords put their seals to the charters of two towns. Henri de Bertrange sealed Echternach’s in 1226, and Rolling de Bertrange sealed Luxembourg’s in 1243, according to the municipal website. Today it has 9,489 residents, a single locality and around 17.4 km². To the south-east, already inside the capital, Cessange is the city’s largest district, with only 11% of its land built on.

A Frankish name and a Roman road

The municipality explains that the name is Frankish, from “Bert”, and that it’s Bartréng in Luxembourgish and Bartringen in German. Before the Franks, the Roman road from Arlon to Trier already ran through here, by way of Mamer, Strassen and Oberanven, and there was a Roman staging post on the Tossenberg. I like the way two neighbouring municipalities share the same ancient road.

What’s worth seeing in Bertrange?

The Gothic church has a 57.64-metre spire. Its interior was renovated in 1980-81 and its exterior in 1990. Schauwenburg castle, with a 1710 façade and 16th-century wings, has belonged to the municipality since 1951 and houses exhibition rooms. Around 1785 Baron d’Huart built another castle, the new one, now owned by the Red Cross through the Fondation de Colnet d’Huart.

There’s a nice touch too, a bronze cockerel by Pierre Renard, from 2004, dedicated to the Hunnefest, the end-of-harvest festival. At the top of the municipality, 351 metres up, sits Boforterhaff farm. Neither is a big sight, but both say something about a place that was farming country long before it became commuter land for the capital.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Luxembourg before prices climb.

The 1944 liberation

On 9 September 1944 the US 5th Armored Division fought in Bertrange during the liberation, and a memorial stele marks the spot. The same day Grevels castle burned down; its ruins were demolished in 1948. For the wider story, see my page on Luxembourg in the Second World War.

A municipality on the rise

Bertrange went from 9,097 residents at the start of 2025 to 9,489 at the start of 2026, according to STATEC, roughly 400 more in a single year. To me it’s a good place to watch the capital spreading west without entirely swallowing the villages in its path, as the historic core with its church and castles is still there at the centre of it all.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Luxembourg before prices climb.

Getting there and how long to spend

Bertrange is very well connected. Bus lines 6 and 16 link it with the airport, one via Hamilius and Kirchberg and the other via the Étoile, and trains stop at Bertrange-Strassen on the line to Arlon. It’s all free, as I explain in Luxembourg Airport to city centre.

I’d give it an hour, church and Schauwenburg included, and check the municipal website for exhibitions beforehand. For an overnight stay, the capital is still the better base.

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