Merzig-Wadern is a ''Kreis'' (

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

) in the northwest of the

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west 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 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Neighboring districts are

Trier-Saarburg Trier-Saarburg (; lb, Landkrees Tréier-Saarburg ) is a district in the west of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north and clockwise) Bitburg-Prüm, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Birkenfeld, Sankt Wendel (Saarland), and ...

Sankt Wendel Sankt Wendel is a town in northeastern Saarland. It is situated on the river Blies 36 km northeast of Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland, and is named after Saint Wendelin of Trier. According to a survey by the German Association for Ho ...

, Saarlouis, the French ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' Moselle, and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

History

The district was created in 1816 when the area became property of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the Saar area was under special government of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

, which split the district into two. The area around Wadern stayed Prussian, while the Merzig area became part of the Saar area. In 1935, the Saar area rejoined Germany; however, it took till after the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

that the two parts of the district were reunited in 1946.

Geography

The river Saar flows through the district, the Moselle forms the boundary in the west to

Coat of arms

The coat of arms show the symbols of those countries which had possessions in the district's area. The top-left show the cross of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

, the top-right those of

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

. The wolf hook in the bottom-left represents

Dagstuhl Dagstuhl is a computer science research center in Germany, located in and named after a district of the town of Wadern, Merzig-Wadern, Saarland. Location Following the model of the mathematical center at Oberwolfach, the center is installed i ...

, which owned Wadern; the lion in the bottom-right stands for

, which owned the western part of the district.

Towns and municipalities

Education

Primary schools

* Primary school Dreiländereck Perl * Primary school Langwies of the municipality Mettlach * Primary school Orscholz * Nicolaus-Voltz primary school Losheim * Primary school Bachem-Britten * Primary school elections * Primary school Düppenweiler * Primary school Beckingen * Primary school Reimsbach * Primary school Kreuzberg (Merzig) * Primary school Merzig-Besseringen * Primary school Merzig-Brotdorf * Primary school Merzig-Hilbringen * Primary School Saargau (Schwemlingen) * Primary School St. Josef (Merzig) * Primary school St. Martin Wadrill-Steinberg with the locations Wadrill and Steinberg * Primary school Nunkirchen with the locations Nunkirchen and Bardenbach * Primary school Lockweiler * Primary school Konfeld Grammar schools * German-Luxembourgish Schengen Lyceum Perl * Gymnasium am Stefansberg (GaS) * Oberstufen-Gymnasium of the BBZ 'Merzig subdivided into the faculties health and social affairs as well as economics * Peter Wust Gymnasium (PWG) * Hochwald-Gymnasium Wadern

Community schools

* Community school Orscholz * Peter Dewes Community School Losheim am See * Friedrich Bernhard Karcher School Beckingen * Christian Kretzschmar School Merzig * Count Anton School Wadern * Eichenlaubschule Weiskirchen

Special schools

* Special Education Learning Losheim * School zum Broch, special school mental development Merzig-Merchingen * Special school for learning disabled people Merzig-Brotdorf * Special School Learning Wadern