Kehlen and Nospelt, where Luxembourg's clay birds come from

Kehlen is a fast-growing commuter commune west of Luxembourg City. Its own website says the population has more than doubled since the 1970s, and STATEC counted 7,449 residents on 1 January 2026 across eight villages. For a visitor, though, almost everything worth knowing happens in one village, Nospelt, and above all on one day, Easter Monday. In the same canton of Capellen, Garnich is the farming commune of Kahler’s graffiti.

Nospelt, the potters’ village

According to the commune, Nospelt was one of the oldest centres for making clay kitchenware in the country, and its pottery was known well beyond the border. The last pottery workshop in the village now houses the Pottery Museum, which visitluxembourg describes as a collection of historic tools and traditional pieces in the potter’s own house. The snag for a casual visitor is that it opens on request only, with guided tours and workshops run by enthusiastic amateur potters, where you can shape a whistle to take home.

How it works in practice. The museum is at 3 rue des Potiers in Nospelt, and the visitluxembourg listing gives no opening hours, only four volunteers’ phone numbers and the email of the Nospelt Syndicat d’initiative. I’d write a week or two ahead and suggest two dates, because these are people doing it for love. The listing also makes the link with the village festival plain, since the Péckvillchen, the bird-shaped whistle, belongs to Éimaischen, and in the workshop you hear the story of the custom while you shape one.

Nospelt also has an archaeology museum, run by an association named after Georges Kayser, the priest who rediscovered the Roman villa at Goeblange in 1964. Its themed rooms hold Stone Age and Roman finds, originals and replicas, and a guide takes you round. Visit Guttland adds a respected art gallery and a distillery museum to the list.

Easter Monday and the clay birds

On Easter Monday Nospelt holds the Éimaischen, and it’s the only time to buy the village’s Péckvillercher, ceramic whistles shaped like birds whose design, Visit Guttland says, changes every year. The government portal calls them one of the country’s most popular crafts and credits the Guttland with inventing them. There’s more on the fair in Éimaischen.

The Goeblange-Nospelt burial mounds, resting place of four Celtic warriors and a high-born woman, are close by too. The path to them starts beside the Roman villa, in the commune of Koerich.

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Schoenberg, Keispelt and Dondelange

On the Schoenberg rise near Kehlen, where two Roman roads met, a pedestal carved with four gods was found; the original is in the State Museum and a replica stands outside the cemetery. The chapel, once the choir of the old church, and gravestones from the early 16th century are listed as national monuments, and the parish registers go back to 1637.

Keispelt and Meispelt grew out of medieval land clearance backed by Frankish nobles and the Abbey of St Maximin in Trier. In the Middle Ages both came under the lords of Ansembourg, who ran it from Keispelt, a nice link to Ansembourg Castle. In Dondelange, St Hubert’s chapel, dedicated to the patron saint of hunters, has stained glass full of game, and a Merovingian burial site lies at a spot called Telpeschholz.

Walking and cycling

Visit Guttland lists several waymarked routes from Kehlen and Nospelt, including a history trail, a themed path and a family path suitable for people with reduced mobility. The Eisch cycle track and a regional cycle route run through the commune, which makes it easy to carry on into the valley of the seven castles.

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Olm and modern Kehlen

This is not a tourist town and doesn’t pretend to be. Olm, first recorded in a 1528 tax register, now has more than 1,500 residents, about 1,200 of them on the new Huesekneppchen estate. The commune says most locals used to farm or work as craftsmen and that today most work in services, and it counts 97 nationalities among its residents.

Is it worth the detour?

Honestly, it depends on the date. Outside Easter Monday, Kehlen is a short stop, and you’ll need to phone ahead to get into either museum. On Easter Monday itself, I’d put it on any Easter itinerary in Luxembourg, especially if you’re travelling with children who’ll enjoy blowing a clay bird all the way home. Bear in mind that Easter Monday is a public holiday in Luxembourg, so plan food and shops around it.

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Staying and getting there

Two hotels and no campsite, that’s STATEC’s 2025 tally for Kehlen. I’d stay in the capital and come out by bus, which, like all public transport in Luxembourg, is free for visitors too. If your trip falls on Easter Monday, I’d get there early, since the whistles are the whole point of the day.

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Before you fix your dates, compare tickets to Luxembourg: the same journey can cost very different amounts from one day to the next.