Diekirch, museums, beer and donkeys on the Sûre

Unless you know the Battle of the Bulge or the beer, Diekirch may not mean much to you, yet for getting around northern Luxembourg it’s more useful than plenty of prettier places. visitluxembourg puts its population at around 7,300 (STATEC counted 7,398 on 1 January 2026), places it on the Sûre between the Haardt and Goldknapp hills, and explains that with Ettelbruck it forms the core of the Nordstad, the growing urban area in the north of the country.

A town with a donkey on its church

Diekirch’s mascot is the donkey. The legend told by the tourist office is that donkeys did the hard graft in the steep vineyards of the Härebierg, so many were bred that they became the symbol of the town. You’ll find them as sculptures around the centre, on the Ieselsbuer fountain by the Aachen sculptor Bonifatius Stirnberg, which on special occasions runs with beer, and even on the roof of St Lawrence’s, where a donkey replaces the weathercock.

I like that sort of detail. Diekirch doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is welcome after an afternoon among war dioramas.

The pedestrian centre and the beer

Diekirch’s centre was the first pedestrian zone in Luxembourg, with small shops, cafés and restaurants. Diekirch beer is still brewed in town, and the Brewery History Museum holds around a thousand pieces of advertising spanning more than a century, from matchboxes to illuminated signs. The beer festival is held over the Whitsun weekend.

The older story is told at the Museum of History(s), opened in 2011 in the heart of the old town, which runs from prehistory to the present and holds a Roman mosaic. Beside it, the old St Lawrence’s church was built in the Middle Ages on a Roman place of worship, has 16th and 17th-century frescoes, and in 1960 a cemetery, probably Merovingian, was found beneath it. Its crypt connects with the museum on guided tours.

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The Battle of the Bulge museum

What brings most visitors is the National Museum of Military History at 10 rue Bamertal. visitluxembourg notes that the winter fighting of 1944 flattened much of the old centre, and the museum rebuilds it in some fifty life-size dioramas with as many vehicles. It’s shut on Mondays and entry is €5. For me it’s the most complete war museum in the country, ahead of the Patton museum in neighbouring Ettelbruck, which is smaller and more focused on that town.

The council website marks another date, 11 September 1944, when the Americans first arrived. Diekirch is also a garrison town, and since 1955, the museum says, the army’s main barracks have stood on the Härebierg. In the town park, a memorial remembers the American units stationed in and around Diekirch between September 1944 and February 1945. For the wider picture, see the Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg.

Festivals that fill the town

The carnival Cavalcade is one of the biggest parades in the country, drawing around 20,000 people. Its date is always the Sunday ahead of Rose Monday, and visitluxembourg already lists it for 7 February 2027 at 14:00. In July comes Al Dikkrich, a five-day street festival, and every year the town hosts the International March of Diekirch, two days of walking in the hills with routes totalling between 12 and 80 kilometres.

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Walks from town

The Éislek Pad Diekirch is a 14.5 km trail with views, and CFL rail trail 11 links Diekirch and Ettelbruck stations on foot in 11.62 km, so you can walk one way and take the train back. East of town the Sûre valley runs on to Bettendorf, where American troops crossed the river in January 1945. In summer the swimming pool runs Diekirch Plage, with an outdoor pool and beach volleyball, free to get in.

Staying, arriving and what’s next

STATEC counted 2 hotels and 2 campsites in 2025, so book ahead or compare hotels in Diekirch and Ettelbruck in one go. Trains arrive on CFL line 10, which calls first at Ettelbruck, and visitluxembourg lists direct links to Vianden and the capital. The tourist office works in Luxembourgish, French, German, English and Dutch.

One thing to watch. Diekirch is in talks with Erpeldange-sur-Sûre, Ettelbruck and Schieren about becoming one Nordstad municipality, with a referendum pencilled in for autumn 2027. For now, nothing has changed.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Diekirch and pick one that fits your day.

Where the bus does not go, a car does: compare car hire in Luxembourg before you arrive rather than at the desk.

If you still need a way in, check the best ticket deals to Luxembourg from where you are.