So, let me take you out of my belle France into our old neighbor of Germany. I have been here several times ,university alumni living there, and family ties by marriage. The country was not far from me while living in Versailles so easy trips there. Once moved to Bretagne we did went renting a house in the Saar region and traveling as base all over. It was a memorable trip.
I have taken those photos and updated the text to bring back these memories of family trips in Europe, in the Saar of Germany, and in Saarbrucken. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading.
We came down to a new city for all, Saarbrucken. I wanted to see it simply because there they build my FORD !!!(actually in Saarlouis but you see the factory on the road) and I am a FORD men!!! We drove from our home base in Oberemmel on the national road B51/E29/620, fast and little traffic! all the way to Saarbrucken and along the way finding new towns one we later came back to it! We came into the nice parking at Europahalle shopping center at Trierer street, here https://www.q-park.de/de/bei-q-park-parken/stadt/saarbrucken
Saarbrucken is in the frontier state of Saar,the smallest of the German states in area and population so they said. Very well connected at the cross roads of Europe and easy to France. It goes by the French expressways or autoroute A4 to Paris by the A320, and the Germans A1 to Koln , A6 to Luxembourg, Mannheim, and the A8. It is 392 km from Paris and 728 km from Berlin and 308 km from Brussels. Very close to Luxembourg at 99 km. The A620 is an urban road that we took and very nice . To Strasbourg by the A1 linking with the A4 . You can go around the city sort of like a beltway on the A8 and come into the city by the A1, A623 and A620. As said this later one is nice and is along the Saar river and goes thru the city center of Saarbrucken.
It is by train on the TGV/ICE line Paris-Frankfurt and regional French and German trains as well as an airport 9 km from the city. The TER trains are been financed by the Lorraine of France and Saar of Germany. There is a tramway stop at Sarreguemines. A special Saarbahn is a tram train transfrontier connecting Lebach in the Saar to Sarreguemines in the Lorraine long of 44 km with a stop at Saarbrucken.
A bit of history I like
Saarbrucken was mentioned for the first time in 999AD and its origins comes from the Celts and Romans. At the Middle Ages the city was the capital of the county by the same name created in the 11C from Saargau that became the possession of the Counts of Saarbrucken of the House of Nassau-Weilbourg in 1381 until the French revolution. French revolutionary troops occupied the town in 1793, and was annexed to the French Republic and later Empire by the Treaties of Campo Formio in 1797 and Lunéville in 1801.
In 1815 with the Treaty of Vienna ;Saarbrücken becomes Prussian. The war of 1870 saw the town changing hands with the French building fortifications on the heights of Spicheren that comes down to Saarbrucken. The town is attacked and the Prussians take the town. After the treaty of Versailles of 1919, the Saar territory is place under an international administration for 15 years and Under the Society of Nations (UN later) Under French control, the capital was Saarbrucken. In 1940, the French department of the Moselle was attached to the region of Gau where Saarbrücken was the main city and took the name of Gau Westmark. The protectorate after WWII allows for the French to administered the region of the Saar, and was not part of Germany from 1947 with its own constitution. After ,the integration into West Germany or the Federal Republic of Germany , Saarbrucken becomes the capital of the State of Saar.
Many things to see here and all walkable, we did a lot of walking once parked underground and it is great. We always said the best way to see a city is to walk.
We went into the old palace square or Schlossplatz full of museums from casements ,history, regional arts, and the old city hall; we climb the old walls of the old castle and saw breathtaking views of the Saar river below.
We went around to see St Jakobs Church, old city hall or Rathaus ,museum of Sacred Arts, Basilica St John, the new city hall and tourist office, St John’s Church, Ludwig’s Church, old palace or castle of Saarbrucken, Historical museum and underground casements, regional Saarland museum of objects found in the area;old castle walls. Also, the Parliament of the Saar building, St Michael Church , the market of St John, and the French consulate building. There is an interesting National Theater of the Saar with 3 rooms, in German they are Staatstheater, Alte Feuerwache and Sparte. The Staatstheater, is located along the Saar river and was built in 1937/38 as a gift from the National Socialist regime (Nazis) to the Saar following the referendum of 1935 that annexed the Saar to the third reich. You can see the nice Saar museum or Archeological museum as well as the nice gardens of the castle that was originally in terraces to the Saar river and was arranged in a baroque garden between 1760 and 1765.
We did our shopping at the Europa Galerie, and visited our favorite Galerie Kaufhof, as well as had our lunch in the Europa Galerie at a German bakery chain and salon de thé , the Bäckerhaus Ecker. All easily found walking and enjoy it the walks in city center nice shops and bars!
Some webpages to help you plan your trip here are
The tourist office in English for the city is here : http://www.saarbruecken.de/en/tourism/saarbruecken/sights
Saarland tourist page on Saarbrucken: https://www.visitsaarland.co.uk/Media/Cities/Saarbruecken
There you go a nice town on a beautiful silhouette of the Saar river , great shopping! and nice architecture. You can spend a quick whole day here or two as we came back again for another look on same family trip. Enjoy Saarbrucken, Saar of Germany.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 