Minors, Collectors and Smugglers
With this year’s focus on industrial culture, the Minett UNESCO Biosphere, IK-CNCI and MUAR walking podcast takes you beyond Minett and across borders. After our visit to the Saarland in February, we went to Belgium this time and celebrate another premiere this month with the first Minett Mash-Up episode in French.
A small hill on the French border, behind the towns of Mont St Martin and Gorcy, is part of the great Minett Basin, where iron ore was deposited over 150 million years ago. This ore extends to the south of Luxembourg and enabled the Grand Duchy to industrialize after 1870. Even the southernmost tip of the province of Luxembourg was able to benefit from these mineral resources.
In the municipality of Musson, two mines were in operation until the 1970s. One mine was located in Musson itself, the other in the village of Halanzy. After the opening of the mines, three iron foundries were established in the south of the province of Luxembourg, one in Musson, one in Halanzy and a third in Athus.
After the closure of the mines, the foundries in this part of Belgium were quickly shut down and completely demolished in the 1980s. Today, little remains of the steel industry’s past in this part of the Greater Region.
Our Minett-Location of the Month:
Musée Minier et Métallurgique de Musson/Halazany
There is, however, one place that tries to keep alive the memory of the Gaume’s industrial heritage. In April 2023, the 4MH was opened in Musson. Covering an area of around 1,000 square metres, this museum displays a large collection of objects used by miners in the 60 kilometres of tunnels on the Franco-Belgian border. The museum’s collection is remarkably complete and offers visitors a detailed insight into the miners’ working life.
The association that runs the museum also organizes regular walks from the museum across the old iron foundry slag heap, now a nature reserve, to the entrance of the Musson mine.
The 4MH’s large team of volunteers also includes a group of young people from the village, aged between 17 and 20, who give tours of the museum’s permanent exhibition. This commitment guarantees that knowledge of mining in the region is passed on to the next generation.
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© Minett UNESCO Biosphere / IK-CNCI
Our guest: Rudolf Noben
Rudolf Noben is the president of the non-profit organization behind the Mining and Metallurgy Museum of Musson/Halanzy. As he reveals, it was his and his father’s passion for collecting, which began as a boy, that eventually led to the construction of the museum.
The 4MH was inaugurated last year. In this episode of the podcast, Rudolf talks about what the 4MH has planned for its second season, what it was like growing up near the mines on the French-Belgian border, and the daily challenges of running a not-for-profit organization like the Musson Mining Museum.
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© Minett UNESCO Biosphere / IK-CNCI
Our quiz:
Our quiz was really spontaneous this time, so we will not reveal the questions and answers here. To find out what questions Rudolf Noben asked us, you will have to listen in.
Links to the topics of this episode:
- Musée Minier et Métallurgique de Musson/Halanzy: Website of the museum
- Ouverture du 4mh en 2023: Report by the local broadcaster TVLux
- Commune de Musson: Official website of the Municipality
- Parc naturel de Gaume: Territorial and tourism development structure in the south of the Province of Luxembourg
- La minette en Lorraine belge: Map with the iron ore deposits in Belgium
- Minette: Geological explanations of the Minette from the Gulf of Lorraine
- Les Mines Musson et Halanzy: Article about the Halanzy mine
- La sidérurgie en Wallonie: Article with details about the ironworks in the Belgian-Luxembourg border region
- Tour Eiffel: Official internet presence of the Paris monument
- Gorcy: Website of the French municipality
- Réserve naturelle du crassier: Nature reserve on the premises of the old Musson iron foundry
- Explorations du CNCI: Public exploration organized by IK-CNCI to the mining museum, taking place on June 8
Contact us:
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