Pfaffenthal, the old trades valley under the Red Bridge

Pfaffenthal makes more sense from the river than from a map. Over thousands of years the Alzette cut through the sandstone and left this narrow valley roughly sixty metres below the upper town, and it was the water that decided who lived here. Today it’s a small district of 1,330 residents in 2023, with the Red Bridge striding overhead and two of the best ways to get around the capital, the glass lift and the funicular.

The valley of water trades

Locals call it D’Dällchen, the little valley. The city’s first hospital and first maternity ward stood here, and so did the trades that needed the river, weavers, dyers, tanners, millers and laundresses. There were water carriers too, who hauled drinking water up to the upper town in wooden buckets from the Théiwesbuer spring. Back-breaking work, as the tourist office points out.

That wash-house is still there, and since 2016 it has had a Kneipp foot bath anyone can use. I like that the district has kept that thread to its past without turning it into stage scenery.

The Vauban towers and the Béinchen

When the French besieged the city, Vauban spotted that Pfaffenthal and the surrounding heights were the fortress’s weak point. In 1685 he pulled them inside the defences, strengthened the heights with two forts and sealed the valley with a wall running from Fort Berlaimont on the town side to the new Grünewald forts opposite. What survives are the two Vauban towers, named after the medieval gates they replaced, the Eich gate and the Bons-Malades gate. Further north, on the valley slope, Weimerskirch has traces the city dates back to 723.

Between them runs the Béinchen, a three-arched bridge from 1684-1685. The Bons-Malades gate also hides a tiny room showing a free film on the district’s history, open daily between 10:00 and 18:00. If this chapter grabs you, the Vauban circuit walks the whole of it.

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One of the country’s oldest mills

The Muerbelsmillen on rue Mohrfels is recorded as early as 1083 and ranks among the oldest mills in the country. It made mustard until 1985, and today it keeps the big paddle wheel in its channel and the upstairs room where the grinding happened, gears and millstones included, with a film explaining the process. The same building houses the local residents’ association and student flats. A short visit, and unlike anything else in the capital.

How do you get in and out of Pfaffenthal?

Going down, the Pfaffenthal lift leaves from Pescatore Park in the upper town and reaches rue du Pont in 30 seconds. It’s free and runs daily from 05:45 to 01:00, except on the first Monday of each month from 09:00. For 2026 the city has set those closures for 5 October, 2 November and 7 December.

Heading up the other side, Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg railway station sits at the foot of the Red Bridge, and from there the funicular lifts you to Kirchberg in just over a minute, with the tram waiting at the top. It’s the combination I’d use to get from the old town to Kirchberg’s museums without doubling back. Arriving by train from the central station, you can also simply get off at Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg, which is a regular CFL stop, and start the day in the valley rather than on the plateau. In second class that hop costs nothing, as with every domestic journey.

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Views and walks

The most striking view in the district, according to the tourist office, is of the rock stage the upper town stands on, seen from the youth hostel terrace near Clausen. Down below, the Pfaffenthal railway viaduct, at 260 metres, is the longest of the four that cross the valley. The tourist office also suggests two walking routes, one heading north outside the old walls and one heading south within them.

For a sit-down, the city’s listing picks out Odendahl Park and the Spidolsgaart garden. They’re small neighbourhood spaces, but with the Red Bridge above them they take on an odd, almost model-village scale. If you walk the full Vauban circuit, 5.16 km according to the government’s portal, these gardens make a handy halfway stop.

Follow the river and you’re in Clausen within minutes. I’d do Pfaffenthal in the morning, with the lift and the towers, and save Clausen for the afternoon and dinner.

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