Saarbrücken Favorites

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Favorite thing: Saabrücken is definitely a city of churches. They have all sizes and shapes, and you'll even find them when you least expect it! I remember talking to my German teacher while living in SB, and he told me that from his appartment who could actually see 9 church towers, which is quite nice if you ask me! In any case I haven't been able to find information on all of them, sadly. One of my favourite churches in SB was St. Michael, situated in the Nauwieserviertel. What I liked most about it was it's very unusual shape and inside!

Favorite thing: As its own name explains, Saarbrücken is filled with bridges that cross the river, and many of these are worth taking a look at! There are brigdes from many different styles, and of course you can get a lovely view of the city from many of them. What's also nice is the Saar "crane", which you can find at the Wilhelm-Heinrich-Brücke. This crane is a homage to Saarbrücken's trade history. It was first built in the 18th century, but as many other monuments of the city it was destroyed many times over the years. The final reconstruction of the crane took place in 1991.
Also something really nice is to stroll along the Saar river, especially around the City theatre area... when I was living there there you would often find people sunbathing by the river sides... nice!

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Favorite thing: One thing they have managed to accomplish, against all odds, is to ban automobiles from large parts of the city center. They did this in stages, starting in 1979, but the largest chunk of it was done in 1996/97. Now there is a pedestrian zone extending from the station all the way through the city center and down to the theater and museums.

Of course the buildings on both sides are still mainly prime examples of mediocre post-war architecture, but at least the cars are gone.

The first photo shows the auto-free Reichstrasse, with the main railroad station in the background and some nondescript buildings off to the right.

Second photo: One of the few really attractive buildings in the pedestrian zone is this Bergwerksdirektion building, which was built from 1877 to 1880 as the administration building for the then Royal Prussian Mines. In the 1970s the building came very close to being torn down, but after numerous protests is was instead restored from 1974 to 1976. The current threat to the building is that there are plans to turn it into a department store, which would mean tearing out the insides and just leaving the facade more or less intact.

Third photo: Saarstrasse with outdoor restaurants.

Fourth photo: Johannermarkt. This was the first section of the pedestrian zone, which was established in 1979.

Fifth photo: An oom-pah band on the Bahnhofstrasse, in the pedestrian zone.

Favorite thing: When you are at SB, visit Saarlouis as well. Saarlouis is a town located about 20 km down the river. The town had been founded as a fortress by the French King Louis XIV. , the old town is famous for numerous pubs with a really nice flair especially in summer.