History

The historical origins of Saarbrücken can be found in the ancient world. After the Celts, the Romans came into the area. At the foot of the Halberg, the remaining parts of a heathenish Mithraic temple are still visible.

Der St. Johanner Markt mit Brunnen 1957. Foto: Gerd Kugelgen/LPM - Landesbildstelle Saarland im LPM Saarland

On the Sonnenberg, a Celtic refuge fort has been excavated. Near the Saar river, in today’s eastern part of the town, the trading routes of Metz-Worms and Treves-Strasbourg crossed. In the third century, there was a prospering Roman settlement in this area (vicus). There was also a bridge over the Saar river, which had been secured by a castle. In 999, the castle “sarabruca” was documented for the first time, which also explains the name of the town: “bruca” comes from the Germanic word “bruco”, which means “moor”, and which designated the wetlands nearby.

Today’s big town of Saarbrücken was founded in 1909 by merging the baroque style Alt-Saarbrücken, the middle-class emporium St. Johann and the industrial Malstatt-Burbach.

Today, the historical buildings of the master builder Friedrich Joachim Stengel are the evidence of the baroque era. The three nicest squares of Saarbrücken - Schlossplatz, Ludwigsplatz and St. Johanner Markt - are the cornerstones of the Stengel town arrangement. Opposite to the baroque castle, the middle classes of the period of promoterism have left their architectural traces. The town hall of St. Johann, which has been built by Georg vono Hauberrisser in a neo-Gothic style, is particularly impressive.