Al Avenue (and Nei Avenue)
If a local tells you they’re going shopping on the Al Avenue (or Old Avenue), you will find them strolling up and down Avenue de la Gare. While it looks more modern than nearby Avenue de la Liberté, it is actually the older of the two streets connecting the Gare district with the city centre.
The Passerell or Pont Viaduc leading up to Boulevard F.D. Roosevelt is also referred to as the Al Bréck (or Old Bridge). In return, Avenue de la Liberté is known as the Nei (or new) Avenue.
Ënneschtgaass
While the official name of Rue Notre-Dame comes from the cathedral, its old Luxembourgish name, Ënneschtgaass, has to do with the former geography of the city.
Loosely translated into ‘Bottom Alley’ in English, the name dates back to the days of Luxembourg as a fortress city. At the time, the street was the southernmost , or bottom, connection between the east and west of the city.
Jofferegässel
The clue is in the name. A “Joffer” in Luxembourgish is an unmarried woman, or miss, with the word’s origin linked to the word for virgin, “Jongfra”. However, it’s also an old term for a nun and still a commonly used word for a female schoolteacher as women until 1933 had to stop working as teachers once they were married.
Both meanings apply to the Jofferegässel, as a convent was located on the street in the 1600s, with a school later attached to the church on what is today called Rue de la Congrégation.
Place Guillaume II--or the Knuedler--used to be the site of a Franciscan monastery Photo: Romain Gamba / Maison Moderne
Sichegronn
Even its French title--Val de Bons-Malades--sounds somewhat strange. And the Luxembourg name--Sichegronn, or pestilence trench--is no better. But the street was once located outside of city walls and evidence suggests that the area between the 13th and 18th centuries housed people suffering from leprosy (and potentially other diseases) to prevent contagion.
Knuedler
Perhaps the most well-known local name for a city location is the Knuedler--not the underground car park of the same name but the square above it, also known as Place Guillaume II.
The name takes its origin from the word “Knued”, or knot, as the monks from a Franciscan monastery that used to stand in its place would wear knots in the belts of their habits. The monastery was dispossessed during the French revolutionary wars in 1797 and eventually dismantled.
Material from the building was used in the town hall, which stands on the Knuedler since 1838. It was officially unveiled during the reign of Dutch king Guillaume II who was also grand duke of Luxembourg. A statue of the king stands in the middle of the square, with an exact copy located at the Binnenhof in The Hague.