Saarlouis (Sarrelouis in French) is a Kreis (

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

) in the middle of the

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Neighboring districts are

Merzig-Wadern Merzig-Wadern is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northwest of the Saarland, Germany. Neighboring districts are Trier-Saarburg, Sankt Wendel, Saarlouis, the French ''département'' Moselle, and Luxembourg. History The district was created in 1816 wh ...

Sankt Wendel Sankt Wendel is a town in northeastern Saarland. It is situated on the river Blies 36 km northeast of Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland, and is named after Saint Wendelin of Trier. According to a survey by the German Association for Hou ...

, Neunkirchen,

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

, and the French ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

History

The district was part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

of the German nation. The biggest part of the district was part of duchy of

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

which gradually came under French sovereignty (still as a part of the holy empire) between 1737 and 1766. Other villages were part of the

county of Nassau-Saarbrücken The County of Saarbrücken was an Imperial State in the Upper Lorraine region, with its capital at Saarbrücken. From 1381 it belonged to the Walram branch of the Rhenish House of Nassau. County of Saarbrücken Around the year 1080 King Henry I ...

. The territory of the city

Saarlouis Saarlouis (; french: link=no, Sarrelouis, ; formerly Sarre-Libre and Saarlautern) is a town in Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2020, the town had a population of 34,409. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located on t ...

which was built to protect the border, came to France as part of the three Bishoprics. Other villages, which today are considered to be too small to form villages of their own were independent imperial territories. The district showed the fundamental problem of the whole empire: A strong influence of foreign rulers and micro-sized territories. After the Napoleonic wars the area went to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

, which in 1816 created the district as part of its

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

province. Between 1936 and 1945 it was called ''Saarlautern'', when the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

government attempted to conceal the name's French origin.

Geography

The main river in the district is the

Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name *Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist *Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...

Coat of arms

The checked black-and-white top part of the coat of arms is taken from the coat of the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...

, to remember that the area belonged to the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

(which was ruled by the Hohenzollern dynasty) directly. The bottom part is the coat of arms of the

, as Saarlouis belonged to Duchy of Lorraine 1100-1766. The star stands for the French fortress of Saarlouis, the origin of the city, which was built in a star form. The

fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

comes from the coat of arms of the city Saarlouis.

Towns and municipalities

Education

Primary schools

* Römerschule Pachten * Philipp-Schmitt-School Dillingen * Odilienschule Dillingen * Primsschule Dieffeln * Primary school Landsweiler * Primary school Lebach * Primary school Steinbach * Nikolaus-Groß-School Lebach * Primary school "Im Vogelsang" Saarlouis * Primary school Römerberg Roden * Primary school "Im Alten Kloster" Fraulautern * Primary school Steinrausch * Primary school Prof. Ecker Lisdorf * Primary school in den Bruchwiesen Beaumarais * Primary school Bous * Primary school Ensdorf * Primary school Nalbach * Niedschule Hemmersdorf * Primary school Rehlingen * Primary school Gutberg Saarwellingen * Astrid-Lindgren-School Reisbach * Stefanschule Schmelz with Dependance Limbach * Johannesschule Hüttersdorf * Kirchbergschule Schwalbach * Bachtalschule Elm * Laurentiusschule Hülzweiler * St. Oranna Berus * St. Bonifatius Überherrn * Primary school Wallerfangen * Primary school Gisingen

Community schools

* School at the Römerkastell Dillingen * Sophie Scholl Community School Dillingen * Theeltalschule Lebach * Nikolaus-Groß-School Lebach * Community School Saarlouis "In den Fliesen" * Martin Luther King School Saarlouis * Community school Wadgassen-Bous * Johannes Gutenberg School Schwalbach * School at Litermont Nalbach * Lothar Kahn School Rehlingen * School at the Waldwies Saarwellingen * Kettelerschule Schmelz * School at the Warndtwald Ueberherrn * Bisttal School Wadgassen / Bous * School at the Limberg, Wallerfangen

High schools

* Albert Schweitzer High School Dillingen * Technical-scientific High School Dillingen * Geschwister-Scholl High School Lebach * Johannes-Kepler High School Lebach * High School at the Stadtgarten (municipal park) Saarlouis * Max Planck High School Saarlouis * Robert Schuman High School Saarlouis

Vocational schools

* KBBZ Dillingen * TGBBZ Dillingen * BBZ Lebach * KBBZ Saarlouis * TGSBBZ Saarlouis * Nursing School DRK-Hospital Saarlouis

Special schools

* AWO-Förderschule mental development leases * Anne Frank School Saarlouis * District Special School G Saarwellingen * State development school social development Wallerfangen

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saarlouis (District) Districts of the Saarland