Esch-sur-Alzette, the second largest city in Luxembourg, has become one of the three European Capitals of Culture in 2022. Along with him, eighteen communes in the south of the duchy received this status. They form the border region between Luxembourg and France.
Ash will officially open as the 2022 Capital of Culture on Saturday, February 26th. Events here will be held throughout the year under the motto “Remix Culture” (Remix Culture). “This motto will connect the known with the unknown, elitist art with everyday culture. There must be an opportunity to combine different ideas into something new,” Nancy Brown, CEO of the Ash 2022 cultural program, explained in an interview with DW.
During the year, over 160 projects and about two thousand events are planned in Esch-sur-Alzette. These are theatrical productions, exhibitions, dance performances, performances, workshops and digital art. The organizers were inspired by the features of the region: multicultural population, industrial history, landscape and university.
Ash: a mixture of cultures and languages
Ash’s history spans over five thousand years. The city acquired its current importance thanks to the large deposits of iron ore discovered there. Ash experienced an industrial boom in the second half of the 19th century. People from other countries rushed here to work in the metallurgical and steel industries. Especially many guest workers arrived from Italy and Portugal.
Street in Esch-sur-Alzette leading to the city center
After the restructuring Esch-sur-Alzette has become a modern city, while maintaining cultural diversity. Today, those who are looking for well-paid jobs and cheap housing in the southern part of Luxembourg find their place here. Representatives of 122 nations live in Ash and the surrounding communes. Every day thousands of French, Belgians and Germans come here to work. Along with the Luxembourgish language, German, French, Portuguese and Italian are spoken in the city.
The Belval quarter – the center of the cultural capital
Ash – a city with a population of 36 thousand inhabitants – is known for its architectural monuments. The names of such architects as Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, Joseph Stübben, Gottfried Böhm are associated with him. However, its symbol is blast furnaces, which were once used to smelt iron ores.
Over the past ten years, these structures have been restored. Polished to a shine, they rise above the center of the current cultural capital – the Belval quarter. Previously, there was an industrial zone in its place. Since the beginning of the 2000s, the territory began to be built up with housing and retail space. The campus of the University of Luxembourg, two research centers and a bank also appeared here. About a billion euros have already been invested in the project, which has not yet been completed.
Blast furnaces, industrial plants and modern buildings in Esch-sur-Alzette
The organizers of the Ash-2022 cultural program see the same “remix” in the transformation of the industrial zone. From a cultural point of view, it is also about freeing Ash from the influence of the capital of Luxembourg. However, Esch-sur-Alzette has never been a provincial town, emphasizes Nancy Brown: “It’s more practical and not as chic, but at the same time more progressive and open to experimentation.”
Three cities declared European Capitals of Culture 2022
Along with Luxembourg Ash, Serbian Novi Sad and Lithuanian Kaunas have been declared European Capitals of Culture in 2022. These three cities are united by the fact that they are the second largest in the country and through the development of culture they are trying to get out of the shadow of the capitals.
Novi Sad in the 19th century was the center of Serbian culture and an important trading city. It is known as the “Serbian Athens”. Kaunas is considered “the most Lithuanian of Lithuanian cities”. However, in the status of the cultural capital, he also intends to bet on diversity.
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