Habscht, the young commune of the upper Eisch valley

Habscht is a new name for an old landscape. The commune has only existed since 1 January 2018, when Hobscheid and Septfontaines, Simmern in Luxembourgish, merged after residents voted yes in a November 2014 referendum with 59.73%. It now has 5,337 residents, according to STATEC, across eight villages in the upper Eisch valley, in the canton of Capellen.

Ermesinde and the abbey that ended up in Belgium

The timeline the commune publishes begins in the 13th century with Countess Ermesinde, who granted charters of freedom to Eischen and Hobscheid, releasing villagers from feudal labour, and founded the Cistercian abbey of Clairefontaine nearby, where she was buried in 1246. That’s why her crown and the springs feature on the old commune’s coat of arms. French revolutionary soldiers set the abbey alight in 1794, and at the third partition of the country, on 19 August 1839, Clairefontaine went to Belgium. Eischen suddenly found itself a border village.

There had been other borders before that one. Under French rule the duchy was annexed as the Département des Forêts, and in 1795 Hobscheid belonged to the canton of Arlon. On 16 October 1830, in the heat of the Belgian revolution, tempers in the Hobscheid section ran so high that the houses of the mayor and several councillors were wrecked, and the council shared out the commune’s cash among the villagers. In 1841 it moved to the canton of Capellen, where it remains.

For me, this chronicle is the most interesting thing about Habscht, more than any single monument, because in a few lines it shows how Luxembourg’s western border was drawn.

The railway that turned farmers into workers

The Attert line reached Eischen in 1874, the 690 m Uechtlach tunnel was finished in 1879, and the Pétange to Ettelbruck railway opened on 17 April 1880. The commune describes it as the end of the valley’s isolation, turning a farming population into a working-class one within a few decades, with a glove factory in Eischen from 1888 employing up to 75 people. The line closed in 1969, and on 12 May 1989 a cycle path opened along its route. That’s how I’d see the valley, and there are more routes in cycling in Luxembourg.

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Septfontaines Castle

The commune’s big monument is Septfontaines Castle, one of the seven stops in the valley of the seven castles. Its first known lord, Tidier, turns up in a document of 1192, and in 1600 Christophe de Criechingen gave it the heavy Renaissance tower that still guards its northern gate. It’s private and can’t be visited, but you get a good look from the village. The full story is under Septfontaines Castle.

With children, visitluxembourg’s knight’s test is fun, six puzzles around the village starting from the church, downloadable as a PDF.

Hobscheid, Eischen and their past

Hobscheid’s 29 m bell tower dates from 1775, though the church itself was rebuilt in 1979 after a fire on 30 December 1976. The commune also remembers St Roch’s chapel, built in 1867 after the cholera of 1866 killed 70 people in Hobscheid, and the toll of the German occupation, when 42 of those deported from Eischen and Hobscheid died or went missing.

The setting is wooded. The forest owned by the commune alone covers 770.63 hectares, and the commune website links to a network of circular walks.

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Is Habscht worth a stop?

As a destination in itself, probably not on a first visit. As part of the Eisch valley, yes. I’d come for three things, the Septfontaines tower seen from the village, a stretch of the old railway path by bike, and the story of a border that kept moving, which you can piece together from the commune’s own timeline. Families get a bonus in the knight’s test, which turns a castle you can’t enter into a game.

Staying and getting there

With just two hotels and a campsite in 2025, by STATEC’s count, it’s not much of a base. I’d stay in Luxembourg City and come out by car along the valley drive, or by bike on the old railway path. Buses are free too; check times on mobiliteit.lu. If you’re arriving from Koerich, the Septfontaines to Koerich leg of Visit Guttland’s route is 5.7 km.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Luxembourg 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.

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