ECHTERNACH

town, eastern Luxembourg. It lies along the Sre River, at the German border, northeast of Luxembourg city. A vacation resort for Trier (Trves) in Roman times, it developed around a Benedictine abbey founded in 698 by St. Willibrord. The church named for Willibrord dates from the 11th and 13th centuries, though its crypt, which contains the tomb of the saint, is somewhat older (c. 10th century). Other landmarks in Echternach are the 13th-century parish church of Saints Peter and Paul and the town hall (12th and 15th centuries), with a late Gothic colonnade (152030). Another notable structure is the 11th-century building that houses the Museum of Prehistory. A large portion of the town's medieval ramparts remains, and Roman ruins are also in evidence. A busy resort and excursion centre, Echternach has mineral springs and is also an agricultural market and food-processing centre. Plastics are manufactured. Pop. (1991) 4,211.