Ettelbruck is a commune with town status in central Luxembourg, with a population of 8,926 inhabitants, as of 2019. The towns of Warken and Grentzingen are also within the commune. Until 1850, both Erpeldange and Schieren were part of the Ettelbruck commune as well, but both towns were detached from Ettelbruck by law on 1 July 1850.
Germany occupied Ettelbruck on 10 May 1940. US forces first liberated the town on 11 September 1944 but Germany retook the town on 16 December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge. US General George S. Patton on Christmas Day, 25 December 1944, led US troops in the final liberation of Ettelbruck from Nazi occupation. One of Ettelbruck’s main squares is named Patton Square, and is located at the exact spot where the German offensive into Luxembourg’s Alzette Valley was stopped, ending its attempt to reoccupy the country as a whole. Since 1954, the town has held a Remembrance Day celebration each July honoring General Patton and the US, British, French, Belgian and Luxembourgish troops who fought with him there.
The General George S. Patton Memorial Museum in Ettelbruck honors the general who liberated the town. The museum exhibits photographs, uniforms (both military and prison camp), weapons and documents from the period of German occupation of Luxembourg (May 1940 to September 1944). The museum was opened on 7 July 1995 and represents a main tourist attraction in the town. The Ettelbruck parish church—D’ Kierch Ettelbréck—is a decagonal structure. Restored in 1849, the church contains tombstones dating as far back to the 15th century.
Ons Heemecht (“Our Homeland”), the national anthem of Luxembourg, was first sung publicly in Ettelbruck on 5 June 1864. Both the Alzette and Sauer rivers are named in the song, and since Ettelbruck is located at the point where they both meet, the location was appropriate for its public introduction.
