Mettlach

Several of Emmy’s Cousins live in Mettlach (near the Luxembourg and French borders), where their ancestors have lived for several generations. During our two to six-month trips we travel around Europe for a couple of weeks or a couple of months, then return to spend a few delightful days in Mettlach. We certainly enjoy our visits with all of Emmy’s Cousins.

The miles of forests, the expanse of beautiful farmland and the quiet little villages in the general area of Mettlach, make the Saar River Valley a choice spot for tourists. People have lived in this area for a couple of thousand years, but there may have been more changes to the little town of Mettlach in the years between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s, than in any other dozen years in the 900 years since it was founded.

For many years there had been a dam with an electrical generating plant just up the river from Mettlach’s bridge across the Saar. Starting in the mid-1980s they removed this plant and installed two locks that are used to raise and lower boats and barges, that now travel on this re-engineered river.

Until recently, along with the muddy little Saar River, the main attraction in Mettlach was the Villeroy & Boch factory where they make porcelain dishes, ceramic tile, etc., and the two factory stores where those products could be purchased at a discount. Most noticeable, there were huge trucks either barreling through town on the narrow main street, or blocking traffic as they unloaded their cargo at one of Mettlach’s stores.

Now that the Saar River has been refashioned into a canal with passenger/tourist boats and barges going through the locks at the dam, there’s a busy bicycle path at the side of the river, and six or eight stores now sell products from the Villeroy & Boch factory. Sorry to say, some of the best prices are in the Villeroy & Boch “employee only” store.

But most important and almost unbelievable, a new road bypasses downtown and the original main street has been rejuvenated with paving stones. Instead of traffic jams or speeding trucks, there are people jams at the 100 tables at a half-dozen restaurants and ice cream parlors, in what is now a pedestrian promenade. Who says they can’t teach an old town new tricks. What a contrast. What an accomplishment.