Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

of the state of

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest 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 the smallest in ...

, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commercial and cultural centre. It is located on the Saar River (a tributary of the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) 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 joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

), directly borders the French department of

, and is Germany's second-westernmost state capital after

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. The modern city of Saarbrücken was created in 1909 by the merger of the three cities of Saarbrücken (now called ''Alt-Saarbrücken''), St. Johann a. d. Saar, 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 * Sarr 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). Saarbrücken has an international airport ('' Flughafen Saarbrücken'') in the borough of Saarbrücken-Ensheim. The main campus of the University of the Saarland (''Universität des Saarlandes'') is located within the city forest of Saarbrücken-St. Johann, while the university hospital (''Universitätsklinikum des Saarlandes'') can be found in Homburg. The public broadcaster of the Saarland,

Saarländischer Rundfunk (; "Saarland Broadcasting"), shortened to SR (), is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster serving the German States of Germany, state of Saarland. With headquarters in the Halberg Broadcasting House in Saarbrücken, SR i ...

(''Saarlandian Broadcasting''), has its seat on the Halberg Mountain in Saarbrücken-Brebach-Fechingen, and its transmission mast (''Sendemast Halberg'') can be seen from afar. In the 20th century, Saarbrücken was twice separated from Germany: from 1920 to 1935 as capital of the

Territory of the Saar Basin The Territory of the Saar Basin (, ; ) was a region occupied and governed by the United Kingdom and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate. It had its own flag (adopted on 28 July 1920): a blue, white, and black horizontal t ...

and from 1947 to 1956 as capital of the

Saar Protectorate The Saar Protectorate ( ; ), officially Saarland (), was a short-lived French protectorate and a disputed territory separated from Germany. On joining the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG/West Germany) in 1957, it became the smallest "federal ...

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 Foot ...

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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 a mountain near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, between the rivers Weser River, Weser and Elbe. The highest peak in the Harz mountain range, and in Northern Germany, ...

'' (which means ''rock'' or ''boulder'') in

High German The High German languages (, i.e. ''High German dialects''), or simply High German ( ) – not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Ben ...

. 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; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

word ''Brucca'' , meaning ''bridge'', or more precisely a corduroy road, 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 The Mediomatrici (Gaulish: ''*Medio-māteres'') were according to Caesar a Gaulish tribe at the frontier to the Belgicae dwelling in the present-day regions Lorraine, Upper Moselle during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are ...

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 ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. From the first century AD to the fifth century, there was the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

settlement called ''vicus Saravus'' west of Saarbrücken's ''Halberg'' hill, on the

roads A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. The ...

from

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

and from

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. 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 A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

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 ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

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 peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...

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 file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

towards the end of the fifth century. In the sixth century, the

Merovingians The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

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 Bishopric of Metz may refer to: *Roman Catholic Diocese of Metz The Diocese of Metz (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. In the Middle Ages it was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Emp ...

. Between 601 and 609, Bishop Arnual founded a community of clerics, a ''

Stift The term (; ) is derived from the verb (to donate) and originally meant 'a donation'. Such donations usually comprised earning assets, originally landed estates with serfs defraying dues (originally often in kind) or with vassal tenants of noble ...

'', 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 Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was cr ...

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'' as a

fief A fief (; ) 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 of feudal alle ...

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

slighting Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative, or social structures. This destruction of property is sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It ...

of Saarbrücken because of a

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

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. It developed du ...

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

Emperor Charles V Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) 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, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

, the ''Ludwigsgymnasium''. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, 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, 1672 to 1678, was primarily fought by Kingdom of France, France and the Dutch Republic, with both sides backed at different times by a variety of allies. Related conflicts include the 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and ...

, 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. 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

'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 Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

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 (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

'' (1754), and the famous '' Ludwigskirche'' (1775), Saarbrücken's landmark.

19th century

In 1793, Saarbrücken was captured by French Revolutionary troops and in the treaties of Campo Formio and Lunéville, the county of Saarbrücken was ceded to France. After 1815 Saarbrücken became part of the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost Provinces of Prussia, 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 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 The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, 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 of ...

on 6 August 1870. Saarbrücken would remain the only German territory occupied by French forces during the conflict.

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 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 (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

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 Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

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 was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

(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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The treaty also provided for a

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In total 1,234 people (1.1 percent of the population) in Saarbrücken were killed in bombing raids from 1942 to 1945. 11,000 homes were destroyed and 75 percent of the city left in ruins. Today more than a third of the city consists of buildings from before 1945. The British

(RAF) raided Saarbrücken at least 10 times. Often employing

area bombing In military aviation, area bombardment or area bombing is a type of aerial bombardment in which bombs are dropped over the general area of a target. The term "area bombing" came into prominence during World War II. Area bombing is a form of str ...

, the RAF used a 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 (; , ; formerly Sarre-Libre and Saarlautern) is a town in Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis (district), Saarlouis. In 2020, the town had a population of 34,409. Saarlouis is located on the river Saar (river), Saar. ...

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 Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

for their actions during the bombing run on 9 November 1944. 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 (= western bulwark)'', was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the border with the ...

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 (; ), named after the Minister of War (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, France in the 1930s to deter invas ...

during the

Phoney War The Phoney War (; ; ) was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II during which there were virtually no Allied military land operations on the Western Front from roughly September 1939 to May 1940. World War II began on 3 Septembe ...

. The 276th Infantry Regiment attacked

Forbach Forbach ( , , ; ) 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 constitutes a ...

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 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 The French occupation zone in Germany (, ) was one of the Allied-occupied Germany, Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. Background In the aftermath of the Second World War, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph S ...

. In 1947, France created the nominally politically independent

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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

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 () 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 the understanding of the myth ...

exhibition next to Saarbrücken Castle, resulting in minor damage to the

Volkshochschule Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and ...

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 divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

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

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

Region

Some of the closest cities are

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, Nancy,

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

and

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

. Saarbrücken is connected by the city's public transport network to the town of Sarreguemines in France, and to the neighboring town of

Völklingen Völklingen (; , Moselle Franconian: ''Välglinge'') is a town in the district of Saarbrücken, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx. 10 km west of Saarbrücken, and directly borders France. The town is known for ...

, where the old steel works were the first industrial monument to be declared a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

by UNESCO in 1994 – the Völklinger Hütte.

Demographics

Saarbrücken has a population of about 180,000. In 1957, when

and Saarbrücken transformed to

and became a part of

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, it had a population of about 125,000. In 1960s many

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

guest workers came to Saarbrücken, since then Italians are the largest number of foreigners in Saarbrücken. The 2nd largest foreign groups are the

French people French people () are a nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common Culture of France, French culture, History of France, history, and French language, language, identified with the country of France. The French people, esp ...

due to its former part of France and the fact that Saarbrücken is located on the French border. Saarbrücken reached its highest number of population in 1975 when it had about 205,000 people. With population of about 180,000 people today Saarbrücken is the 2nd smallest German state capital after

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Saarbrücken is Uwe Conradt 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 Form ...

, 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 (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

, 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 (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

, 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 (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazine ...

, 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,

(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 Free Voters (, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These a ...

(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 Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

high speed train services along the

LGV Est The Ligne à Grande Vitesse Est européenne (East European High Speed Line), typically shortened to LGV Est, is a French high-speed rail line that connects Vaires-sur-Marne (near Paris) and Vendenheim (near Strasbourg). The line halved the tra ...

line provide high speed connections to Paris from Saarbrücken Hauptbahnhof. Saarbrücken's Saarbahn (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 in ...

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

) crosses the French–German border, connecting to the French city of Sarreguemines.

Science and education

Saarbrücken is also the home of the main campus of

Saarland University Saarland University (, ) is a public research university located in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland. It was founded in 1948 in Homburg in co-operation with France and is organized in six faculties that cover all major ...

(''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 Informatics (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik'', abbreviated ''MPI-INF'' or ''MPII'') is a research institute in computer science with a focus on algorithms and their applications in a broad sense. It host ...

, * the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, * the

Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (; ; 31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894; "von" since 1883) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The ...

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 of science that develops methods and Bioinformatics software, software tools for understanding biological data, especially when the data sets are large and complex. Bioinformatics uses biology, ...

, * 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, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

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. is ...

) 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 A vocational university or university of applied sciences (UAS), less commonly called a polytechnic university is an institution of higher education and increasingly research that provides applied professional education and grants academic de ...

''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 (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...

for

health promotion Health promotion is, as stated in the 1986 World Health Organization (WHO) Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, the "process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health." Scope The WHO's 1986 Ottawa Charter for ...

and

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

''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

. 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's ''Katholische Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit'', a Fachhochschule for social work, was closed in 2008 for cost cutting reasons. The Saarland's Fachhochschule for administrative personnel working for the government, the ''Fachhochschule für Verwaltung des Saarlandes'', was moved from Saarbrücken to ''Göttelborn'' in 2012. Saarbrücken houses several institutions of primary and secondary education. Notable is the Saarland's oldest

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 Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, the ''Ludwigsgymnasium'', which was founded in 1604 as a

latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Other terms used include Lateinschule in Germany, or later Gymnasium. Latin schools were also established in Colon ...

. The building of Saarbrücken's bi-lingual French-German '' Deutsch-Französisches Gymnasium'', founded in 1961 and operating as a

laboratory school A laboratory school or demonstration school is an elementary or secondary school operated in association with a university, college, or other teacher education institution and used for the training of future teachers, educational experimentatio ...

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, Germ ...

, 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. The stadium was built in 1953 and once held 35,303 people. After renovation, which lasted from 2016 to 2021 and cost €46.5M, the capacity has been reduced to around 16,000 ...

1. FC Saarbrücken 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken () is a German Football in Germany, football club based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club plays in the 3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany. History The club began its existence as the footbal ...

, which also has a

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

and a women's section. In the past a top-flight team, twice the country's vice-champions,5-time DFB Pokal Semi-finalists and was a participant in

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, the club draws supporters from across the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. Lower league SV Saar 05 Saarbrücken 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 and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold, part of the

BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix The BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was run from 2007 to 2017. Features Prize money A Grand Prix Gold tournament offered minimum prize money of United St ...

tournaments, held in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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: *

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, France (1965) *

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, Georgia (1975) *

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

, Germany (1987) *

Kovel Kovel (, ; ; ) is a city in Volyn Oblast, northwestern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kovel Raion within the oblast. Population: Kovel gives its name to one of the oldest runic inscriptions which were lost during World War I ...

, Ukraine (2023) Borough of Altenkessel is twinned with: * Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique, France Borough of Dudweiler is twinned with: *

Saint-Avold Saint-Avold (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Sänt Avuur'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated east of Metz, France and southwest of Saarbrücken, Germany. History The Saint-Avold area ha ...

, 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 (German for ''new town'' or ''new city'') may refer to: Places * Neustadt (urban district) Czech Republic *Neustadt an der Mettau, Nové Město nad Metují *Neustadt an der Tafelfichte, Nové Město pod Smrkem * Nové Město na Mo ...

, Germany

Notable people

Arts

* Frédéric Back (1924–2013), Canadian artist and film director of short animated films * Egbert Baqué (born 1952), gallerist, author and translator * Margot Benary-Isbert (1889–1979), author *Andreas Bettinger (born 1980), German

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

ist, also known for his influence on dungeon synth. *

Ingrid Caven Ingrid Caven (born 3 August 1938) is a German film actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in several films directed by her husband, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, including '' Love Is Colder Than Death'' (1969), '' Why Does Herr R. Run Am ...

(born 1938), actress * Sandra Cretu (born 1962), singer * Nicole (born 1964), singer *

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...

(1902–1957), film director *

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 Pottery of A ...

(1855–1934), French art historian and archaeologist *

Carl Röchling Carl Röchling (October 18, 1855 – May 6, 1920) was a Germans, German Painting, painter and illustrator known for his representation of historical military themes. Life Röchling was born in Saarbrücken, part of the Prussian Rhine Provin ...

(1855–1920), painter and illustrator * Wolfgang Staudte (1906–1984), film director * Otto Steinert (1915–1978), photographer * Manfred Trenz (born 1965), game designer * Saskia Vester (born 1959), actress and author * Markus Zahnhausen (born 1965), recorder player

Public service

* Peter Altmeier (1899–1977), politician (Centre, CDU) * Michel Antoine (1925–2015), French historian * Rudolf Arthur Pfeiffer (1931–2012), German geneticist. He discovered the Pfeiffer syndrome in 1964. * Walther Poppelreuter (1886–1939), neurologist and psychiatrist * Alfred Sturm (1888–1962), lieutenant general in World War II *

Rudolf Schmeer Rudolf Jakob Schmeer (16 March 1905 – 11 September 1966) was a German Nazi Party politician. He held a number of Party and government positions during the Third Reich, and worked very closely with high ranking Nazis such as Robert Ley, Hermann ...

(1905–1966), politician (NSDAP) and civil servant *

Walter Schellenberg Walter Friedrich Schellenberg (16 January 1910 – 31 March 1952) was a German Schutzstaffel, SS functionary during the Nazi era. He rose through the ranks of the SS, becoming one of the highest ranking men in the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) and ...

(1910–1952), senior SS officer *

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

(1910–1989), politician (CDU) * 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 (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

* Hans Wagner (1896–1967), lieutenant general in World War II

Sport

* Christian Hohenadel (born 1976), racing driver * Jonas Hector (born 1990), footballer * Adolf Kertész (1892–1920), Hungarian footballer, settled in Saarbrücken * Werner Klein (born 1950), racing driver and entrepreneur *

Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Claudia Kohde-Kilsch ( 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 25 dou ...

(born 1963), tennis player and politician * Lisa Klein (born 1996), cyclist * Gerd Peehs (born 1942), footballer

Honorary citizens

* Tzvi Avni (born 1927), Israeli composer * Max Braun, (German Wiki) (1892–1945), politician and journalist, renown for his fight against

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, especially over the Saar status. *

Willi Graf Wilhelm "Willi" Graf (2 January 1918 – 12 October 1943) was a German member of the White Rose resistance group in Nazi Germany. The Catholic Church in Germany included Graf in their list of martyrs of the 20th century. In 2017, his cause for ...

(1918–1943), member of the

White Rose The White Rose (, ) was a Nonviolence, non-violent, intellectual German resistance to Nazism, resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students and one professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, University of Munich ...

resistance group

Gallery

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:Saarbruecken-alte-brucke2.jpg, ''Alte Brücke'' (Old Bridge) File:Saarbrücken Staatstheater b.jpg, '' Staatstheater'' (State Theatre) File:St. Michael mit Rotenbergtreppe, Saarbrücken, 2008.jpg, St. Michael File:Saarbahn johanniskirche.jpg, ''Saarbahn'' tramway File:Saarbrücken HPF.jpg, Central station File:Flughafen Saarbruecken 001.jpg, Saarbrücken Airport File:Saarbrücken Hafenstraße.jpg, Harbour Road File:Saarbrücken-Bürgerpark.jpg, ''Bürgerpark'' File:Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, 2005.jpg, Campus of

File:20130829St Johanner Markt.jpg, ''St. Johanner Markt''

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Saarbrücken-Ensheim Airport

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