There was The nicknames of the Pays de Nied , there will now be those from the Pays des Trois Frontières. Thanks to the work provided by Jean-Marc Becker and Armand Bemer, tens of thousands of people will be able to discover where the nicknames attached to them come from, in French and in Luxembourgish Francique.
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A long-standing project
The idea was born two years ago, during the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the association Wéi laang nach?…, Of which Jean-Marc Becker is president. “We had already written a few chronicles to explain nicknames and we wanted to relaunch the project, for all the towns of Thionville on the border,” he recalls.
The work is done in tandem. While Armand Bemer, already author of novels and a collection of poems, puts his pen at the service of the book, Jean-Marc Becker takes care of the illustrations and most of the research.
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Dantesque work
And research, there has been. “The documentation work was very long. Because it was not only necessary to name municipalities and nicknames, it was especially necessary to find the explanations when they existed. Some date back a long time, to the Thirty Years’ War for example, ”explains Jean-Marc Becker.
And sometimes it had to be admitted that despite all the literature searches, the explanation was nowhere. “The inhabitants of Haute-Sierck are nicknamed” di Audeserecker Hunnereiter “,” The rooster riders “. No one has been able to tell us why, ”confesses the illustrator.
For this work, the two authors were able to count on the support of the Region, the Department and three communities of municipalities, including the CCB3F (Communauté de communes Bouzonvillois – Trois Frontières). “This aid has enabled us to offer the book at an attractive price of 20 €, which is low compared to its wealth,” concludes Jean-Marc Becker.
The book is on sale at the Sierck-les-Bains Tourist Office and at the Carrefour Market in Rettel. It can also be ordered from the association Wéi laang nach? …, at the email address [email protected] or at 07 68 16 45 40.
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