BEI DER GIEDEL
The story of today’s Café-Restaurant “Bei der Giedel” begins in 1880 with the small entrepreneur Léonard Müllesch and his dream of a miner’s canteen in Fond-de-Gras. With the discovery of the Thomas process in 1879, there was high interest in the iron ore deposits in the southwest of the country, and Müllesch also wanted to share in this profit. Originally, Léonard Müllesch planned to build a massive stone structure, but since the construction time would be up to two years, he opted for a wooden building, which was completed in just under 10 months. Soon after, Müllesch faced serious obstacles in the form of state permit disputes, which he was only able to overcome with the support of the local community leaders.
While Léonard Müllesch continued to work as a miner, his wife Anne Müllesch-Frantzen, with the help of her older daughter Hélène, ran the inn. After Léonard’s death in 1890, Anne continued to run the business with the assistance of both Hélène and her youngest daughter Anne. When Hélène married farmer Paul Bosseler in 1893 and gave birth to a daughter named Anne the following year, grandmother Anne Frantzen became the godmother (Lux. “Giedel”) of this child. Since then, she was known by everyone in Fond-de-Gras as “Giedel”. This habit then passed on to the grandmothers of the next two generations as well as to the inn itself.
The younger daughter Anne married the butcher and innkeeper Jean Klensch in 1901 and left Fond-de-Gras, leaving the innkeeper “Giedel” Anne Frantzen to run the inn alone. When a house located in “Klengblénken”, which was ideal for business purposes, was offered for sale in 1907, “Giedel” Anne seized this opportunity and bought it under the name of her son-in-law Klensch to protect herself from any competition in the inn industry. However, shortly thereafter, an underground mine collapse shook the foundations of this house.
In 1915, the younger daughter Anne passed away, and her sister Hélène took over the inn and became the new “Giedel”. She redesigned the interior of the house as it remains in terms of room layout to this day. Her son Paul Bosseler and his wife Elise Gries then took over the business.
During the fighting in World War II, the Bosseler-Gries family sought refuge from German infantry troops in a mine entrance, where they made their way through the galleries to Rollingen and then evacuated from Pétange by train to Ettelbrück. During the occupation of Luxembourg, when the name of Fond-de-Gras was changed to “Erzgründchen” as part of a Germanization campaign, the family returned to their beloved inn. In the post-war period, with the resumption of ore mining amidst the reconstruction of Europe, the inn became a sensation. In 1966, Hélène, the second “Giedel”, passed away at the age of 93.
With the cessation of mining in Fond-de-Gras in 1954, the traditional clientele consisting of miners also came to an end. However, the closure of the mines did not mean the end for the inn “Bei der Giedel” thanks to many local visitors and old acquaintances. With the official launch of the Train 1900 in 1973, many Sunday excursionists also discovered the inn. Even with the steel crisis of 1978, the number of retirees and pensioners who found a new nostalgic meeting place here increased.
In 1985, Paul Bosseler passed away. His death not only marked the disappearance of a part of the old Fond-de-Gras but also the end of the independent inn run by the Bosseler-Gries family.
On January 1, 1986, the inn was taken over by Henriette Schmit from Petingen. Two years earlier, after Robert Krieps returned to the Ministry of Culture, a project was developed to preserve the monuments of the industrial past. The historic inn was to be continued as one of the main attractions in the Industrial and Railway Park. In 1986, the state had the unique opportunity to acquire the legacy of the Bosseler-Gries family. The state’s “Commission des Sites et Monuments” then began the renovation of the historic property, which was completed on April 1, 1990. After the extensive renovation, only the front door, windows, and shutters remained as original parts of the original building.
