“Hof Anwen” — Niederanven from the 12-th to the 18-th century.
“Hof Anwen”, consisting of Ober-and Niederanven, Hostert, Senningen, Rameldange and Ernster, is named in numerous handwritten documents of the 12-th century. One supposes that Franc kings were the first owners of the Hof Anwen.
“Hof Anwen” had its own jurisdiction. The old lime tree in Hostert, which was about a thousand years old and had to be brought down in 1974, probably has witnessed many (annual) fairs and numerous audiences of justice. “Hof Anwen” was appreciated a lot by its various owners as a place of summer residence and hunting.
Even today in the vaults of Hostert’s chapel you can see the coats of arms of the ancient owners, namely the marquees of Bade. Since 1976, this most ancient building of Niederanven has been classified among the “ancient memorials” of Luxembourg.
For a long time the parish of Hostert profoundly respected the memory of the hermit “Schetzel”, who lived up to its death in a cave of the Grünewald.
It is to the Benedictine Jean Bertels ( 1544–1607 ), who became later an abbot of Altmünster and Echternach, that Luxemburg owes an unique iconographic documentation on villages and on life of the old Luxembourg’s inhabitants. Two drawings of the abbot Bertels show Ober-and Niederanven, Senningen and Schuttrange as well as Höhenhof towards 1570.
First indications on the population of the “Hof Anwen” are given in a statement of the homes of year 1473. There were then about 36 homes, what corresponded to about 250 inhabitants. At the dawn of the 17-th century, the plague and the “Thirty Years War” decimated most of the population which, in 1658, did count no more than 2 1/2 homes.
The most ancient religious building of Niederanven was the chapel Ste Lucie. It was situated near the feudal mill of Niederanven in the exit of the village towards Munsbach. When in 1851 Niederanven’s new church was constructed the chapel Ste Lucie did no longer serve and decayed.
In 18-th century Niederanven knew a development which found its highlight in the middle of the 19-th century. In 1722 the service of the mail diligences was established, relating Brussels — Luxemburg which, in 1730 , was widened to Trier. From 1727 this network was paved. Niederanven became again what it had been at Roman time, namely a station of relay. One took tolls on bridges and roads. The head of the station, the sputters as well as the travellers contributed to an increased activity in the village.
The inn “A la Pomme d’Or” was the local of the beggars, other inns were called “Au Cheval Blan ” and “An der Lom “. On the “Route de Trèves”, the pharmacist Rademacher even offered baths of cure. Near 1750 he advertised for “Niederanven-Les-Eaux ” and a wide tourist traffic began to develop.
The current municipality of Niederanven with its various villages was created in 1795, during the French Revolution. On October 9, 1804 numerous inhabitants applauded Napoléon Ier visiting Niederanven.