thumb|290px|Location of Saarbrücken within the Saarland

Saarbrücken is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. The city 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), and directly borders the French department of Moselle.

The city has an international airport, Saarbrücken Airport, in the borough of Saarbrücken-Ensheim. The main campus of the Saarland University is located within the city forest of Saarbrücken-St. Johann. The public broadcaster of the Saarland, Saarländischer Rundfunk, has its seat on the Halberg Mountain in Saarbrücken-Brebach-Fechingen.

Historic landmarks in the city include the stone bridge across the Saar (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).

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. The city 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 word sara (streaming water), and the Roman name of the river, Saravus.

There are two hypotheses about the origin of the second part of the name Saarbrücken. Most popular states that the historical name of the town, Sarabrucca, derived from the Celtic word briga (hill, or rock, big stone Another opinion holds that the historical name of the town, Sarabrucca, derived from the Old High German 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

thumb|left|Ruins of the [[Castra|Roman camp Römerkastell]]

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.

thumb|right|The [[mithraeum|Mithras shrine at Halberg hill]]

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 to Worms and from Trier to Strasbourg.

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 was constructed at the foot of Halberg hill

In 1321/1322 The Royal Air Force 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 (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. The treaty also provided for a plebiscite, 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.

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 Royal Air Force (RAF) raided Saarbrücken at least 10 times. Often employing area bombing, 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. On 28 August 1942, 113 RAF planes raided Saarbrücken doing comparatively little damage due to widely scattered bombing.

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. The US 70th Infantry Division was tasked with punching through the Siegfried Line 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 during the Phoney War. The 276th Infantry Regiment attacked Forbach 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. 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. 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.

Geography

Climate

Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).

Region

Some of the closest cities are Trier, Luxembourg, Nancy, Metz, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe and Mannheim. Saarbrücken is connected by the city's public transport network to the town of Sarreguemines 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 by UNESCO in 1994 – the Völklinger Hütte.

Demographics

Saarbrücken has a population of about 180,000. In 1957, when Saar Protectorate and Saarbrücken transformed to Saarland and became a part of West Germany, it had a population of about 125,000. In 1960s many Italian 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 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.

{|class="wikitable" style="float:right;"

|+Largest groups of foreign residents

|-

! Country of birth ||Population (2022)

|-

| || 4,051

|-

| || 2,492

|-

| || 2,345

|-

| || 2,138

|-

| || 1,755

|-

| || 1,524

|-

| || 1,346

|-

| || 1,230

|-

| || 1,176

|-

| || 1,083

|-

| || 1,000

|-

|}

Politics

Mayor

thumb|300px|Results of the second round of the 2019 mayoral election

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

| 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

| 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

| 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 round, 2nd round)

|}

City council

thumb|300px|Winning party by precinct in the 2019 city council election

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| Social Democratic Party (SPD)

| 18,462

| 25.2

| 5.2

| 17

| 3

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (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| Alternative for Germany (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). However, the airport only provides direct routes to limited destinations. The nearest larger international airport is Frankfurt Airport, located north east of the city centre.

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 (modelled on the Karlsruhe model light rail) 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 (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 Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS),
  • the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-destructive Testing,
  • the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence,
  • the centre for Bioinformatics,
  • the Europa-Institut,
  • the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Europe Research Society,
  • the Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM),
  • the Intel Visual Computing Institute (2009-2019),
  • the CISPA Helmholtz 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) 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 for health promotion and physical fitness 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 Fachhochschule 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, 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, also houses the École française de Sarrebruck et Dilling, a French primary school which offers bi-lingual German elements. Together with several Kindergartens offering bi-lingual French-German education, Saarbrücken thus offers a full bi-lingual French-German formal education.

Sport

thumb|[[Ludwigsparkstadion]]

The city is home to several different teams, most notable of which is association football team based at the Ludwigsparkstadion, 1. FC Saarbrücken, which also has a reserve team 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 club draws supporters from across the region.

Lower league SV Saar 05 Saarbrücken is the other football team in the city.

The Saarland Hurricanes are one of the top American football 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 Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold, part of the BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix tournaments, held in 2013 and 2012.

International relations

thumb|255px|right|Tbilisser Platz, Saarbrücken named after [[Tbilisi, Georgia]]

Saarbrücken is a fellow member of the QuattroPole union of cities, along with Luxembourg, Metz, and Trier (formed by cities from three neighbouring countries: Germany, Luxembourg and France).

Twin towns – sister cities

Saarbrücken is twinned with:

  • Nantes, France (1965)
  • Tbilisi, Georgia (1975) <i>(suspended due to political developments in Georgia)</i>
  • Cottbus, Germany (1987)
  • Kovel, Ukraine (2023)

Borough of Altenkessel is twinned with:

  • Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique, France

Borough of Dudweiler is twinned with:

  • Saint-Avold, France

Borough of Klarenthal is twinned with:

  • Diriamba, Nicaragua

Borough of Dudweiler has friendly relations with:

  • Egbert Baqué (born 1952), gallerist, author and translator
  • Margot Benary-Isbert (1889–1979), author
  • Ingrid Caven (born 1938), actress
  • Inéz (born 1990), singer
  • Sandra Cretu (born 1962), singer
  • Nicole (born 1964), singer
  • Max Ophüls (1902–1957), film director
  • Edmond Pottier (1855–1934), French art historian and archaeologist
  • Rolf Riehm (1937–2026), composer, oboist and academic teacher
  • Carl Röchling (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

140px|thumb|Peter Altmeier, 1963

Public service

  • Peter Altmeier (1899–1977), politician (Centre, CDU)
  • Michel Antoine (1925–2015), French historian
  • Karl-Heinz Paque (born 1956), politician (FDP)
  • 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 (1905–1966), politician (NSDAP) and civil servant
  • Walter Schellenberg (1910–1952), senior SS officer
  • Gerhard Schröder (1910–1989), politician (CDU)
  • Frederic Vester (1925–2003), biochemist
  • Hans Wagner (1896–1967), lieutenant general in World War II

Sport

140px|thumb|Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, 2012

  • 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 (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, especially over the Saar status.
  • Willi Graf (1918–1943), member of the White Rose resistance group

<gallery mode=packed>

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 Saarland University

File:20130829St Johanner Markt.jpg|St. Johanner Markt

</gallery>

Notes

References

  • Official website
  • Saarbrücken-Ensheim Airport
  • Saarbrücken-Ensheim Airport