Published on monday december 5th 2022
"De Schmelzaarbechter" museum in Schifflange To keep the memory of the
workers alive
Alain Günther, président de l’amicale Schëfflenger Kolonien
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">
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workers alive">Alain Günther, president
of the Schëfflenger Kolonien association, welcomes us to the
premises of the "De Schmelzaarbechter" museum on the former
ArcelorMittal Esch-Schifflange site. These premises were made
available to the association by the company Agora, which is in charge
of developing the new district.
The Schëfflenger Kolonien
association was founded in the early 2000s with the aim of preserving
the memory of former factory workers. Over time, the members have
collected a whole range of objects linked to the steel industry: work
tools, identity documents, protective clothing, machines and parts,
period photos, etc. The idea soon arose of creating a steelworkers'
museum focusing on the transmission of memory.
In April 2015, the association
received permission to move into a building on the Esch-Schifflange
site to house the collections, which until then had been stored in
various garages. In a large room of 110 m2 , visitors can admire and
discover authentic objects and machines that were used for decades as
working tools.
Alain Günther: "Even
though the association has been established in Schifflange since its
beginnings, our aim with this museum is to tell a collective story
and individual stories common to the whole southern region of
Luxembourg. It is a question of explaining how the installations
functioned and how the work was organised...".
A large number of the members
of the association are former steelworkers who can testify to this
part of local history. Their voluntary and passionate commitment
counts a lot for the functioning and the warm welcome of the museum.
They speak with conviction and in great detail about what they knew,
about the working class world of yesteryear which had such an impact
on the country's economy and the lives of families.
In a second building made
available to the association, several other exhibitions can be
discovered, including one dedicated to the general strike of 1942.
You can also visit a former director's office and an infirmary, both
of which have been entirely recreated by the association. And all
around, huge rooms with mechanical and electronic workshops.
"With this museum, it is a question of telling a collective story and
individual stories common to the entire southern region of
Luxembourg.” Alain Günther, President of the Schëfflenger Kolonien Association
Alain Günther: "The particularity of this museum is that it is in
constant motion. There is a lot to do, all the time, a lot to
identify, to tidy up, to repair. We are always working on a new
device, a new layout or a better way to explain or illustrate the
stories. It is also gratifying to count among our active members
several young people between 19 and 25 years old who are extremely
motivated and eager to participate in this project, and who also
engage in sometimes very technical work. This is proof that the
memory of our industrial history can endure through the generations.
The great prospect for the association is that, in a few years, the
museum will find its definitive place in the “Pompelhaus”, one of
the historic industrial buildings that will be preserved in the
future residential district of Esch-Schifflange. This district will
eventually be home to 10,000 inhabitants.
In the
meantime, the public can visit the museum in the current premises and
discover the collections gathered with love and sincerity by the
former "Schmelzaarbechter".
The museum is open on the first Saturday of every month from 14 to 18 PM.
Admission is free. Guided tours are available on request.
Facebook « Musée Schëfflenger Schmelzaarbechter »
Address : rue Léon Lamort
4335 Esch-sur-Alzette