Das Saarland auf dem Weg zum Bundesland

65 Jahre Saarland - ein historischer Rückblick in Bildern

By State Chancellery Saarland

Landesarchiv des Saarlandes / Staatskanzlei des Saarlandes, Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

Das Saarland auf dem Weg zum Bundesland, Wolfgang Bogler, 2021, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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65 Jahre Saarland - Ministerpräsidentin Anke Rehlinger zur Ausstellung

Das Saarland erlebte im Vorfeld der am 23. Oktober 1955 stattfindenden zweiten Volksabstimmung einen heftigen Wahlkampf. Anders als beim Referendum 1935 ging es 1955 aber eigentlich nicht um die Frage der Rückgliederung des teilautonomen Saarlandes nach Deutschland, sondern um die Entscheidung über ein Europäisches Saarstatut, das Frankreich und die Bundesrepublik im Oktober 1954 im Rahmen der Pariser Verträge ratifiziert hatten.Im Abstimmungskampf, der das Land über alle Partei- und Weltanschauungsgrenzen hinweg in ein Ja- und ein Nein-Sager-Lager spaltete, wurde aus der eigentlich europäischen Frage dann doch wieder eine nationale Frage. So begriffen die Nein-Sager ihre Ablehnung des Europa-Statuts in erster Linie als zwangsläufige Vorbedingung für die Wiedererlangung der deutschen Einheit. Die Ja-Sager hingegen glaubten nach den Erfahrungen von 1935, dass nur eine Europäisierung der Saar ein Wiederaufleben des alten Nationalismus verhindern könnte. Das Saarreferendum am 23. Oktober 1955 wurde damit eines der wichtigsten Ereignisse in der Geschichte des Landes.

The road to GermanyState Chancellery Saarland

1. Januar 2022 - 65 Jahre Saarland Bundesland

  Am Neujahrstag 1957 begrüßte Konrad Adenauer in Saarbrücken das jüngste deutsche Bundesland. Zweieinhalb Jahre später, am 6. Juli 1959, fielen auch die Zollgrenzen, die D-Mark löste den Franc als Zahlungsmittel ab, der Sonderweg der Saar ging zu Ende. 

Das neue Bundesland Saarland 1957-1959

A European State or a Land? (1955)State Chancellery Saarland

Europa-Staat oder Bundesland?

The struggle for Europe, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Das Abstimmungsjahr 1955 im Saarland, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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British election observers meeting in Saarland a few days before the referendum on 23 October 1955., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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A propagandist for the opposition to the Saar statute, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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A crowd united by a single ‘no’ in Hüttenberg in Neunkirchen., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Saar police armed with truncheons, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Campaign against the statute and for reintegration with Germany, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Ladies from Heinrich Schneider’s campaign team with the ‘no’ leaflets circulated throughout the region, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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A young demonstrator needs no words to say what he thinks of the Saar statute., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Two injured demonstrators after a ‘yes’ meeting in St Ingbert, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Heinz Braun, former Justice Minister in the Saarland and Europa-Union leader, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Heinrich Schneider, chairman of the (national-) liberal Democratic Party of the Saar and leader of the ‘noes’ in the referendum., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Hubert Ney, first president of the Saar CDU after the ban was lifted in July 1955 and later Saarland’s first Minister-President after it became a federal Land., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Saarland Minister-President Johannes Hoffmann at a press interview after the referendum on 23 October 1955., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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In front of a campaign meeting with Johannes Hoffmann, opponents to the statute have written the most popular slogan of the ‘noes’ on asphalt: ‘Fat man out’., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Water cannons are used on the edges of a Christian People’s Party demonstration in St Ingbert after disturbances., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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‘Hunting scenes’ outside the Wartburg in Saarbrücken, where leading ‘yes’ voters from the CVP and the SPS held their first joint meeting on 13 August 1955., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Demonstrators showing press photographers the effects of rubber truncheons and tear gas after clashes between police and the opposition., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The press have unconventional ways of protecting themselves when trouble breaks out at campaign meetings., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Not a full house for an SPS meeting in Sulzbach., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Crowds in front of the venue for the first mass ‘yes’ rally in Saarbrücken., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Militant demonstrators overturning a police car on the fringes of a mass rally in Neunkirchen., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The first mass meeting of the ‘noes’ after the ban on the opposition was lifted, held in Völklingen at the end of July 1955, met with a huge response., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The CVP, the SPS and ‘European movements’ say yes to the statute, because they are in favour of Europe and because the statute will finally bring peace between Germany and France, it is a cipher for Europe, and a vote for the statute will be a general vote for Europe., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The CVP, the SPS and ‘European movements’ say yes to the statute, because they are in favour of Europe and because the statute will finally bring peace between Germany and France, it is a cipher for Europe, and a vote for the statute will be a general vote for Europe., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The CVP, the SPS and ‘European movements’ say yes to the statute, because they are in favour of Europe and because the statute will finally bring peace between Germany and France, it is a cipher for Europe, and a vote for the statute will be a general vote for Europe., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The CVP, the SPS and ‘European movements’ say yes to the statute, because they are in favour of Europe and because the statute will finally bring peace between Germany and France, it is a cipher for Europe, and a vote for the statute will be a general vote for Europe., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Advertising hoarding moved to the background on a street corner in Friedrichsthal, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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All the parties’ posters were vandalised., 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The DSP, the DPS and the Communists say no to the statute, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The DSP, the DPS and the Communists say no to the statute, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The DSP, the DPS and the Communists say no to the statute, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The DSP, the DPS and the Communists say no to the statute, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Interested study of a ‘regulation’ poster wall in Saarbrücken, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Old men giving politicians the cold shoulder, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The road to Germany, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Journalists in the telephone booths at the Land parliament press centre, 1955, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Minister-President Johannes Hoffmann (centre) goes to the polls with his son (next to him on the right) and his wife (on the son’s right)., 1955/1956, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The political leaders of the Homeland League talking about their victory and Johannes Hoffmann’s resignation on the evening of the referendum at a press conference., 1955/1956, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Chancellor Adenauer arriving at the reintegration ceremony on New Years’ Day 1957., 1957, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Customs officers fraternising on the German-French border on the night of 6 July 1959, when the customs borders between Germany and the Saarland are removed, 1959, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Economic (miracle) minister Ludwig Erhard makes a personal visit to Saarland to make sure that food prices are being set correctly and in line with the market., 1955/1956, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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People queuing at a Saarbrücken bank to change their francs into marks., 1955/1956, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Work on the motorway between the Saarland and the federal German road network begins in the summer of 1956, even before reintegration into Germany., 1956, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Federal President Theodor Heuß and Minister-President Franz-Josef Röder attending the annual meeting of the German Max Planck Society in Saarbrücken in the summer of 1959, 1959, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The (traffic) link to Germany is also reflected in the street scene: change of number plates in Saarbrücken in 1957., 1957, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The other side of the currency change: by July 1959 people are protesting in the streets at the actual or ‘perceived’ price increases., 1959, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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On the 10th anniversary of the Saarland’s reintegration in January 1967, Federal Chancellor Kiesinger (with Minister-President Röder) visits the newest German Land., 1967, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The Saarbrücken congress centre ‘presented’ to the Saarland by the German Government for the reintegration is officially opened at the anniversary celebrations in 1967., 1967, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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On the railways the Saar can increasingly fulfil its longstanding role as a bridge between Germany and France. The linking of the two countries, which started symbolically in 1952 and made comfortable progress in 1970 with the Goethe Trans-European Express,became a reality with the opening of the highspeed ICE/TGV rail link between Frankfurt and Paris in June 2007., 1952, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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On the railways the Saar can increasingly fulfil its longstanding role as a bridge between Germany and France. The linking of the two countries, which started symbolically in 1952 and made comfortable progress in 1970 with the Goethe Trans-European Express,became a reality with the opening of the highspeed ICE/TGV rail link between Frankfurt and Paris in June 2007., 1970, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Modellregion SaarLorLux, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Development of the region, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Franco-German garden, 1960/1962, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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French Week', 1960, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Monument to great Europeans on the German-French border in Berus, 1964/1967, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Monument to great Europeans on the German-French border in Berus, 1966, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Monument to great Europeans on the German-French border in Berus, 1966, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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One of the first SaarLorLux festivals, 1965, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Wife of the Prefect of Lorraine is naming the ‘Lorraine’, 1976, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Opening of the Franco-German ‘Gartenschau’ garden exhibition in April 1960, 1960, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The foundation stone of a ‘European village’ for refugees from eastern and southeastern Europe, 1958, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Evening of German-French song at the Halberg, 1965/1967, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The first Saarland Radio programme has been broadcast since 1964 on ‘Europawelle’, 1964, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Opening of the Moselle canal agreed in the Treaty of Luxembourg, 1964, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The opening of the major shipping canal, 1964, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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French President General de Gaulle being received at the Petersberg in Bonn, 1962, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The Saar trade fair, 1950, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The gala buffet during the French Week, 1970, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Official opening of the Goldene Bremm, 1969, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Completition of the Warndt mine, 1965, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The refinery in Saarland’s Klarenthal, 1965, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The 1968 plan is a graphic representation of SaarLorLux’s origins in the former coal and steel triangle and the region’s central position in Europe., 1968, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The plan for the SaarLorLux region, 1968, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The construction of a large Franco-German free trade centre for European goods distribution, 1967, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Second Franco-German economic dialogue, 1976, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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The construction of a large Franco-German free trade centre for European goods distribution, 1967, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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Römerbrücke power station, 1960/1967, From the collection of: State Chancellery Saarland
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