Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a small country between Belgium, France and Germany. It is also the only country in the world with a Grand Duke as its head of state. Its capital, Luxembourg City, stands on a sandstone plateau above the deep valleys of the Alzette and the Pétrusse. The old quarters and the remains of the fortress on those cliffs are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Grund and the Alzette

Most visitors see the lower town from above, from the Chemin de la Corniche. I went down to the river instead. In German, Grund means “the ground”. The name fits, because the old quarter sits on the valley floor, right below the upper town.

The sun had been missing for two days. Then, on the afternoon of 16 January 2025, it broke through. I walked the riverbank until one spot held everything. It showed the stone Grund Bridge over the Alzette, the shaded houses of Grund and the upper town above, lit gold.

That contrast is the whole frame. The valley floor loses the sun early in winter, while the top of the cliff keeps it. So the two halves of the city separate into two kinds of light. The reflection in the river carries the warm half down into the cool one.

Getting down, moreover, is easy. A free public lift runs through the rock from the Plateau du Saint-Esprit to Grund. On foot, however, the longer path gives you the views on the way.

The Fortifications

The city began as a castle. In 963, Count Siegfried acquired a rocky outcrop above the Alzette, known as the Bock, and built a stronghold there called Lucilinburhuc. Over the following centuries, the Burgundians, the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs, the French and finally a Prussian garrison each strengthened it. Eventually, the city earned the name “Gibraltar of the North”.

Then, in 1867, the great powers made the country neutral by treaty, and most of the fortress came down. Still, enough survived to read the old city in stone. That includes the Bock casemates, a network of defensive tunnels cut into the rock.

I wanted all of that in one photograph: the walls, the cliffs and Grund at the bottom. Finding the angle took a long walk up and down the streets of the upper town. In the end, a stone parapet with a small watchtower gave me the fortifications at dusk above Grund. I shot it at 17:30 on my first evening, a six-second exposure at 14mm.

Spuerkeess Building

On the first evening in a new city, I always explore on foot. In Luxembourg, one facade stopped me within the hour. It was the palace on the Avenue de la Liberté, on the Bourbon Plateau, which today belongs to Spuerkeess.

Originally, the building was not made for a bank. ARBED, the steel company that built much of Luxembourg’s wealth, commissioned it as its headquarters. The French architect René Théry designed it, and it was inaugurated in December 1922. Its four wings close around an inner courtyard. Spuerkeess, the state savings bank founded in 1856, bought the building in 2014.

At night, the floodlights draw out every window frame and the sculpture group above the entrance. For the Spuerkeess facade after dark, I stood square to the centre and held the exposure for four seconds. The street lamps turned into stars, and the empty avenue kept the frame clean.

Place Clairefontaine

Every walk from my hotel into the upper town crossed Place Clairefontaine. At its centre stands the bronze of Grand Duchess Charlotte by the French sculptor Jean Cardot, unveiled in 1990. Behind her rise the spires of Notre-Dame Cathedral, and the flags hang outside the government ministries on the other side.

Charlotte reigned from 1919 to 1964. During the Second World War, she went into exile rather than accept the occupation. Her radio broadcasts on the BBC, moreover, made her the symbol of the country’s independence.

The square gave me the first frame of the sun break on 16 January. Her statue stands on a stone star set into the cobbles. So I placed the real sun at the corner of the ministry building. Then I closed the lens down to f/16 at 12mm. That way, Grand Duchess Charlotte on Place Clairefontaine stands between two stars, one in light and one in stone. A little over an hour later, I was down in Grund for the bridge.

Beyond the Capital

The whole country measures roughly 80 kilometres from north to south. As a result, anywhere in it is a day trip from the capital. In the north, the Ardennes hills hold Vianden and its castle above the Our river. The Mullerthal to the east, by contrast, is a region of sandstone gorges and forest trails. Meanwhile, the Moselle valley on the German border is wine country.

Luxembourg City itself also has a modern face. The Kirchberg plateau across the Alzette valley houses European institutions, including the Court of Justice of the European Union. This trip, though, stayed in the old city. Four frames from two days in the capital are the whole archive, so far.

When to Visit Luxembourg

I came in January, and the weather decided the trip. Clouds and rain covered most of my stay. In fact, the only sun came in a window of about ninety minutes on the second afternoon. Both daylight frames on this page came from that window.

Winter has one advantage, though. The sun sets around five, so blue hour arrives before dinner and the floodlights are already on. Both night frames, therefore, came on the first evening, before dinner.

Summer, by contrast, brings long days and green valleys, but also the most visitors. Spring and early autumn sit in between. In December, the city also runs its Christmas markets in the upper town.

Getting Around Luxembourg

Luxembourg made all public transport free in 2020, the first country in the world to do so. Trains, trams and buses cost nothing in second class, for residents and visitors alike.

Within the capital, you can walk almost everywhere. The difference in height is the only real obstacle, and the city solves it with lifts. Besides the Grund lift, a glass panoramic lift links the Pfaffenthal quarter in the valley with the upper town.

For arrivals, Luxembourg Airport lies a short bus ride from the centre. By rail, the TGV reaches Paris in a little over two hours. Direct trains also run to Brussels and to Trier in Germany.

Photographing Luxembourg

Four frames came from two days, and each came from a decision made on location. The fortifications shot needed a long search for the one parapet that showed walls, cliffs and Grund together. The bank needed a square, symmetrical stance and a long exposure. Both daylight frames, meanwhile, needed me to drop everything the moment the clouds opened.

The city is built on two levels, and that shapes the light. In winter, the upper town catches the sun when the valley floors are already in shade. Most of what I photographed lies inside the World Heritage area. It covers the walls and the old quarters that UNESCO inscribed in 1994.

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