On 22 December 2016, Luxembourg's Minister of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, François Bausch, and the Minister of National Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, inaugurated the "Ancienne Gendarmerie" wing of the Lycée classique d'Echternach.
The Abbey of Echternach founded in the 7th century by Willibrord was rebuilt - with the exception of the Basilica - from 1727 in a monumental style. The former "Ancienne Gendarmerie" wing, which is one of the auxiliary buildings of the abbey enclosure, also called "Mühlenbau", was built in 1753-1754.
Today, the Lycée Classique d'Echternach and its boarding school occupy a large part of the monastic buildings. As a result of the increase in the number of pupils and the increased need for classrooms, the Gendarmerie wing, last occupied by the gendarmerie's offices, dwellings and garages, was finally given to the Lycée in February 2009, in order to allow an extension of the lycée to be constructed on the same site.
The annex will address the shortage in classrooms and avoid temporary classrooms with 13 new rooms, 2 offices and a space for a school sick-bay.
"The expansion posed a double challenge: the preservation of the original exterior appearance of the old "Mühlenbau", with a sober architecture, and the establishment of a modern interior infrastructure, while preserving certain historical elements," explained Minister Bausch.
As early as September 2016, teachers and students were able to move into a new, modern, warm and friendly environment in a historic building.
The total budget was €8,900,000.
Photo by Alain Muller (L-R): Michel Lanners, Claude Meisch, François Bausch, Henri Trauffler, Arno Munhowen, Jean Leyder
