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 A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of the state of

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, a ...

, Germany. Saarbrücken is Saarland's administrative, commercial and cultural centre and is next to the French border. The modern city of Saarbrücken was created in 1909 by the merger of three towns, Saarbrücken, St. Johann, and Malstatt-Burbach. It was the industrial and transport centre of the Saar coal basin. Products included iron and steel, sugar, beer, pottery, optical instruments, machinery, and construction materials. Historic landmarks in the city include the stone bridge across 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), E ...

(1546), the Gothic church of St. Arnual, the 18th-century Saarbrücken Castle, and the old part of the town, the ''Sankt Johanner Markt'' (Market of St. Johann). In the 20th century, Saarbrücken was twice separated from Germany: from 1920 to 1935 as capital of the Territory of the Saar Basin and from 1947 to 1956 as capital of the Saar Protectorate.

Etymology

In modern German, ''Saarbrücken'' literally translates to ''Saar bridges'' (''Brücken'' is the plural of '' Brücke''), and indeed there are about a dozen bridges across the Saar river. However, the name actually predates the oldest bridge in the historic centre of Saarbrücken, the ''Alte Brücke'', by at least 500 years. The name ''Saar'' stems from the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

word ''sara'' (''streaming water''), and the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

name of the river, ''Saravus''. There are two hypotheses about the origin of the second part of the name Saar''brücken''. Most popular states that the historical name of the town, ''Sarabrucca'', derived from the

word '' briga'' (''hill'', or ''rock'', ''big stone''), which became ''

Brocken The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is the highest peak in the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak in Northern Germany; it is near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt between the rivers Weser and Elb ...

'' (which means ''rock'' or ''boulder'') in High German. The castle of ''Sarabrucca'' was located on a large rock by the name of ''Saarbrocken'' overlooking the river Saar. Another opinion holds that the historical name of the town, ''Sarabrucca'', derived from the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...

word ''Brucca'' , meaning ''bridge'', or more precisely a

corduroy road A corduroy road or log road is a type of road or timber trackway made by placing logs, perpendicular to the direction of the road over a low or swampy area. The result is an improvement over impassable mud or dirt roads, yet rough in the bes ...

, which was also used in fords. Next to the castle, there was a ford allowing land-traffic to cross the Saar.

History

Roman Empire

In the last centuries BC, the Mediomatrici settled in the Saarbrücken area. When Julius Caesar conquered Gaul in the first century BC, the area was incorporated into the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

From the first century AD to the fifth century, there was the Gallo-Roman settlement called ''vicus Saravus'' west of Saarbrücken's ''Halberg'' hill, on the roads from

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

to Worms and from

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

. Since the first or second century AD, a wooden bridge, later upgraded to stone, connected ''vicus Saravus'' with the south-western bank of the Saar, today's St Arnual, where at least one Roman villa was located. In the third century AD, a Mithras shrine was built in a cave in ''Halberg'' hill, on the eastern bank of the Saar river, next to today's old "Osthafen" harbor, and a small

Roman camp In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...

was constructed at the foot of Halberg hill next to the river. Toward the end of the fourth century, the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

destroyed the castra and ''vicus Saravus'', removing permanent human presence from the Saarbrücken area for almost a century.

Middle Ages to 18th century

The Saar area came under the control of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

towards the end of the fifth century. In the sixth century, the Merovingians gave the village ''Merkingen'', which had formed on the ruins of the villa on the south-western end of the (in those times still usable) Roman bridge, to the

Bishopric of Metz The Bishopric of Metz was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the Three Bishoprics that were annexed by France in 1552. The Bishops of Metz had already ruled over a significant amount of territories within the former Kin ...

. Between 601 and 609, Bishop Arnual founded a community of clerics, a '' Stift'', there. Centuries later the ''Stift'', and in 1046 ''Merkingen'', took on his name, giving birth to ''St Arnual''. The oldest documentary reference to Saarbrücken is a deed of donation from 999, which documents that Emperor Otto III gave the "castellum Sarabrucca" (Saarbrücken castle) to the Bishops of Metz. The Bishops gave the area to the

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

s of ''

Saargau The Saargau was a Franks, Frankish Gau (country subdivision), Gau county (''Gaugrafschaft''). Today the name is given to the ridge between the rivers Saar (river), Saar and Moselle in Germany and, in the south, the region between the Saar and the Fr ...

'' as a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

. By 1120, the county of Saarbrücken had been formed and a small settlement around the castle developed. In 1168, Emperor Barbarossa ordered the slighting of Saarbrücken because of a

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one par ...

with Count Simon I. The damage cannot have been grave, as the castle continued to exist. In 1321/1322 Count Johann I of Saarbrücken-Commercy gave city status to the settlement of Saarbrücken and the fishing village of St Johann on the opposite bank of the Saar, introducing a joint administration and emancipating the inhabitants from

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...

. From 1381 to 1793 the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken were the main local rulers. In 1549,

Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...

prompted the construction of the ''Alte Brücke'' (old bridge) connecting Saarbrücken and St Johann. At the beginning of the 17th century, Count Ludwig II ordered the construction of a new Renaissance-style castle on the site of the old castle, and founded Saarbrücken's oldest

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, the ''Ludwigsgymnasium''. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

, the population of Saarbrücken was reduced to just 70 by 1637, down from 4500 in 1628. During the

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...

, King Louis XIV's troops burned down Saarbrücken in 1677, almost completely destroying the city such that just 8 houses remained standing. The area was incorporated into France for the first time in the 1680s. In 1697 France was forced to relinquish the Saar province, but from 1793 to 1815 regained control of the region. Saarbruecken-Ludwigskirche

During the reign of Prince William Henry from 1741 to 1768, the coal mines were nationalized and his policies created a proto-industrialized economy, laying the foundation for Saarland's later highly industrialized economy. Saarbrücken was booming, and Prince William Henry spent on building and on infrastructure like the ''Saarkran'' river crane (1761), far beyond his financial means. However, the famous

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

architect Friedrich Joachim Stengel created not only the ''Saarkran'', but many iconic buildings that still shape Saarbrücken's face today, like the ''Friedenskirche'' (Peace Church), which was finished in 1745, the ''Old City Hall'' (1750), the catholic ''St. John's'' ''

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

'' (1754), and the famous ''

Ludwigskirche Ludwigskirche in Old Saarbrücken, Germany, is a Lutheran baroque-style church. It is the symbol of the city and is considered to be one of the most important Protestant churches in Germany, along with the Dresden Frauenkirche and the St. Micha ...

'' (1775), Saarbrücken's landmark.

19th century

In 1793, Saarbrücken was captured by

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

ary troops and in the treaties of

Campo Formio Campoformido ( fur, Cjampfuarmit) is a town and '' comune'' in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, north-eastern Italy, with a population of 7743 (December 2019). It is notable for the Treaty of Campo Formio. History Campoformido is a village not far from Ud ...

and

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze. History L ...

, the county of Saarbrücken was ceded to France. After 1815 Saarbrücken became part of the

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 e ...

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...

. The office of the mayor of Saarbrücken administered the urban municipalities Saarbrücken and St Johann, and the rural municipalities ''Malstatt'', ''Burbach'', ''Brebach'', and ''Rußhütte''. The coal and iron resources of the region were developed: in 1852, a railway connecting the

Palatine Ludwig Railway A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

with the French Eastern Railway was constructed, the Burbach ironworks started production in 1856, beginning in 1860 the Saar up to Ensdorf was channeled, and Saarbrücken was connected to the French canal network. At the start of the Franco-Prussian War, Saarbrücken was the first target of the French invasion force which drove off the Prussian vanguard and occupied Alt-Saarbrücken on 2 August 1870. Oral tradition has it that 14-year-old French Prince Napoléon Eugène Louis Bonaparte fired his first cannon in this battle, an event commemorated by the ''Lulustein'' memorial in Alt-Saarbrücken. On 4 August 1870 the French left Saarbrücken, driven away towards Metz in the

Battle of Spicheren The Battle of Spicheren, also known as the ''Battle of Forbach'', was a battle during the Franco-Prussian War. The German victory compelled the French to withdraw to the defenses of Metz. The Battle of Spicheren, on 6 August, was the second o ...

on 6 August 1870.

20th century

In 1909 the cities of Saarbrücken, St Johann and Malstatt-Burbach merged and formed the major city of Saarbrücken with a population of over 100,000. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, factories and railways in Saarbrücken were bombed by British forces. The

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

raided Saarbrücken with 11 DH4s on 17 October 1917, and a week later with 9 HP11s. The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

raided Saarbrücken's railway station with 5 DH9s on 31 July 1918, on which occasion one DH9 crashed near the town centre. Saarbrücken became capital of the Saar territory established in 1920. Under the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

(1919), the Saar coal mines were made the exclusive property of France for a period of 15 years as compensation for the destruction of French mines during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The treaty also provided for a

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...

, at the end of the 15-year period, to determine the territory's future status, and in 1935 more than 90% of the electorate voted for reunification with Germany, while only 0.8% voted for unification with France. The remainder wanted to rejoin Germany but not while the Nazis were in power. This "status quo" group voted for maintenance of the League of Nations' administration. In 1935, the Saar territory rejoined Germany and formed a district under the name Saarland.

World War II

Saarbrücken was heavily bombed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In total 1,234 people (1.1 percent of the population) in Saarbrücken were killed in bombing raids 1942–45. 11,000 homes were destroyed and 75 percent of the city left in ruins. The British

(RAF) raided Saarbrücken at least 10 times. Often employing area bombing, the RAF used total of at least 1,495 planes to attack Saarbrücken, killing a minimum of 635 people and heavily damaging more than 8,400 buildings, of which more than 7,700 were completely destroyed, thus dehousing more than 50,000 people. The first major raid on Saarbrücken was undertaken by 291 aircraft of the RAF on 29 July 1942, targeting industrial facilities. Losing nine aircraft, the bombers destroyed almost 400 buildings, damaging more than 300 others, and killed more than 150 people.
1942:
July

1944

1945

/ref> On 28 August 1942, 113 RAF planes raided Saarbrücken doing comparatively little damage due to widely scattered bombing. After the RAF mistakenly bombed

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 ...

instead of Saarbrücken on 1 September 1942, it raided Saarbrücken with 118 planes on 19 September 1942, causing comparatively little damage as the bombing scattered to the west of Saarbrücken due to ground haze. There were small raids with 28 Mosquitos on 30 April 1944, with 33 Mosquitos on 29 June 1944, and with just 2 Mosquitos on 26 July 1944. At the request of the American Third Army, the RAF massively raided Saarbrücken on 5 October 1944, to destroy supply lines, especially the railway. The 531 Lancasters and 20 Mosquitos achieved these goals, but lost 3 Lancasters and destroyed large parts of Malstatt and nearly all of Alt-Saarbrücken. From 13 to 14 January, the RAF raided Saarbrücken three times, targeting the railway yard. The attacks with 158, 274, and 134 planes, respectively, were very effective. The 8th US Air Force raided Saarbrücken at least 16 times, from 4 October 1943, to 9 November 1944. Targeting mostly the marshalling yards, a total of at least 2,387 planes of the 8th. USAF killed a minimum of 543 people and heavily damaged more than 4,400 buildings, of which more than 700 were completely destroyed, thus depriving more than 2,300 people of shelter. Donald J. Gott and William E. Metzger, Jr. were posthumously awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

for their actions during the bombing run on 9 November 1944. Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1979-020-24, Westwall, eingebautes MG

On the ground, Saarbrücken was defended by the 347th Infantry Division commanded by Wolf-Günther Trierenberg in 1945. The US 70th Infantry Division was tasked with punching through the

Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the we ...

and taking Saarbrücken. As the fortifications were unusually strong, it first had to take the Siegfried Line fortifications on the French heights near Spicheren overlooking Saarbrücken. This ''Spichern-Stellung'' had been constructed in 1940 after the French had fallen back on the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the Minister of the Armed Forces (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, F ...

during the Phoney War. The 276th Infantry Regiment attacked

Forbach Forbach ( , , ; gsw, Fuerboch) is a commune in the French department of Moselle, northeastern French region of Grand Est. It is located on the German border approximately 15 minutes from the center of Saarbrücken, Germany, with which it const ...

on 19 February 1945, and a fierce battle ensued, halting the American advance at the rail-road tracks cutting through Forbach on 22 February 1945. The 274th and 275th Infantry Regiments took Spicheren on 20 February 1945. When the 274th Infantry Regiment captured the Spicheren Heights on 23 February 1945, after a heavy battle on the previous day, the Germans counter-attacked for days, but by 27 February 1945, the heights were fully under American control. A renewed attack on 3 March 1945, allowed units of the 70th Infantry Division to enter

Stiring-Wendel Stiring-Wendel (; Lorraine Franconian: ''Stiringe''; German ''Stieringen-Wendel'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, wedged between Forbach, Schœneck, Spicheren and Saarbrücken. History Charles ...

and the remainder of Forbach. By 5 March 1945, all of Forbach and major parts of Stiring-Wendel had been taken. However, fighting for Stiring-Wendel, especially for the ''Simon'' mine, continued for days. After the German defenders of Stiring-Wendel fell back to Saarbrücken on 12 and 13 March 1945, the 70th Infantry Division still faced a strong segment of the Siegfried Line, which had been reinforced around Saarbrücken as late as 1940. After having the German troops south of the Saar fall back across the Saar at night, the German defenders of Saarbrücken retreated early on 20 March 1945. The 70th Infantry Division flanked Saarbrücken by crossing the Saar north-west of Saarbrücken. The 274th Infantry Regiment entered Saarbrücken on 20 March 1945, fully occupying it the following day, thus ending the war for Saarbrücken.

After World War II

In 1945, Saarbrücken temporarily became part of the French Zone of Occupation. In 1947, France created the nominally politically independent Saar Protectorate and merged it economically with France to exploit the area's vast coal reserves. Saarbrücken became capital of the new Saar state. A referendum in 1955 came out with over two-thirds of the voters rejecting an independent Saar state. The area rejoined the

Federal Republic of 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 between ...

on 1 January 1957, sometimes called ''Kleine Wiedervereinigung'' (little reunification). Economic reintegration would, however, take many more years. Saarbrücken became capital of the '' Bundesland'' (federal state) Saarland. After the administrative reform of 1974, the city had a population of more than 200,000. 20111230Saarkran Saarbruecken07

From 1990 to 1993, students and an arts professor from the town first secretly, then officially, created an invisible memorial to Jewish cemeteries. It is located on the fore-court of the Saarbrücken Castle. On 9 March 1999 at 4:40 am, there was a bomb attack on the controversial

Wehrmachtsausstellung The ''Wehrmacht'' exhibition (german: Wehrmachtsausstellung) was a series of two exhibitions focusing on the war crimes of the ''Wehrmacht'' (the regular German armed forces) during World War II. The exhibitions were instrumental in furthering th ...

exhibition next to Saarbrücken Castle, resulting in minor damage to the Volkshochschule building housing the exhibition and the adjoining '' Schlosskirche'' church; this attack did not cause any injuries.

Geography

Climate

Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

subtype for this climate is " Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

Region

Some of the closest cities are

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, Nancy,

, Kaiserslautern,

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

and

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

. Saarbrücken is connected by the city's public transport network to the town of

Sarreguemines Sarreguemines (; German: ''Saargemünd'' , Lorraine Franconian: ''Saargemìnn'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. It is the seat of an arrondissement and a canton. As of ...

in France, and to the neighboring town of Völklingen, where the old steel works were the first industrial monument to be declared a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

by UNESCO in 1994 – the Völklinger Hütte.

Demographics

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Saarbrücken is Uwe Comradt of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2019. The most recent mayoral election was held on 26 May 2019, with a runoff held on 9 June, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Charlotte Britz , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, 27,070 , 36.8 , 22,429 , 49.7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Uwe Conradt , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 21,342 , 29.0 , 22,703 , 50.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Barbara Meyer-Gluche , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (for ...

, 10,578 , 14.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Markus Lein , align=left, The Left , 5,075 , 6.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Lale Hadjimohamadvali , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. ...

, 3,316 , 4.5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Gerald Kallenborn , align=left, Free Democratic Party , 2,975 , 4.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Michael Franke , align=left, Die PARTEI , 2,715 , 3.7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Otfried Best , align=left, National Democratic Party , 469 , 0.6 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 73,540 ! 98.7 ! 45,132 ! 98.8 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 1,001 ! 1.3 ! 570 ! 1.2 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 74,541 ! 100.0 ! 45,702 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 136,949 ! 54.4 ! 137,071 ! 33.3 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Saarbrücken
1st round2nd round

City council

The city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 19,085 , 26.0 , 3.3 , 18 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 18,462 , 25.2 , 5.2 , 17 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Grüne) , 14,616 , 19.9 , 9.1 , 13 , 6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 7,065 , 9.6 , 2.3 , 6 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(AfD) , 5,079 , 6.9 , 2.2 , 4 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 3,855 , 5.3 , 1.2 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI (PARTEI) , 2,550 , 3.5 , New , 2 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) , 1,052 , 1.4 , 2.1 , 0 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Voters (FW) , 726 , 1.0 , 1.1 , 0 , 1 , - , , align=left, Saarland for All (SfA) , 457 , 0.6 , 0.4 , 0 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, National Democratic Party (NPD) , 369 , 0.5 , 1.5 , 0 , 1 , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 73,316 ! 98.3 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 1,235 ! 1.7 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 74,551 ! 100.0 ! ! 63 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 136,949 ! 54.4 ! 11.4 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Saarbrücken

Infrastructure

The city is served by Saarbrücken Airport (SCN), and since June 2007 ICE high speed train services along the LGV Est line provide high speed connections to Paris from Saarbrücken Hauptbahnhof. Saarbrücken's

Saarbahn The Saarbahn is a regional Stadtbahn operating on the tram-train principle in the German state of the Saarland. It consists of a core line in Saarbrücken and Riegelsberg operating under tram operating procedures ( BOStrab), connected to two line ...

(modelled on the

Karlsruhe model The Karlsruhe model is a tram-train system which consists of tram/ light rail trains and commuter/ regional rail trains running on the same set of tracks, generally between or outside of urban areas. It was initially developed and implemented ...

light rail) crosses the French–German border, connecting to the French city of

Science and education

Saarbrücken is also the home of the main campus of Saarland University (''Universität des Saarlandes''). There are several research institutes and centres on or near the campus, including: * the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, * the

Max Planck Institute for Software Systems The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS) is a computer science research institute co-located in Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern, Germany. The institute is chartered to conduct basic research in all areas related to the design, ...

, * the

Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Associatio ...

Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), * the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-destructive Testing, * the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence, * the centre for

Bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...

, * the Europa-Institut, * the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Europe Research Society, * the Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM), and * the

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 ser ...

Visual Computing Institute, * the CISPA

Centre for Information Security, * the Society for Environmentally Compatible Process Technology, * the ''Institut für Angewandte Informationsforschung'' for applied linguistics, * several institutes focusing on transfer of technology between academia and companies, and the ''Science Park Saar'' startup incubator. The Saarland University also has a ''Centre Juridique Franco-Allemand'', offering a French and a German law degree program. The Botanischer Garten der Universität des Saarlandes (a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

) was closed in 2016 due to budget cuts. The main campus of the Saarland University also houses the office of the Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik computer science research and meeting centre. Furthermore, Saarbrücken houses the administration of the Franco-German University (''Deutsch-Französische Hochschule''), a French-German cooperation of 180 institutions of tertiary education mainly from France and Germany but also from Bulgaria, Canada, Spain, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Great Britain, Russia and Switzerland, which offers bi-national French-German degree programs and doctorates as well as tri-national degree programs. Saarbrücken houses several other institutions of tertiary education as well: * the University of Applied Sciences ''Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft des Saarlandes'', * the University of Arts ''Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar'', * the University of Music ''Hochschule für Musik Saar'', and * the private

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied art ...

for health promotion and

physical fitness Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous physical ...

''Deutsche Hochschule für Prävention und Gesundheitsmanagement'' * the Höhere Berufsfachschule für Wirtschaftsinformatik (HBFS-WI) providing higher vocational education and awarding the degree "Staatlich geprüfte(r) Wirtschaftsinformatiker(in)" (English: "state-examined business business informatics/software engineer") Saarbrücken also houses a Volkshochschule. With the end of coal mining in the Saar region, Saarbrücken's

for mining, the ''Fachhochschule für Bergbau Saar'', was closed at the beginning of the 21st century. The

Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as ''Treves'' (IPA "tɾivz") from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

, the ''Ludwigsgymnasium'', which was founded in 1604 as a latin school. The building of Saarbrücken's bi-lingual French-German ''Deutsch-Französisches Gymnasium'', founded in 1961 and operating as a laboratory school under the

Élysée Treaty The Élysée Treaty was a treaty of friendship between France and West Germany, signed by President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on 22 January 1963 at the Élysée Palace in Paris. With the signing of this treaty, Germa ...

, also houses the ''École française de Sarrebruck et Dilling'', a French primary school which offers bi-lingual German elements. Together with several

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

s offering bi-lingual French-German education, Saarbrücken thus offers a full bi-lingual French-German formal education.

Sport

The city is home to several different teams, most notable of which is association football team based at the

Ludwigsparkstadion Ludwigsparkstadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Saarbrücken, Germany. It was built in 1953 and holds 35,303 people. After renovation from 2016 to 2021 which costs about € 46,5 million (€ 16 million were previewed), the capacity is reduced to ...

, 1. FC Saarbrücken, which also has a

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

and a women's section. In the past a top-flight team, twice the country's vice-champions, and participant in European competitions, the club draws supporters from across the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. Lower league

SV Saar 05 Saarbrücken SV Saar 05 Saarbrücken is a German sports association based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The largest club in the state, it is best known for its athletics department, and also fields an association football team. History The club was founded a ...

is the other football team in the city. The Saarland Hurricanes are one of the top

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

teams in the country, with its junior team winning the German Junior Bowl in 2013. Various sporting events are held at the Saarlandhalle, most notable of which was the

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold, part of the

BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix BWF may refer to: Sports organisations Badminton * Badminton World Federation, an international governing body for badminton Professional wrestling * Brazilian Wrestling Federation, a Brazilian Professional wrestling promotion. * British Wrestling ...

tournaments, held in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and 2012.

International relations

Saarbrücken is a fellow member of the QuattroPole union of cities, along with

, and

(formed by cities from three neighbouring countries: Germany, Luxembourg and France).

Twin towns – sister cities

Saarbrücken is twinned with: * Cottbus, Germany (1987) *

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, France (1965) *

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

, Georgia (1975) Borough of Altenkessel is twinned with: *

Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Its population in 2019 was 992. Geography Coucy is located west of Laon on the road between Tergnier (north) and Soissons (south) north ...

, France Borough of Dudweiler is twinned with: * Saint-Avold, France Borough of Klarenthal is twinned with: * Schœneck, France

Friendly cities

Saarbrücken has friendly relations with: * Diriamba, Nicaragua Borough of Dudweiler has friendly relations with: * Duttweiler, a borough of

Neustadt an der Weinstraße Neustadt an der Weinstraße (, formerly known as ; lb, Neustadt op der Wäistrooss ; pfl, Naischdadt) is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,300 inhabitants , it is the largest town called ''Neustadt''. Geography Location T ...

, Germany

Notable people

Arts

Edmond Pottier Edmond François Paul Pottier (13 August 1855, Saarbrücken – 4 July 1934, Paris) was an art historian and archaeologist who was instrumental in establishing the Corpus vasorum antiquorum. He was a pioneering scholar in the study of Ancient Greek ...

(1855–1934), French art historian and archaeologist * Carl Röchling (1855–1920), painter and illustrator * Margot Benary-Isbert (1889–1979), author *

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer (; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls (; ), was a German-French film director who worked in Germany (1931–1933), France (1933–1940 and 1950–1957), and the United States (1947–1950). He made near ...

(1902–1957), film director * Wolfgang Staudte (1906–1984), film director * Otto Steinert (1915–1978), photographer * Frédéric Back (1924–2013), Canadian artist and film director of short animated films * Egbert Baqué (born 1952), gallerist, author and translator * Saskia Vester (born 1959), actress and author *

Sandra Cretu Sandra Ann Lauer (born 18 May 1962), commonly known under her stage name Sandra and Sandra Cretu (), is a Franco-German pop singer who enjoyed mainstream popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s with a string of European hit singles, produced b ...

(born 1962), singer *

Nicole Nicole may refer to: People * Nicole (name) * Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor'' * Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977) * Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Eurovi ...

(born 1964), singer *

Manfred Trenz Manfred Trenz (born 29 November 1965 in Saarbrücken) is a German video game developer. He is the developer of the '' Turrican'' video game series as well as the Commodore 64 version of the game ''R-Type is a horizontally scrolling sh ...

(born 1965), game designer *

Markus Zahnhausen Markus Zahnhausen (12 March 1965 – 17 April 2022) was a German recorder player and composer. Life Born in Saarbrücken, Zahnhausen studied at the with Hermann Elsner. He also learned Slavic studies and musicology at the University of Trie ...

(born 1965), recorder player KAS-Altmeier, Peter-Bild-6902-1

Public service

* Walther Poppelreuter (1886–1939), neurologist and psychiatrist * Alfred Sturm (1888–1962), lieutenant-general in the World War II * Hans Wagner (1896–1967), general lieutenant in the World War II *

Peter Altmeier Peter Altmeier (12 August 1899 – 28 August 1977) was a German politician ( Zentrum, later CDU). From 1947 to 1969, he was the Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate. He served as the President of the Bundesrat in 1954/55 and 1965/66. He ...

(1899–1977), politician * Walter Schellenberg (1910–1952), Senior German SS officer *

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

(1910–1989), politician (CDU) * Michel Antoine (1925–2015), French historian * Frederic Vester (1925–2003),

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of "biological ch ...

* Rudolf Arthur Pfeiffer (1931-2012), German geneticist. He discovered the Pfeiffer syndrome in 1964.

Sport

Adolf Kertész Adolf Kertész (15 March 1892 – November 1920; nicknamed "Kertész III") was a Hungarian footballer who played as a half back at both the professional level for MTK Budapest (winning the Hungarian League championship four times and the Hungar ...

(1892–1920), Hungarian footballer, settled in Saarbrücken * Gerd Peehs (born 1942), footballer *

Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (''née'' Kohde; born 11 December 1963) is a former German tennis player and member of the Die Linke. During her tennis career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won eight singles titles and a total of ...

(born 1963), tennis player and politician * Jonas Hector (born 1990), footballer * Lisa Klein (born 1996), cyclist

Honorary citizens

* Willi Graf (1918–1943), member of the White Rose resistance group * Tzvi Avni (born 1927), Israeli composer * Max Braun, (German Wiki) (1892–1945), politician and journalist, renown for his fight against

Nazism 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) i ...

, especially over the Saar status.

Gallery

File:RathausStJohannPhönixbrunnenL1030218 (2).JPG, Town Hall St. Johann File:20110818Stiftskirche St Arnual02.jpg, Stiftskirche St. Arnual File:Saarbrücken Schlosskirche (1890058076).jpg, Schlosskirche St. Nikolaus File:Friedenskirche03.jpg, ''Friedenskirche'', seen from '' Ludwigsplatz'' File:SaarbrückenStJohann1.jpg, St. John's Basilica File:Ludwigskirche Saarbruecken.JPG, Ludwigskirche File:Schloss Saarbruecken blaue Stunde.jpg, Saarbrücken Castle File:Saarbruecken-alte-brucke2.jpg, ''Alte Brücke'' (Old Bridge) File:Saarbrücken Staatstheater.jpg, Staatstheater (Theatre) File:St. Michael mit Rotenbergtreppe, Saarbrücken, 2008.jpg, St. Michael File:Saarbahn johanniskirche.jpg, ''Saarbahn'' tramway File:Saarbrücken HPF.jpg, The central station File:Flughafen Saarbruecken 001.jpg, Saarbrücken Airport File:Saarbrücken Hafenstraße.jpg, Saarbrücken, Harbour Road File:Saarbrücken-Bürgerpark.jpg, Bürgerpark File:Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, 2005.jpg, Campus of the Saarland University

References

External links

Official website

Official website

Saarbrücken-Ensheim Airport

Saarbrücken-Ensheim Airport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saarbrucken German state capitals Towns in Saarland Saarbrücken (district) Districts of the Rhine Province Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust