Frisange, the border village of the kingmaker

Frisange sits at Luxembourg’s southern edge, right up against Lorraine, and its history is that of a border village on a through road. The commune notes that the area has been lived in since prehistory and that Frisange first appears in writing in 771, when one Bertram gave his property in Frisange and Hellange to Echternach Abbey. Today 5,039 people live across three villages, Frisange, Aspelt and Hellange.

A kingmaker and a Roman helmet

Aspelt is the village with the most history. It appears in 963 as «Hadespelth», and around 1253 it was the birthplace of Peter of Aspelt, who studied in Trier, Bologna, Padua and Paris and rose to be a prince-bishop. He helped bring about the coronations of three kings, Henry VII, John the Blind and Louis of Bavaria, which is why he’s remembered as the kingmaker.

The most famous find comes from Hellange. In 1853, while woodland was being cleared, a visor helmet turned up in a 1st-century Roman grave. The commune says it’s one of 32 known examples from the period and stands out for its craftsmanship and for being cast in a single piece, where the others were cold-formed.

Aspelt Castle

This is the visit I’d make. visitluxembourg explains that it was a fortress recorded as early as 963, the same year as Count Siegfried’s castle from which Luxembourg City would grow, that it became a Renaissance castle in the 16th century and a baroque one in the 18th. It has only been wholly public since 2002, so the restoration is recent. Today it hosts parties and events, art exhibitions, a local produce shop and a performance hall for chamber concerts and theatre. The Uespelter Schlassfrënn association runs guided tours of the castle and its surroundings, booked through the commune. Two holiday cottages for four people each sit in its grounds.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Mondorf-les-Bains on Booking.com and filter by area before price.

What else happened in Frisange?

Quite a lot for such a small place. In 1683, when Louis XIV attacked the fortress of Luxembourg, there was fighting nearby, and a mass grave in the cemetery recalls it. On 29 November 1793 around 400 French republicans attacked Frisange, defended by 17 soldiers and about ten armed villagers, who held out until 20 cavalrymen arrived and together drove them back. In 1692 the Thurn und Taxis family opened a post house here on the Luxembourg to Hesperange to Frisange to Thionville road, which moved to Bettembourg with the railway in 1859. From 1882 to 1955 the «Jhangeli» narrow-gauge train stopped at Aspelt. In 1940, 120 residents took refuge in Saint-Julien-de-Coppel in the Auvergne, and the two places were twinned in 2004.

Eating and staying

The standout table is Louis Linster, with two stars from the Michelin Guide, which notes that his mother, Léa, had turned the family restaurant into a first-rate address. I cover it alongside the others in Michelin star restaurants in Luxembourg. For a bed, besides the Aspelt Castle cottages, I’d look at Mondorf-les-Bains, my usual suggestion for hotels in this corner of the country.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Mondorf-les-Bains on Expedia and filter by area before price.

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

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