A belfry is not a church tower. It belongs to the townsmen, and it exists because in 1239 the counts of Luxembourg granted them the right to build a wall and post a watchman on it.
At a glance
The beffroi stands in the old centre of Thionville, in the Moselle, and has been partly listed as a monument historique since 27 May 1980. It is the surviving piece of a medieval municipal complex: a tower that held the town’s great bell, and beside it a communal building with an audience chamber and a hospital for the poor. The tower now holds three vaulted rooms, one above the other.
Key facts
- What it is: the municipal belfry of Thionville, symbol of the town’s communal liberties
- Origin: the charter of franchise granted by the counts of Luxembourg in 1239, which allowed a wall and a watchtower; a watchman is recorded from 1315
- The present tower: rebuilt in the first half of the sixteenth century, when Charles V ordered major fortification works
- Upper stage: remade in 1699, with the clock level and a tall imperial roof
- Protection: partly listed as a monument historique since 27 May 1980
- Where: quai Sainte-Catherine, 57100 Thionville
History
In 1239 the counts of Luxembourg granted the burghers of Thionville a charter of franchise: they could raise an enclosure and keep a watchtower with a watchman on it. A watchman is named in the records from 1315. In the fourteenth century the town built a first belfry, the tower proper together with a municipal building on what is now the rue de l’Ancien-Hôtel-de-Ville, which housed an audience chamber and a hospital for the poor. The great bell of the town hung in the tower; it is mentioned from 1363 and was recast many times.
The tower standing today was rebuilt in the first half of the sixteenth century, while Charles V was having Thionville fortified; it appears clearly on Jacques de Deventer’s plan of about 1565. In 1699 the town had the upper part remade, with the clock stage under a high imperial roof. In 1708 the municipality moved into the large adjoining building, and stayed there until the early nineteenth century; that building was rebuilt in neoclassical style in 1836.
What you see
A square tower in pale stone, blank for most of its height, then a tall Gothic window with stone tracery and louvres where the bell hangs. Above that a walkway rides out on corbels, and the stage over it carries the clock face; the roof, with its little lantern, is the work of 1699. Inside, three vaulted rooms sit one above the other, their ribs restored.
The proportion is the point. A belfry of this kind was built to be seen from the fields outside the wall: it told you, before you reached the gate, that this was a town with its own liberties.
Practical information
- The tower is in the pedestrian centre of Thionville and can be seen from the street at any time.
- The interior opens for guided visits and for the European Heritage Days; check the organiser’s dates.
- The Salle du Beffroi, in the adjoining municipal building, is used for exhibitions and talks.
Getting there
Thionville is on the main line between Metz and Luxembourg; the station is about ten minutes on foot from the old centre.
Nearby
- The Tour aux Puces, the eleventh- or twelfth-century keep of the counts of Luxembourg, a museum of the town since 1904.
- The banks of the Moselle, along the quai Sainte-Catherine.
- Luxembourg City, half an hour north by train.
Sources
- French Wikipedia, Beffroi de Thionville — the charter of 1239 and the watchman recorded from 1315, the fourteenth-century belfry and the adjoining municipal building, the great bell from 1363, the sixteenth-century rebuilding under Charles V and the Deventer plan, the works of 1699, the municipality’s move in 1708 and the rebuilding of 1836, and the listing of 27 May 1980.
- French Wikipedia, Tour aux Puces — the keep’s date and its use as the municipal museum from 1904.
- Wikidata (Q815437) — coordinates and address.
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