History
The state capital of the Saarland region reaches a major milestone in its long and somewhat chequered history as it celebrates a very special anniversary this year. In 1909 the baroque town of Saarbrücken merged with the market town of St. Johann and the industrial town of Malstatt/Burbach to create the city of Saarbrücken - this calls for a celebration! From April to October Saarbrücken will be hosting various festivities under the slogan “100 years of Saarbrücken City” to mark the occasion. Events will range from concerts to local history lectures.
But the history of Saarbrücken goes back much further. First the Celts, then the Romans settled in the area. A pagan mithraic temple was discovered at the foot of the Halberg Mountain and now remains preserved as a ruin. A Celtic hillfort was unearthed on top of the Sonnenberg Hill. On the River Saar, to the east of the present-day town, lay the crossroads of two main trade routes: one running between Metz and Worms, the other between Trier and Strasbourg. In the third century a flourishing Roman settlement (vicus) used to stand on this site and a bridge protected by a fort once crossed the Saar River. The existence of Saarbrücken was first documented in 999 under the name “Castellum Sarabrucca”.
Visitors exploring the town on the river Saar will be lead past the mediaeval castle and will soon discover works of the great baroque architect Friedrich Joachim Stengel at every turn. He shaped the look and feel of the town like no other. The three prettiest squares in Saarbrücken are the Schlossplatz, Ludwigsplatz and the St. Johanner Market Square. They act as focal points in Stengel’s urban concept. The bourgeois buildings from the Gründerzeit, the so-called “Founding Epoch” in Germany, form a contrast to the baroque castle. The Neo-Gothic Rathaus St. Johann, Saarbrücken’s town hall, was designed by the architect Georg von Hauberisser and boasts an impressive 50-metre high tower.
