The path of change

Showcasing the scenic beauty of Luxembourg’s southern region, the Minett Trail is sure to capture the hearts of nature and history lovers alike. The trail winds its way over 90 kilometres through the former heartland of the steel industry. A hiking adventure into Luxembourg’s industrial past and through its natural beauty.

The Dudelange water tower appears like a beacon before us, showing us the way. Visible from afar, it’s the tacit emblem of the Neischmelz brownfield site. At its feet lies a pond with a “Kabaisercher”, a kind of hiking lodge designed specifi­cally for the Minett Trail. This is where we’ll spend the night. It looks like a houseboat floating between water lilies and ducks, a work of art that you can live in and which beckons to be explored. We go in. The walls are made of layered wooden panels made to resemble the rock face of an open mine. Huge windows offer a view of the water tower. Modern, inspiring and cosy. Unfortunately, we can’t stay yet. The day is still young and we have a lot to do.

The tour leads through dark, dim­ly-lit tunnels featuring old tools and machinery that convey a sense of how difficult mining iron ore must have been. In the beginning, the tools essentially consisted of hammer, chisel and raw muscle power. At the end, gargantuan machines were used. Huge, yellow bucket wheel excavators and oversized drills can be seen in the closed galleries. They look like sentient machines straight out of a science fiction movie.

Our subsequent walk through the woods between Rumelange and Esch-sur-Alzette feels refreshing after the darkness, rock and dust. We pass “Haus Gonner”, the tenth “Kabaisercher”, near the mining museum before the forest greets us with fresh air and luminescent green leaves.

Suddenly, there’s a cool breeze. Tree trunks are covered in moss and lichen. If you keep your eyes open, you’ll see them: old, aban­doned mine-entrances sealed off with heavily barred gates. Portals to the underworld. Cold wafts of air often presage these gateways. We don’t enter.

The path begins to burrow into the forest ground, deeper and deeper until it turns into a veritable duct coated with moss and ferns. The temperature drops considerably. Then, behind a blackberry hedge, we see it. A dark opening in the midst of the straggly forest. These admitted­ly slightly spooky discoveries can turn woodland strolls into adventures. We realise how much humans actually change their environment and how quickly nature reclaims everything, if we let it.

We follow the trail to Esch-sur-Alzette and take the bus back to Dudelange where a floating abode, DJ and craft beer await us.

The next morning, the sun kisses our faces through the large window and the water tower’s reflection dances in the pool. It looks almost artful. The doorbell rings. No one’s there but we find a breakfast tray full of regional produce on the doorstep. Let the day begin!

We start with a search for a slag cart, a kind of dump cart mount­ed atop a rail carriage which was used to transport liquid slag from steel production. The carts were driven from “Dudelange Hut” to the edge of the “Haard plateau” where the slag was dumped over the slope of the former mine. Today, the slag heap is a precious habitat for heat-loving animals and plants. The debris warms up quickly and is brimming with small hollows, a perfect refuge for lizards, beetles and snakes.

We find the cart, climb into it and enjoy the view of one of the largest bluffs in Europe. Even though the striking red cliffs were made by humans, they are reminiscent of the natural rock formations of the American “Wild West”.

Open woodland and steppe-like landscapes alternate, continuously interspersed with the red rocks emblematic of the Minett region. A small black snake slithers amid the rock fragments. Butterflies flutter from orchid to orchid. We almost expect the Marlboro-man to ride up to the precipice of this ‘canyon’ and pensively gaze into the distance. Instead, we hear bleating. A flock of sheep emerges from the bushes. A dog dashes around, keeping the flock together. Instead of a cowboy, there’s a shepherd in a long cape.

From here we walk downhill to Fond-de-Gras, a former mining centre turned historic open air park. The old Fond-de-Gras train station has been preserved in its original state and, quite literally, takes us back to the steam train era.

The “Train 1900”, a historic steam train, is a special attraction that runs on a fixed schedule between Pétange and Fond-de-Gras and takes visitors on a journey into the past.

The train station houses an old-fashioned café. The rhubarb cake is as delicious as the white-permed lady behind the counter is cheerful. “It takes you back to the turn of the century, doesn’t it? We’re all club members. I mean, everyone who works here. From guards to train drivers, café employees to steam train mechanics. We’re one big role-play-loving family!”

We hike through thick, moun­tainous forests towards Lasauvage. Along the way we come across countless mining relics including “Bremswee”, tracks used by “Buggies”, mining carts with which the precious ore was transported out of the mines. Vestiges, like old pylons and overgrown railway tracks, feel like whispers of a past epoch.

The wetlands around the Alzette form a water and bird sanctu­ary named “Dumontshaff”. For decades, this whole area was dry. Now, after a renaturing project, rare species such as storks have returned. The wooden decking, which make up the majority of the trail, creak under our feet. All around us, marsh plants with big pink blossoms grow in abundance. Butterflies rest on the sun-kissed wooden boards along the way. We pause on the bridge across the Alzette, let our feet dangle and admire the grasslands. The path leads slowly uphill from here. Things are drier. Steppe-like landscapes emerge. We scan the riverbank. Could the black spot all the way in the distance between the reeds and the poplars be a water buffalo? We’d like to think so. The sun makes the dragonflies glimmer metallic-green. They are definitely real.