Neighbourhood watch: Gasperich

Gasperich or Gaasperech is undergoing a facelift, with new office blocks and a shopping centre now open at its southern end. With good transport links and plenty of facilities, it's also a great location to set up home and already has some 7,600 residents (as at December 2019). 

A little background...

Fitting snugly below Hollerich and the Gare, with Howald to its east and Cessange to its west, the tiny neighbourhood of Gasperich is just 4km squared. Surprisingly, for such a central location, more than two-thirds of its residents are families and despite the large number of office developments, there are still some parts that have a distinctly family feel.

The Ban de Gasperich project has extended the tiny neighbourhood, adding new offices, a shopping centre, and residential buildings. There are plans to build a new park with a fitness area, a playground and petanque field, and a lake. 

History

Originally in the Hollerich municipality, Gasperich became part of the city in 1920. During the Middle Ages it was home to just one farm, but by 1806 its residential population had increased to 98 people. 

In the 19th century it housed a brickyard that was later turned into a tar plant in the 1920s (which closed in 1983). The first school was built in the area in 1904, and it became a popular residential area in the last century when it was earmarked for affordable housing. 

Today, however, property prices have increased exponentially, making it one of the most expensive places in the city in price per square metres, for new developments in particular. 

Property prices

Prices per square metre are not available on Wort Immo but in the most recent survey by JLL, prices in Gasperich now exceed €10,000 per square metre. 

Facilities

Shopping & Services

You are spoilt for choice when it comes to supermarkets in this area. To the south on the borders with Cloche D’Or you'll find Lifestore Auchun together with Belgian chain Colruyt. To the north is Smatch, there is a centrally located Aldi and the Portuguese supermarket Primavera.

For something a little special, try Bairrada piglet and other meats from Ferreira family butchers on rue Benjamin Franklin. There's also an outdoor clothing store AS Adventures which does lines in hiking and cycling gear, in addition to swimwear. Vintage furniture and decorations shop Oddhaus Vintage is on Muhlenweg. 

The new Cloche d'Or shopping centre features 20 restaurants, cafes and food outlets, more than 100 shops from clothing stores to jewellers, hairdressers, barbers and even a kids club if you want to explore the place child-free. 

Schools & crèches

In 2017 the French School of Luxembourg and the Lycée Vauban merged to form the Vauban to offer private French education. The new campus, located in Gasperich, has approximately 2,500 pupils. It offers state of the art sports and multi-media facilities.

The Ecole Fondamentale Gasperich is located on rue Gioacchino Rossini provides local schooling for ages 3 to 11 years.

Transport & parking

Ban de Gasperich will be served by the new tramline linking it to the Gare, Kirchberg and the airport. 

For buses, line 13 will take you to Monterey in the centre and then on to the Central Hospital. Line 23 travels to the Eich cultural centre, whilst some parts of Gasperich are still served by line 2. The area is also served by bus lines 18, 24 27 and 29, whilst the Cloche d'Or end is served by lines 20 and 28.  

This district is also a stone’s throw away from the main intersection that links the A1, A6 and A3. Parking is restricted in this neighbourhood so it might be easier to leave your car at the Bouillon park and ride, or jump on a bicycle at one of five Vel'oh stations in the neighbourhood.

Recreation

Sports & Parks

There is a skate park on Muhlenweg and a farm themed wooden playground, on rue Abbé Francois Lascombes, that includes a tractor, a cart and farm animals to climb on, in addition to picnic tables and football goal posts.

Scout and Guides Georges Everling Gaasperech runs scout groups for ages 6 to 23 years old involving numerous outdoor activities.

The Tennis Club Gasperich has courses for children from 4 years old, and its outdoor courts on rue Jacques Stas are open to all members. There's also a table tennis group which meets at the Omnisports Hall. 

Gasperich's Stade Emile Bintner is home to FC Tricolore, which also provides training for children.

You can find walking trails starting in Gasperich here,and there's also a Basic Fit gym at rue du Père Raphaël, with super-sized gym Painworld around the corner. 

Dogs

Adopt a dog or simply take one for a walk via the National Asylum for Animals, Déierenasyl, housed at 80 rue Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The centre also looks after cats.

If you already have a dog or puppy and want to know about beginners or advanced training Hondsclub Gasperich runs courses and events.

Culture

Please note that some of the clubs and groups may not be meeting due to current restrictions. 

During the Nazi occupation of Luxembourg, the old Hollerich train station served as a transport site for Luxembourgers forced to join the German labour or military services. It was also the place in which Luxembourgers considered “unfavourable”, including Jews, were transported to ghettos or death camps. Today, the station on Rue de la Déportation is the Deportation Memorial and Museum offering an educative and interactive exhibition open to the public from Tuesday to Friday 9-11.30 and 14.00 to 16.30. You can find out more here.

Situated on Rue de Gasperich, CLAE, the Comité de liaison des associations d’étrangers supports a number of cultural groups and associations in Luxembourg. It regularly hosts cultural events including the Festival of Migration (held at LuxExpo in March), and the Gasperich music festival.  You can find out more information on other events and courses here.

Close by on rue Tony Bourg is the wonderful Il Etait Une Fois story centre and international library, stocking books to borrow in 21 languages and holding regular storytimes, singing and workshops for all ages in a number of languages.

Tune up your voice and join either the Fräiheet Gasperich Choir which meets one Monday evening per month and sings an international repertoire, or try out the Sainte Thérèse singers, with contact details here.

The green-fingered can join CTF Gasperich, which creates and manages the quarter's city gardens on Rue Hogenberg, Rue Christophe Colomb and behind the district’s church on Rue de Gasperich.

Founded in 1960, the Harmonie Municipal Luxembourg-Gasperich invites musicians of all ages to join its orchestra which meets every Wednesday evening from 20.00 at the primary school (entrance rue G Rossini).

Restaurants, cafes, bars and bakeries

Child-friendly Italian restaurant and pizzeria Quadro Delizioso is located on rue de Gasperich, while you can find Divino further south in the neighbourhood. You can also get pizza at Pepe, and an eye-watering selection of pasta, salads, meat and fish dishes, and of course pizza, at Chez Stefano. 

Beautiful home-made pasta is served up at Mani d'Oro, or try the panzerottis available at Brasserie Colomb.

Also on the rue de Gasperich, Restaurant New Cooking, offers authentic Japanese cuisine and has an outside seating area. You can try sushi at Ninja House 2, which has an all-you-can-eat buffet. Nearby you’ll find Brasserie des Arts with an extensive menu of meat, fish, pizza and pasta.

For spicy-food lovers, the New Delhi and Appayan both offer authentic Indian food. Anyone with food intolerances should check out the selection of international dishes available at In Vivo on rue François Hogenberg. For sunny street dining, Pizzeria bei der Auer is a local favourite.

You'll find a whole host of restaurants, cafes and ice cream parlours in the Cloche d'Or shopping centre. 

For breakfast you can grab something at Cocottes or Oberweis. The former also has a range of soups, sandwiches, quiche and hot dishes. You'll get top notch cakes and bread at Au Pain du Mary.

Flowers Kitchen on rue Charles Darwin gets great reviews for its creative and healthy vegan menu which includes "super plates" and "super bowls". You can order for delivery on wedely.lu. 

If you fancy a bottle of beer or a game of skittles head to Brasserie Millewee, which also hosts karaoke nights and has a small outdoor terrace on the street.  There are a number of food trucks that come to Cloche d'Or so check our article on this to find out which ones do. 

Find out more....

You can find out more about the Gasperich neighbourhood on the Luxembourg Ville website here.