In the neighbourhood: Kehlen
With a population of a little over 6,000, the commune of Kehlen at 28,18 km², includes the villages of Keispelt and Meispelt, Dondelange, Nospelt and Olm, and is a popular commuter zone. It has reasonable public transport links to the city and to secondary schools, a rural feel, and heaps of history.
A little background..
Historically, the population of Kehlen was mostly farmers and craftspeople. At the Schoenberg plateau near Kehlen, two Roman roads intersect, and a pedestal representing Gallo-Roman deities was found there. Depicting Juno, Minerva, Mercury and Hercules, the original now sits in the Museum of National History & Art, but a replica can be found in front of Schoenberg cemetery.
Old tombs and gravestones in the cemetery date back to the early 16th century and the cemetery is now classified as a national monument. Registers show Schoenberg as one of the oldest parishes in Luxembourg dating back to 1637. According to legend, there is nothing left of the town because it disappeared without a trace during the Plague.
Keispelt and Meispelt were established after land was cleared in the Middle Ages, and were part of the Ansemberg estate. Nospelt is one of the oldest centres in the region for the manufacture of terracotta pottery, and a museum is located on the site of the last pottery workshop.
Dondelange was known for its two wheat mills which were built in 1280 and 1328, but sadly no longer exist, whilst Olm is mentioned in records dating back to 1528.
Property prices
Property is more expensive in Kehlen village than the other villages in the commune. Prices are taken from the Housing Observatory, and listed on Wort Immo as the price per square metre of real estate in the area is:
Kehlen
Apartment (new) €11,142
Apartment (old) €8,088
House (new) €10,833
Facilities
Shopping & Services
There’s a Proxy Delhaize In Kehlen which stocks a reasonable range of groceries. The centre also hosts a post office, hairdresser and café. Otherwise, a new, bigger Delhaize has opened on the borders of Kehlen/Mamer where you’ll also find a Fressnapf pet store, DIY store Bauhaus, Trafic, a shoe store and a gym. The Capellen business park also has an Aldi.
Beautiful bouquets are available at La Grange Fleurie in Olm, which also hosts flower decoration workshops. In Nospelt you’ll find carpenter Ancrewood, and providers of sports kits for clubs, NHSL.
There’s a pharmacy on Rue de Nospelt in the heart of Kehlen village. Graines de Deco is a concept store nearby at 4 Rue Schaarfeneck, with interior decoration, tableware, art, and cards.
You can get beauty treatments in Dondelange at Institute Eclat Feminin, including skin treatment and organic body care plus some care from the fairies (involving local plants that only the fairies know about). Performance Cars in the same village are a Ford and a Morgan dealer, but also sell second-hand cars and can undertake work on vintage and modern cars. Nearby is Café 4 Vents, also a steakhouse, offering daily specials and a good choice of seafood.
In Keispelt, A Lill Haff lets you pick your own flowers and pumpkins and sells fresh fruit including strawberries in season. You can buy organic wine and Crémant made in Luxembourg’s Moselle region from Clos Jangli, and Beauty Institute, Alexa Ballman has a branch in Keispelt on rue de Kehlen, with treatments for the face and body.
Schools & creches
The commune-run creche is located in Keispelt close to the forest, and welcomes children from 2 months to 3 years. It’s open year round from Monday to Friday 7.00 to 19.00.
The commune also has three Maison Relais for non-formal education for ages 3-12 years, one at Olm for early years, and two at Kehlen for nursery and primary aged children, the latter located at the primary school.
The primary school is for children in cycles 2-4 or ages 6-11/12 years, and currently has about 700 children. The campus has a sports hall, multi-sports ground and playgrounds for different age levels.
In collaboration with UDGA, the commune organises musical instrument, vocal and choral training, reserved firstly for children in the commune.
Music and Luxembourgish language courses are organised for adults and run from October to May, with each lesson taking place weekly and lasting about 2 hours. You can register in July or August and forms can be collected from the commune.
Transport & parking
Bus line line 824 runs from the city to Mersch via Strassen, Mamer, Olm, Nospelt, Kehlen and Kopstal. Bus 921 links the city to Bridel, Kehlen, Keispelt and Meispelt and Mersch. There are school buses for the European School Lux II (private) and public ones for Geesseknappchen and the schools based in Limpertsberg.
A night bus service runs Friday/Saturday and Saturday/Sunday to all the villages from the city centre. You can download the timetable here.
The K bus operates from Mondays to Saturdays from 8.00 to 20.00 and is a free service to the town, the train station at Capellen, the shopping centres City Concorde and Belle Etoile, the central hospital and ones in Eich, Ettelbruck, Kirchberg and the ZithaKlinik. It can accommodate wheelchairs and strollers but is not a service for school children (under 12s must be accompanied by an adult). You can book it by telephoning 8002 8282 no later than 60 minutes before your desired departure time, from 8.00 to 20.00.
Kehlen has 6 Chargy stations for electric and plug-in hybrid cars. Two are located in the car park of the church in Nospelt, and the rest at the P&R in Kehlen.
Culture
The Cannon Tower in Kehlen (pictured in the main photo) is a very distinctive tower (if you are driving along the main thoroughfare it is where the road narrows), which was built at the end of the 19th century on the roof of a barn. A cannon with three balls adorn the tower in addition to a coat of arms flanked by two lions and the year 1576. Its construction can be traced to a neighbourly dispute, where one built the barn and the other the tower. It was classified as a national monument in November 2021. For more modern artworks, you can visit Galerie be der Kierch in Kehlen to see art from local and international artists and sculptors.
Artisanal Distillery Adam is also a museum, located at 13 rue de Olm, in an 18th century farmhouse known as “a Lammesch”. It produces eaux de vie using fruits from its orchards. The Adam Distillery first started producing the spirit in 1907, when farmer Jean Adam made it from cereal on an annex to his farm and marketed it as Grains. Since 2015, the distillery, now in its fourth generation, is managed by Caroline Adam-van-Langendonck, and produces a wide range of fruit brandy. A museum was set up in 2007, dedicated to the art of distillation. You can get guided tours from Susie and Robert Adam-Stomp by appointment or visit on an open day.
From 1458 until 1914, Nospelt was the centre of the Luxembourgish pottery industry. The last potter’s residence now houses a museum showing the secrets of the old craftsmanship, and a number of old pottery items, especially those made for Emaischen, the festival at Easter weekend, where you can buy Péckvillercher or little bird-shaped whistles, replicas of which adorn the village centre. You can find out more about the Emaischen tradition celebrated each year in Nospelt in our article here.
Not far from Dondelange are some 7th century AD Merovingian burial mounds which were excavated in 1961. Four contained a skeleton, and the fifth a double burial. Amongst the burial offerings were a long sword, knives, and gold jewellery. Reconstructed, you can pass by them on the Nospelt I circular walking route.
Nearby Kehlen commune you’ll find the Grand Chateau Ansembourg, which although in private hands, is open to the public on certain days of the year (and the gardens year round), and for festivals. Built in the first half of the 17th century by Thomas Bidart, who made his fortune in the iron industry, it was transformed in the 18th century when Bidart’s heirs were elevated to Baron status in 1728, and then to the Earls of Marchant and Ansembourg. The beautiful gardens were laid out in 1750 and contain a pond, a maze and numerous statues and decorative fountains and staircases. You can find out more about the castle here, and download an audio guide of the gardens in English here.
The commune has a number of clubs and associations including the theatre association Op Schéimerech, the Nouspelter Emaischen group, Mosaik, the Aero model club in Olm, KREA Keespelt Meespelt, which organises local events and festivals, HSV agility dogs, the Marching Band Kehlen, and the Luxembourg-Turkish Cultural Association. Kehlen also has a youth centre Juki. You can find a full list of associations with contact details here.
Recreation
Sports & Parks
There are fitness trails in Kehlen and Keispelt, both of which were recently renovated. The one in Kehlen has four stations and encourages participants to jump over obstacles, climb and pump. The one at Keispelt has seven stations with equipment for balance, abs, leapfrog and more.
You’ll find a list of local sporting clubs including the adult and youth clubs for FC Kehlen, Table Tennis Kehlen, the Taekwondo team Kehlen, Fitness club Nospelt, Country Tramps Keispelt, DTV Kehlen (Zumba), and the Badminton International Club Kehlen here.
Walking and cycling
This commune is full of blue flag circular walking routes that take in the forests in the surrounding countryside. The 9.2km one at Kehlen starts at the church, and traverses passed the cemetery and into the forest, before entering the Mamer and then Riedelbaach valley, and circling the Brameschhaff, returning along the edge of the forest.
There are two circular walks in Nospelt, both starting at the car park in front of the village’s church. The first one is longer at 8km and follows a path through fields and meadows to arrive at Dondelbierg, before descending to Uesbech and then climbing up the slope of the valley returning via a heather filled heath. The shorter 6.9km route traverses through the village and through the Eisch valley into the forest descending to the pretty village of Roodt before returning via Kréckelbierg.
There are walking paths around the fitness course in Kehlen (mentioned earlier) and you can find other walks here. There’s a 5.8km running/walking loop that leaves from Keispelt and heads towards the Mamer River before looping back. The forest near olm has a forest cemetery and a number of walking routes and paths. You can find out more about the forest and a short circular path here.
Bike map has several cycle routes in Kehlen ranging from 7 to 41km. The 17.7km PC 14 cycle path crosses through Olm, Nospelt and Meispelt/Keispelt, on its route from Mamer to Mersch.
Restaurants and cafes
You’ll find Boulangerie-Patisserie Brisbois at 5 rue de Kopstal, offering breads and pastries cooked in a wood-fired oven. In addition to these, they have pizza, pasta and breakfast specials as well as coffee.
Almost opposite, you'll find Kehlen Stuff which took over from the Moonlight Cafe and offers a great selection of Portuguese dishes at lunchtimes Tuesday to Saturday. On the main road you'll find Restaurant Kai Yue, with a nice interior, serving noodles, rice and Thai specialities.
Near the Delhaize Proxy you’ll find Pizzeria Insieme, which in addition to pizza has a menu of the day for €13,90 and a la carte which includes carpaccio or sliced octopus on saffron potato puree as starters, and salads, risotto, pasta plus a very extensive meat and fish selection.
If you don’t mind eating with a giant moose head watching over you, then head to Café Brasserie Armes in Nospelt and a cosy brick and wooden table setting plus sofas and armchairs. Reviewers say the atmosphere and the owner are very friendly and you can chow down on burgers, frogs legs, beef and horse steaks, or a hearty salad.
The pretty terrace of Restaurant Boniface at the heart of the same village opposite the church has a reasonably priced set menu for weekday lunchtimes and some gourmet offerings such as Chateaubriand and lobster in champagne sauce.
Beim Spuenier in Olm gets a big thumbs up for its daily lunches which often include grilled trout, steak with chips, or Cordon Bleu and paella.
Find out more....
You can find more information on commune life here or you can join the Facebook group Kehlen Families.
The Luxembourg Times has a new mobile app, download here! Get the Luxembourg Times delivered to your inbox twice a day. Sign up for your free newsletters here.
