Echternach is a commune with city status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town Luxembourg.
It grew around the walls of the Abbey of Echternach, which was founded in 698 AD by St. Willibrord, an English monk of Ripon, who became the first bishop of Utrecht and worked to Christianize the Frisians.
The picturesque town, still surrounded by its medieval walls with towers, was badly damaged in World War II and has been thoroughly restored; it has been the site of a May and June International Music Festival since 1975.