Underground border Luxembourg - France

In March 2024 Eef and I visited a small part of the huge tunnel system of the former iron mines under Esch-sur-Alzette. It's an intersting area as the mines are situated in Luxembourg and France and the excavagted tunnels cross the border many times. A friend of us who is an experienced guide and who visits these mines almost weekly took us underground and guided us to some border crossing tunnels. We didn't have to descend into the mines as they are not deep and they are in the mountains. Although there are many levels from which the iron ore was extracted.
Warning: Entering the mines is strictly forbidden.
Never enter the mines without an experienced guide. It's one big dark labyrinth full of risks and danger!
It's easy to come into trouble and once you are lost you are in big trouble and might not survive!

	Map of th area We visited the underground area south of Esch-sur-Alzette. We were there already in April and May 2023, but not underground.
	Entrance The entrance was nothing more than a ventilation pipe at the foot of a hill. The pipe was closed with iron bars. One bar could be opened to give us access to the comprehensive tunnel system.
	Impression There I go. With helmet, headlamp and flashlight.
	Rail corridor Once underground you enter a labyrinth of narrow tunnels with side branches where the iron ore was cut away. The iron ore was transported in small railway wagons to France or to Luxembourg.
	Tracks Most underground infrastructure is still intact.
	Water pipes In the tunnels you will find different types of pipes. This one was to drain water under pressure.
	Station du train To avoid to get lost most tunnels have a name or a sign on it. Here was a kind of railway station. Maybe to buffer iron ore wagons, maybe as a station to transport mine workers to their working locations.
	Low corridor Not so easy to hike here. I had to duck to go on.
	Water Many places are moisty and wet. On some places we had to take off our shoes to avoid soaked shoes.
	Objects On some spots you still find objects which were abandoned 50 years -or more- ago.
	Hammer drills In one of the many underground workplaces we found these hammer drills.
	Propped walls and ceilings Not all tunnels were easy to pass. Notice the propped walls and ceilings to prevent the risk of collapse.
	Tunnel with masonry wall Maybe this wall supports the tunnel.
	Tunnel signs Tunnel signs show the way to the different directions. This sign says: cross-cuts towards the red. Red is one of the levels.
	Exit Finally after a nine kilomters hike we reached an exit, only a few hundred meters form our entrance. What an experience!

The mines

Underground borders 1