Last modified: 2007-03-31 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Mondorf]](../images/l/lu-mlb.gif)
Flag of Mondorf-les-Bains - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 17 April 2006
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The municipality of Mondorf-les-Bains (2,878 inhabitants) is located 20 km south-east of the town of Luxembourg, on the border with France. It is one of the most famous spa cities in Europe.
The site of Mondorf was settled by the Celts and later by the Romans,
who built an oppidum, locally known as Castel, to watch the
Lyon-Coblence road. The name of Mondorf comes from the Frankish
Muomendorph, referring to Muomina, a niece of Charlemagne, who offerred
all her goods to the abbey of Echternach, including the small village
named after her. Charlemagne married Hildegarde de Thionville and built
a small palace midway between his capital city, Aix-la-Chapelle, and
Thionville, located 35 km south of Mondorf.
Mondorf was located on the border between France and Germany, and was
often trashed and burnt down following battles that had taken place
nearby. The St. Michel church, built in 1065, was destroyed and rebuilt
four time, the last time in 1764-1766 by priest Ungeschick.
In 1769, the treaty of Versailles placed a border in the middle of the
original parish of Mondorff, so that there is now Mondorf-les-Bains
(renamed so by Royal and Grand Ducal Decree of 28 August 1878) in
Luxembourg and Mondorff in France. The village in Luxembourg lost the
second f of its name in 1872, when postmarks with the erroneous graphy
"Mondorf" were made for the inauguration of the new post office. The
two villages are linked by an international bridge rebuilt in 1949.
The village remained until the XIXth century a farmers and winegrowers'
village. In the beginning of the XIXth century, King of the Netherlands
William I imposed a huge tax of the salt used in Luxembourg, which was
a Dutch monopoly. The price of the salt was so high that the local
cattle breeders could no longer salt beef and pork meat. In order to
bypass the Dutch monopoly, the Société pour la Recherche de Ressources
Naturelles was founded with the aim of finding rock salt. After a few
unsuccessful test-drills in Cessange and Ehnen, notary Ledure suggested
to drill near Mondorf, where a salty brook seeped from the Galgenberg
hill. Ledure used to take waters in Aix-la-Chapelle and noticed that
the Mondorf water tasted similarly to the water used in Aix. Karl
Gotthelf Kind, then famous for having found salt in Thuringia and
Saxony, was hired in 1841 to conduct drillings in Mondorf; he invented
the free falling trepan known as Kind-Chaudron process.
In 1846, the trepan broke at a depth of 736 m and no salt was found;
however, a strongly mineralized, warm source gushed forth, which was
named Kind source. Attempts to get salt by evaporation of the source
water failed because the iron included in the water made the salt
nearly black. The Mondorf drilling, with a cost of 76,800 francs,
remained for long the deepest in Europe.
Notary Ledure immediatly proposed to transform Mondorf into a spa town.
The Société des Bains de Mondorf commissionned architect Charles Eydt
to build a spa, which was inaugurated on 20 June 1847; the first bath
was taken by Ledure's daughter Amélie, aged 20, in a big tub. The
family Didirrich transformed the drilling workers' cafeteria into the
Grand Hôtel de l'Europe, which became famous among gastronomes.
Nearby, Hippolyth Trottyane built the Hôtel du Grand Chef. The spa
hired famous doctors in order to attract French top-rank customers, for
instance Dr. Fleury, the doctor of the French Imperial court. Most of
the customers came from neighbouring Alsace and Lorraine, so that the
Franco-Prussian war and the incorporation of these provinces to Germany
caused the decline of the spa in 1871. Wellenstein, a manufacturer from
Remich, proposed to purchase the spa and to transfer it to Remich, with
the building of a pipe-line to bring there the water from Mondorf.
Fortunately, notary Gustave Lessel, Ledure's son-in-law, was President
of the Chamber of Deputees whereas the State Minister Paul Eyschen was
a regular customer of the spa. They convinced the Chamber that the spa
of Mondorf was part of the national heritage and should be purchased by
the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The Chamber agreed on 16 April 1886 and
the purchase was signed five days later for 100,000 francs. The State
called back Dr. Klein, who had moved to Antwerp in the 1870s, so that
Belgian customers were attracted.
The State spent a lot of money to increase and modernize the spa,
building new pavilions, ballrooms and the first indoor swimming pool in
Luxemblourg. The park was also increased, partially in French
territory. In the beginning of the XXth century, Mondorf was the
cultural and social center of Luxembourg. The Mondorf-Thionville
railway was inaugurated in 1903. In 1910, more than 100,000 spectators
gathered in Mondorf for the Great Flying Meeting.
The flow of the Kind source started to decrease, so that a new source
was drilled at a depth of 464 m and named Marie-Adélaïde source after
the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Mondorf declined again during the
First World War and the spa was damaged by a blaze in 1919. The State
purchased Hôtel de l'Europe and replaced it by a new spa designed by
architect Paul Wigreux and inaugurated in 1926. The same year was
opened the Palace Hôtel, then the biggest hotel in Luxembourg.
Following the 1930 economical crisis, the spa nearly stopped its
activity and most of the hotels were used to house refugees from the
Nazi Germany, including the famous pianist Arthur Rubinstein. During
the Second World War, the spa, known as Staatsbad-Mondorf was used by
privileged Germans.
After the Liberation, the 59 surviving members of the IIIrd Reich
government were jailed at the Palace Hôtel, where the Nuremberg trial
was prepared.
The Kind source was re-drilled in 1947-1948, the State purchased the
Palace Hôtel and carried on the modernization of the spa town. On 12
April 1979, the Chamber allowed the building of a new spa in Mondorf,
linked to the newly drilled Michel Lucius source, at a depth of 760 m.
A casino was built, more than 100 years after the earliest request of
that kind (1852); this was not possible before since gambling was not
allowed in Luxembourg.
Source: Mondorf Spa website
Ivan Sache, 17 April 2006
The flag of Mondorf, as seen locally, is white
with the municipal coat of arms.
The municipal arms of Mondorf were adopted by the Municipal Council on
3 April 1980 and confirmed by Ministerial Decree on 27 June 1980,
published in the Luxembourg official gazette (Mémorial) 1980, p. 866:
D'or, au sautoir de gueules, cantonné de quatre quintefeuilles de
gueules feuillées et boutonnées de sinople.
These arms are shown in the Armorial communal du Grand Duché de
Luxembourg by J.C. Loutsch et al. (1989).
It is probable that the flowers recall the famous rose garden of the parc of
Mondorf and its also famous flower show (Floralies).
Dominique Cureau & Ivan Sache, 17 April 2006