Diekirch

Diekirch sits on the Sûre in the north and holds three things worth stopping for: Roman mosaics found under the town and displayed in the municipal museum, a brewery that has made Diekirch beer since 1871, and the National Museum of Military History, which covers the fighting of the winter of 1944 in this region in considerable detail with vehicles, equipment and reconstructed scenes across several floors. The town sits where the Sure valley opens out, which made it a crossing point and a garrison town, and both those roles shaped what is there now.

Background

The name comes from Diet-Kirch, meaning "people's church". John the Blind, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, ringed the town in the 14th century with a castellated wall and a ditch fed by a stream, and the walls stood until the early 19th century, when avenues of trees replaced them. Wall ruins and mosaics turned up north of the centre in the early 20th century, and digs in 1992-1993, 1999 and 2008 made it possible to reconstruct a large Roman villa that covered the whole medieval town and was given up early in the 5th century. Luxembourg's first pedestrian zone opened here in 1977, and the town's arms, a crowned lion on a castle, were granted in 1988.

Source: Wikipedia, "Diekirch"

What to look for

• The Roman mosaics - floors excavated under the town and shown in the museum.
• The military history museum - a large collection on the 1944 winter fighting.
• The brewery - the works that has produced Diekirch beer since 1871.
• The Sure riverside - the walk along the water through the town.

When to go

April to October is the most comfortable. Museums are indoors and open year round with reduced winter hours. The military museum is large and needs time.

Things to know

The military museum is extensive and takes longer than most people allow. The town itself is workaday. Brewery visits need arranging.

Nearby

Bourscheid is northwest, and Vianden is north.

Key facts