"Saarland – A European History The Saarland is a modern, cosmopolitan German federal state in the heart of Europe. An immediate neighbour of France and Luxembourg, it has developed into a region in which international cooperation in politics and commerce has become as much a matter of course as cross-border practices in cultural and everyday life. A European consciousness and lifestyle inspired by the French joie de vivre connect the citizens of this youngest of the old West German states. Saarland’s special character is the product of a long and varied, yet often conflict-ridden history. This exhibition follows the course of such a European history up to the birth of the Saarland as a German federal state almost one hundred years ago. The aim is to show that Saarland’s self-awareness and the special relationship it enjoys with its European neighbours did not begin to develop after it became a German federal state but had, in fact, already taken root when the Saarland was under the administration of the League of Nations in the 1920s. Nevertheless, it was only after the painful ordeals of two world wars and the experiences of the conflicts resulting in two referendums that the particular learning process was set in motion, which would firmly establish the spirit of friendship and reconciliation and make the Saarland the most Frenchified and most European of all the German federal states."
Saarland Geschichte 1920 bis 1955
"Saarland under the French
Between 1935 and 1945 the Saarlanders, as part of the Third
Reich, lived through totalitarian dictatorship, war and
collapse. In May 1945 the Americans liberated the region.
In July the French took over the military control of Saarland
and separated it from the German occupied zones. Under
French patronage an independent Saar state was set up,
economically joined to France and with strictly limited
sovereignty, but for the first time the government was freely
elected. The Minister-President was Johannes Hoffmann,
chairman of the Christian People's Party, like many other
leading politicians a returning emigrant, who worked
constructively with the French military authorities under
Gilbert Grandval. Reconstruction was swift. The new state
had a generous social policy and a liberal cultural policy,
but it restricted internal freedoms and suppressed the pro-German opposition that had been gaining strength since
1951-1952."
Even residential areas in the industrial towns in the Saarland were extensively destroyed in 1945.
Saarland 1945 - Impressionen
Contrasts in Saarbrücken after the introduction of the franc in 1947: well-stocked market stalls in the midst of the ruins.
Women after shopping in the Saarbrücken streets cleared from the rubble
Tank at the parade across Saarlouis market in 1954
Ambassador Grandval making a presentation to the widow of a French officer killed in the war.
Troops on parade in Saarbrücken in 1949
After the currency was changed to the franc in November 1947, the shops filled up and people began to look more cheerful.
After the currency was changed to the franc in November 1947, the shops filled up and people began to look more cheerful.
After the currency was changed to the franc in November 1947, the shops filled up and people began to look more cheerful.
At the first French song festival in Saarland, the world famous star Edith Piaf made a guest appearance in Mainzer Straße in Saarbrücken just a year after the end of the war.
Die Parteien im Saarland und Wahlen 1947
Saarland border guard building on the border between Germany and Saarland at Nohfelden
French customs officers carried out the notorious goods checks on the German-Saarland border, while their Saarland colleagues checked passports.
Saarland border policeman with the Saarland coat of arms on his uniform, holding a Saarland beer
In 1950 French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman (centre) met the Saar state government under Minister-President Johannes Hoffmann (right) at Saarbrücken central station.
Inaugural sitting of the court of justice for the France-Saarland economic union in 1954
A wide range of French newspapers and magazines was available at this kiosk in Saarbrücken in 1949.
A ‘French’ café in a prominent position in Saarbrücken city centre.
After an
appeal from the French
mines administration for
blood donations for
miners in 1949, miners
turned up at the miners’
society clinic in Fischbach in large numbers.
Typical street scene, with children playing in a newly built district on the outskirts of the regional capital
At an industrial fair in Paris in 1955, the Saar promoted itself as a worthwhile economic location for France.
Völklinger Hütte, the biggest ironworks on the Saar, was also one of the region’s biggest employers.
Theo Siegle’s sculpture class in the studio at the Centre de Mètiers d’Art
Saarbrücken art school was opened by the French on 14 July 1946 and soon became internationally famous.
Two students of the painting masterclass working in the studio of fine arts.
Sketches from the fashion class at the art school, whose fashion shows in the early 1950s attracted wide interest.
Sketches from the fashion class at the art school, whose fashion shows in the early 1950s attracted wide interest.
Peter Scholl-Latour, press spokesman for the Saarland government, dancing at one of Gilbert Grandval’s receptions at the Halberg.
Jazz concert at a gala evening at Schloss Halberg, the residence of Gilbert Grandval, the French High Commissioner and later Governor in the Saar state
A production of Mozart at the municipal theatre in Saarbrücken, seen as a (cultural) bridge for understanding with France
Children’s art on the rebuilt Schlossplatz in Saarbrücken
The Saarland Olympic team marching into the Olympic stadium in Helsinki in front of their big brother from Germany in 1952.
The Saarland ladies’ sprint relay team with their trainer Ralph Hoke
at the Olympic village in Helsinki
Member of the Saarland national gymnastics team at the international championships against Holland in Saarbrücken.
"‘Little Europe’
The European movement that emerged in the late 1940s was
enthusiastically received in Saarland. Plans to make Saarland
the first Europeanised state, the forerunner to a united
Europe and home of centralised European institutions, swiftly came to fruition in the Saar government. In 1951 Saarbrücken applied to become the seat of the European Coal and
Steel Community. A year earlier, the regional university founded in 1948 was designated the European university by its
new rector, Jean-François Angelloz. There was strong support
for the Saar ‘Nouvelles Équipes Internationales’ and ‘Europa-
Union’. Europe became a symbol of hope, which was even
used in advertising (‘Europe engine oil’). A European solution
to the Saar question was first put forward in detail in Marinus van der Goes van Naters’ Council of Europe plan in 1952.
Two years later, French Prime Minister Pierre Mendès-France
and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer agreed, in the
Paris Treaties of October 1954, to Europeanise Saarland and
bring it under the newly created Western European Union."
In the 1952 state parliament elections, the ruling Christian People’s Party (CVP) tried to drum up enthusiasm amongst their voters for Europe as the Saar’s ‘future home’ after it had been separated from Germany.
A 1953 poster in the campaign to have the Euopean coal and steel authorities based in Saarbrücken shows the Saar in the centre of the ECSC States.
The Saarland Social Democrats declare their support for Saarbrücken as Europe’s coal and steel capital in a letter from ‘their’ mayor Zimmer to Robert Schuman.
The two Saarland representatives, Heinz Braun and Richard Kirn, are on the left behind Winston Churchill in front of the Council of Europe building in Strasbourg.
The flags flying outside the Palais de l’Europe included the flag of the Saarland, as an associate member of the Council of Europe.
European diplomatic service cars