Echternach


Echternach

(ĕkh`tərnäkh'), town (1991 pop. 4,211), E Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, on the Sûre (Sauer) River, at the western border of Germany. It manufactures plastics and is an agricultural, industrial, and tourist center, with mineral springs that have been frequented since Roman times. Of note in Echternach are the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (11th cent.), part of the Benedictine abbey (founded c.700) where St. Willibrord is buried, and the town hall (16th cent.). A colorful pilgrimage and procession is held annually on Whit-Tuesday.

Echternach

 

a town in Luxembourg, on the Sure River, a tributary of the Moselle. Population, approximately 3,000. Echternach grew up around a monastery founded in 698. It was rebuilt after being badly damaged in World War II. Echternach is noted for many architectural monuments, including the Romanesque basilicas of St. Willibrord (1017–31, restored 1953) and of St. Peter and St. Paul (1220), the remains of fortress walls with five towers (11th century), and the Gothic town hall, known as the Denzelt (13th century).