History Museum Saar by Nemorino
The entrance to the History Museum is right next to the palace on Schlossplatz. It looks somewhat like a Quonset hut, and doesn't seem to be very large from the outside, but it is actually quite huge since most of it is under ground, incorporating the remains of a medieval tower and ramparts which have been excavated over the past eighty years. The museum was built essentially on top of the historical remains, to protect and preserve them. Further excavations have now begun on the square in front of the museum and the palace.
In addition to the archeological remains, the museum includes detailed exhibits on the history of this region over the past thousand years, but paying special attention to the past century: the First and Second World Wars, the Nazi dictatorship and the development of the Saarland over the past fifty years.
When I was there they also had a very thoughtful and balanced special exhibit on the referendum of 1955, when the people of the Saarland again voted to re-join Germany.
To get the most out of this museum you would have to understand German, since there are very few texts in any other language, not even in French even though the border is just a few kilometers a way.
The museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 12 noon to 6 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
Admission is EUR 2.50 for the permanent exhibit (1.50 if you get a reduction) and EUR 3.00 for the special exhibits (also 1.50 reduced). Or you can get a combination ticket for EUR 4.00 which gets you into everything.
Second photo: Inside the History Museum.
Third photo: Remains of an old wall, in the museum.
