Wikipedia
Saarbrücken (, [], Rhine Franconian: Saarbrigge []) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is Saarland's administrative, commercial and cultural centre. The city is situated next to the French border at the heart of the metropolitan area of Saarland.
Saarbrücken was created in 1909 by the merger of three towns, Saarbrücken, St. Johann, and Malstatt-Burbach. It used to be the industrial and transport centre of the Saar coal basin. Products included iron and steel, sugar, beer, pottery, optical instruments, machinery, and construction materials.
Historic landmarks in the city include the stone bridge across the Saar (1546), the Gothic church of St Arnual, the 18th-century Saarbrücken Castle, and the old part of the town, the St. Johanner Markt (Sankt Johann market).
Twice in the 20th century Saarbrücken was separated from Germany: in 1920–35 as capital of the Territory of the Saar Basin and in 1947–56 as capital of the Saar Protectorate.
The Regionalverband Saarbrücken is a Kommunalverband besonderer Art, an integration of a district (Kreis) and a district-free town. It is located in the south of the Saarland, Germany. Neighboring districts are Saarlouis, Neunkirchen, Saar-Pfalz, and the French département Moselle.
- redirect Saarbrücken (district)
Saarbrücken is one of the 299 single member constituencies used for the German parliament, the Bundestag. One of four districts covering the state of Saarland, it covers the city of Saarbrücken and the municipalities of Kleinblittersdorf, Großrosseln, Püttlingen, Riegelsberg, Völklingen, all located in the Saarbrücken district.
The constituency was created for the 1957 election, the first election after the Saar Treaty had united the Saarland with West Germany. Although the first two elections were won by the Free Democratic Party and Christian Democratic Union (CDU), from the 1965 election onwards the constituency was won by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In the 1990s, Oskar Lafontaine, a prominent figure in the SPD was the district representative. The pattern of SPD victories was broken at the 2009 election, when, in common with the other three districts in the Saarland, the CDU gained the district. The current representative is Anette Hübinger.