Saarburg (, ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

of the

Trier-Saarburg Trier-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 Merzig-Wadern (Saarland). To ...

district, in the state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, on the banks of the river

Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name * Sarr Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist * Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), E ...

in the hilly country a few kilometers upstream from the Saar's junction with the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

. Now known as a tourist attraction, the river Leuk flows into the town centre and makes a spectacular drop of some 60 feet before joining the larger Saar that bisects the town. The waterfall is the result of a 13th-century project to redirect the Leuk through the city centre. Saarburg is the seat of the ''

Verbandsgemeinde A (; plural ) is a low-level administrative division, administrative unit in the Germany, German States of Germany, federal states of Brandenburg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A is typically composed of a small group of Municipalitie ...

'' ("collective municipality") Saarburg-Kell. The area around Saarburg is noted for the cultivation of

Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

History

The history of the city begins with the construction of the now-ruined castle by Graf

Siegfried of Luxembourg Siegfried (or Sigfried) ( – 28 October 998) was count in the Ardennes, and is known in European historiography as founder and first ruler of the Castle of Luxembourg in 963 AD, and ancestor and predecessor of the future counts and dukes of L ...

in 964. It received its town charter in 1291. The city has a

bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

, the Glockengießerei Mabilion, which has been in operation since the 1770s, and the only one in Germany that produces

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

bells. From 1945 to 1948 Saarburg was occupied by troops from

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. From 18 July 1946 to 6 June 1947 Onsdorf, in its then municipal boundary, formed part of the

Saar Protectorate The Saar Protectorate ( ; ), officially Saarland (), was a short-lived French protectorate and a disputed territory separated from Germany. On joining the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG/West Germany) in 1957, it became the smallest "federal ...

. French troops complemented the occupation until 1955. Saarburg has a proud history with bells, being the producers of bells for many German cathedrals.

Gallery

File:Saarburg, Burg, Ober- und Unterstadt Dm positie2 foto8 2017-05-29 11.18.jpg, Saarburg, castle, Ober- und Unterstadt File:Saarburg, die Katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Laurentius Dm1 met de Moezel op de voorgrond foto32017-05-29 11.36.jpg, Catholic church (Pfarrkirche Sankt Laurentius) File:Saarburg, die evangelische Pfarrkirche Dm met boot in Moesel en brug foto3 2017-05-29 11.25.jpg, Reformed church and the river Saar File:EvKircheSaarburgGlasfensterChorfenster.png, Stained glass by Werner Persy in the Protestant Church Saarburg

Twin towns — sister cities

Saarburg is twinned with: *

Sarrebourg Sarrebourg (; also , ; Lorraine Franconian: ; older ) is a commune of northeastern France. In 1895 a Mithraeum was discovered at Sarrebourg at the mouth of the pass leading from the Vosges Mountains. Geography Sarrebourg is located in the ...

, France (1952) * Soulac-sur-Mer, France (1972)

Born in Saarburg

* Marianne Baum (1912–1942), resistance fighter against Nazism * Alexander von Warsberg (1836–1889), Austrian government official and travel writer

References

External links

Saarburg homepage

Account of a Saarburg visit, with much detail

Websites in Saarburg
964 establishments Towns in Rhineland-Palatinate Trier-Saarburg 10th-century establishments in Germany {{TrierSaarburg-geo-stub