Kayl, the valley that keeps the miners' memory

The commune of Kayl opens its tourism page with refreshing honesty. It admits that Kayl and Tétange lack the obvious pull of better-known villages, and makes the case instead for its good-quality historical, industrial and natural heritage. I think that’s fair. This is a commune of 9,989 people in a valley of the Minett, and on the hill above it is one of the most meaningful places in southern Luxembourg.

The miners’ memorial

The National Miners’ Monument was completed in 1957 to honour the miners to whom the country owed its wealth at the start of the 20th century. Since 1978 it has been the national memorial to all of them, and plaques bear the names of those who died underground. The commune gives the figure that explains why it was needed, more than 1,400 miners killed by roof falls and blasting accidents, of every age and nationality. The research behind it was done by a former mayor, Jules Kauffmann, with the Léiffrächen memorial already in mind.

visitluxembourg adds a detail that stays with you, that some of the miners who died were not even 14. Beside the monument an observation tower looks out over the whole region. It’s a short visit, and one I’d make quietly and without hurrying.

What is the Léiffrächen?

It’s the nature reserve around the monument, and visitluxembourg counts it among the best in the Minett, with viewpoints, red rock cliffs, thick woodland and wide clearings of dry grassland. Next to it is the shrine that gives it its name, a small chapel in a grotto holding the Léiffrächen, patron saint of the miners, which became a place of pilgrimage closely tied to mining families. The Kayl circular walk starts from the monument car park on rue Notre-Dame and crosses the old Brommeschbierg opencast working, where the red extraction terraces are still plain to see. The commune shares two more reserves, Haard-Hesselsbierg-Staebierg with Dudelange and Rumelange, the largest in the country, and Brucherbierg-Lallengerbierg, which covers 267 hectares.

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Two villages, two histories

Kayl is older than Tétange, which dates from the Frankish period. There’s a prehistoric site on the heights of Tétange, and near Kayl’s cemetery archaeologists found worked stones now known as Tétange flint. A minor Roman road crossed the Poteau de Kayl. In the 13th century a small castle went up by the Kaylbach, with four towers and a moat, and only its foundations survive, found during works in the 1970s.

Everything changed in 1840 with the rediscovery of the minette ore. Trades grew up around the mines. In Tétange, Pierre Schiltz made acetylene lamps, and the Massard and Friser foundries built mine wagons and equipment. In 1914 the Hubert family opened a shoe factory, work boots included, which is now the Schungfabrik, the commune’s arts centre. Of all those firms, only Massard outlived the mines.

On foot along the Minett Trail

The Minett Trail calls at Tétange station. The stage in from Esch-sur-Alzette is 11.95 km, and the next one on to Rumelange is 7.79 km. That second one is the one I’d pick, as it’s short and ends in Rumelange, home of the National Mining Museum. The old ironworks building in Tétange, where full ore wagons were weighed before the ore went off to the steelworks, is now one of the trail’s hikers’ lodges.

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Getting there

The CFL branch from Noertzange to Rumelange stops at both Kayl and Tétange, and at Noertzange you change for the capital or for Esch-sur-Alzette. Like all second-class rail travel within the country, it costs nothing.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Esch-sur-Alzette 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.