Esch the unloved

By becoming the European Capital of Culture 2022, Esch-sur-Alzette hopes to attract attention for once, not just through news stories. Not a day goes by without a negative incident. A petition has been submitted to denounce the rampant insecurity of the train station and the lack of police presence, while a bus driver was assaulted a few weeks ago in the middle of the bus station. This news reinforces the image of a working-class city where social difficulties converge. During a recent report by the Journal in the country's social grocery shops, those in charge were formal: in Esch the situation is more difficult than elsewhere. There are more unemployed people, more people receiving social assistance and unemployment benefits, and poverty and misery rub shoulders with the well-to-do houses in certain neighbourhoods.

It's a fact. Saying that one lives in Esch often provokes either one of two reactions from the outside: an almost anthropological curiosity for the person who goes to the Rockhal or the Kulturfabrik from time to time and finds the rough side of the city's steely remains amusing. Or an "Ah" that speaks volumes, more or less accompanied by a condescending smile from someone who would never set foot in this city that drags its bad reputation like a ball and chain. Just look at the social networks, even for border workers, where Esch is at the bottom of the ladder: "Living in the GDL but ending up in Esch…it's like saying you're from Paris and living in Villeneuve-la-Garenne."