Saarbrücken, you might wonder where that is. Rightly so, because it’s not as famous as Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne (to only name a few cities in Germany). Saarbrücken is the capital of Saarland – which is one of 16 states (or “Bundesländer”) in Germany. This might still not ring a bell though because Saarland is not very famous either. The reason I wrote this post is not to bring your attention to something you might have already known, rather I’ve written it to show you a whole new region of Germany which is well-worth a visit and beautiful in its own right. I’m planning to write more posts about Saarland in the future – particularly about the food, because people in Saarland love their food.

I’m lucky enough to know this region very well because part of my family is from here, so I (try) to visit a couple of times every year.

Saarbrücken

The city is located right next to the French border; the town was actually separated from Germany twice in the 20th century. You can imagine how unique this city has become compared to all the other German cities. It used to be a city which thrived on the coal industry (my next post will be about the Völklingen Ironworks). Nowadays, it’s a hub for culture and arts.

You could arrange a day trip from the more famous towns of Trier, or Cologne to visit Saarbrücken. If you have time when you’re visiting these cities I would certainly advise you to. In the future, I will post more articles about the region. For now, I’ll sum up a few of the highlights of the city. These can easily be covered on foot in one day.

Ludwigskirche (Ludwig’s Church)

The Ludwigskirche is considered to be one of the most stylistically and aesthetically perfect Protestant baroque churches in Germany.

When I first approached the building from the back, it didn’t look like anything special. I’m not a church fiend (unless Christian Orthodox churches are involved) so when I saw the outside of the building I was scared I would be heading towards disappointment. Until I entered the building. My mind was blown. This sounds dramatic, but it’s kind of true. I’ve never seen a church with such a white interior. My pictures don’t do the whiteness any justice.

As I said, I approached the church from the back. That’s why I wasn’t impressed with the facade. When I left the church from the front, I saw the beauty of the area. The church still looks like a normal church, but all around it they’ve placed palace and civil servants’ houses which resemble the white baroque style from inside of the church.

Saarbrücken Schloss (Castle)

Saarbrücken Castle is the most un-castley castle I’ve ever seen (Dublin’s castle had a slightly newer building attached to the 13th century structure, but the newer part certainly wasn’t made of glass and steel). Even though the original castlewas founded in Saarbrücken in 999, it’s now a building completely made out of steel and glass. It was destroyed and rebuilt so many times, the original castle was obviously destroyed, and the newer baroque version of the castle as well. When a new architect was hired to rebuild the castle he decided to make it completely modern.

And there you have it, the most un-castley castle I’ve ever seen.

Funnily enough, right outside the castle there is also the most un-memorially memorial I’ve ever seen, namely the Invisible Memorial Square. It was created in 1993 by art students as an expression of tolerance and a warning against racism: 2,146 flagstones on the way to the castle were dug up and the names of Jewish cemeteries engraved on the back of them before they were replaced. So basically, the memorial is below the regular-looking driveway.

And there you have it, the most un-memorially memorial I’ve ever seen.

Schlossplatz (Castle Square)

The castle is surrounded by buildings which probably look the same way the castle used to look when it was designed by Stengel. He was instructed to harmonize all the buildings around the castle, but to have the castle remain the building which draws your eyes. Nowadays, it’s been completely redesigned (but you’re eyes are still drawn to it – not necessarily in a good way), but from the surroundings of the castle you get an idea of what it used to look like when Stengel created the Baroque-style castle.

Alte Brücke (Old Bridge)

This is one of the oldest remaining sights of the city. Don’t forget that Saarbrücken was heavily bombed during WWII so not much remains standing from the olden days.

This bridge is still standing strong since 1546.

There is some logic in my story, because when you leave the castle you can walk over the bridge to enter St. Johann which is where the shopping area is.

As I said before in my post about Circuit Wenzel in Luxembourg it seems that when there’s a bridge people feel the need to hang locks from it. Does anyone know why? If you do, leave it in the comments please!

The beautifully located Saarländisches Staatstheater is right across the water.

St. Johanner Markt (St. Johanner Market Square)

The St. Johann district is next to the Old Bridge. The St. Johanner Markt has little boutiques, bars, and restaurants which makes it the essence of Saarbrücken life. This is where you want to be for shopping (this area also connects to the main shopping strip called Bahnhofstrasse) and wining and dining.

Bergwerksdirektion

The last sight on this day trip was the old administration office of the “Saarbergwerke” (Saar Mining Company). This building has been re-purposed to a shopping walhalla called Europa Galleria. However, when you’re inside this building you can still see some of the historical parts of the buildings such as the tiled floor, the stairs, and the windows.

Conclusion

Saarbrücken is one of the only cities I have visited in Germany, which is shameful since I’m half-German but it’s also embarrassing because my other home country is its direct neighbour. I’ll try to see more of the country the upcoming years, now that I’m back in the Netherlands (I’m actually planning a trip to Düsseldorf soon).

That having been said, the positive effect of writing a blog is that you’re more mindful when you visit a city. Saarbrücken always seemed a bit dull to me, but it has suddenly become more interesting and unique. I’ll try to visit new places every time I visit my family in Germany so I can share more stories about the region with you. As I said in the introduction I’m also interested in writing about the food (and wine) in the region. So you’ll be hearing a lot more about Saarland in the (hopefully not too distant) future.