Saarland
Saarland
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NUTS Region DEC | | |
HDI (2018) | 0.936[2] very high · 9th of 16 | |
Website | www |
Saarland (German:
Having long been a relatively small part of the long-contested territories along the Franco-German linguistic border, Saarland first gained specific economic and strategic importance in the nineteenth century due to the wealth of its coal deposits and the heavy industrialization that grew as a result. Saarland was first established as a distinct political entity in 1920 after World War I as the Territory of the Saar Basin, which was occupied and governed by France under a League of Nations mandate.
Saarland was returned to
History
Before World War I
The region of the Saarland was settled by the
Roman rule ended in the 5th century, when the
It was not the king of France but the armies of the
On 31 July 1870, the French Emperor Napoleon III ordered an invasion across the River Saar to seize Saarbrücken. The first shots of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 were fired on the heights of Spichern, south of Saarbrücken. The Saar region became part of the German Empire which came into existence on 18 January 1871, during the course of the war.
Interwar history
In 1921 the Saargebiet was occupied by Britain and France under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. The occupied area included portions of the Prussian Rhine Province and the Bavarian Rhenish Palatinate. In practice the region was administered by France. In 1920 this was formalized by a 15-year League of Nations mandate.
In 1933, a considerable number of communists and other political opponents of Nazism fled to the Saar, as it was the only part of Germany that remained outside national administration following the First World War. As a result, anti-Nazi groups agitated for the Saarland to remain under French administration. However, with most of the population being ethnically German, such views were considered suspect or even treasonous, and therefore found little support.
When the original 15-year term was over, a
Nazi period
Following the referendum Josef Bürckel was appointed on 1 March 1935 as the German Reich's commissioner for reintegration (Reichskommissar für die Rückgliederung des Saarlandes). Once the reincorporation was accomplished, on 17 June 1936 his title was changed to Reichskommissar für das Saarland (Reich Commissioner for the Saarland). In September 1939, in response to the German invasion of Poland, French forces invaded the Saarland in a half-hearted offensive, occupying some villages and meeting little resistance, before withdrawing. After 8 April 1940 Bürckel's title was changed again to Reichskommissar für die Saarpfalz (Reich Commissioner for the Saar Palatinate); finally, after 11 March 1941, Bürckel was made Reichsstatthalter in der Westmark (Reich Governor of the Western Borderland). He died on 28 September 1944 and was succeeded by Willi Stöhr, who remained in office until the region fell to advancing American forces in March 1945.
History after World War II
After
The Saar and Ruhr areas were historically a central location for coal mining. This attracted the steel industry, which is essential for the production of munitions.[4]: 346 The Treaty of Paris (1951) established the European Coal and Steel Community, which led to the termination of the International Authority for the Ruhr (whose purpose was to regulate Ruhr coal and steel production and distribution). However, the Treaty sidestepped the issue of the Saar protectorate: an attached protocol stated Germany and France agreed the Treaty would have no bearing on their views of the status of the Saar.[5]
In 1948, the French government established
The Saarland was headed by a military governor from 30 August 1945:
- a president of the Government:
- 31 July 1945 – 8 June 1946: Hans Neureuther, non-partisan
- a chairman of the (until 15 December 1947, Provisional) Administration Commission:
- 8 June 1946 – 20 December 1947: Erwin Müller (1906–1968), non-partisan
- Minister-presidents (as in any state):
- 20 December 1947 – 29 October 1955: Johannes Hoffmann (1890–1967), CVP
- 29 October 1955 – 10 January 1956 Heinrich Welsch (1888–1976), non-partisan
- 10 January 1956 – 4 June 1957: CDU
- 20 December 1947 – 29 October 1955:
In 1954, France and the
On 27 October 1956, the
The Saarland's unification with West Germany was sometimes referred to as the
Since 1971, Saarland has been a member of
Geography
The state borders France (department of Moselle, which forms part of the region of Grand Est) to the south and west, Luxembourg (Grevenmacher District) to the west and Rhineland-Palatinate to the north and the east. It is named after the river Saar, a tributary of the Moselle (itself a tributary of the Rhine), which runs through the state from the south to the northwest.
While slightly larger than the combined area of the three city-states, Saarland is by far the smallest of the Flächenländer ("area-states"). It is less than one sixth the size of Schleswig-Holstein, the next smallest German state. One third of the land area of the Saarland is covered by forest, one of the highest percentages in Germany. The state is generally hilly; the highest mountain is the Dollberg with a height of 695.4 m (2,281 ft).
Most inhabitants live in a city agglomeration on the French border, surrounding the capital of Saarbrücken.
See also List of places in Saarland.
Districts
Saarland is divided into six districts (German: Landkreise):
Demographics
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
1926 | 769,300 | — |
1930 | 794,500 | +0.81% |
1935 | 814,576 | +0.50% |
1940 | 812,753 | −0.04% |
1945 | 745,612 | −1.71% |
1950 | 948,716 | +4.94% |
1955 | 996,238 | +0.98% |
1960 | 1,060,493 | +1.26% |
1965 | 1,127,354 | +1.23% |
1970 | 1,121,300 | −0.11% |
1975 | 1,096,333 | −0.45% |
1980 | 1,066,299 | −0.55% |
1985 | 1,045,936 | −0.38% |
1990 | 1,072,963 | +0.51% |
1995 | 1,084,370 | +0.21% |
2000 | 1,068,703 | −0.29% |
2005 | 1,050,293 | −0.35% |
2010 | 1,017,567 | −0.63% |
2015 | 995,597 | −0.44% |
2018 | 990,509 | −0.17% |
source:[6] |
Significant foreign resident populations[7] | |
Nationality | Population (31 December 2022) |
---|---|
Syria | 30,470 |
Italy | 18,620 |
Ukraine | 16,810 |
Turkey | 12,260 |
France | 11,305 |
Romania | 9,510 |
Poland | 6,095 |
Bulgaria | 5,180 |
Luxembourg | 4,870 |
Kosovo | 2,910 |
Largest cities
The following table shows the ten largest cities of Saarland:[8]
Pos. | Name | Pop. 2017 | Area (km2) | Pop. per km2 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Saarbrücken | 180,966 | 168 | 1,080 |
2 | Neunkirchen | 46,767 | 75 | 621 |
3 | Homburg (Saar) |
41,934 | 83 | 508 |
4 | Völklingen | 39,376 | 67 | 587 |
5 | Sankt Ingbert | 35,951 | 50 | 720 |
6 | Saarlouis | 34,532 | 43 | 798 |
7 | Merzig | 29,818 | 109 | 274 |
8 | Sankt Wendel | 25,959 | 114 | 229 |
9 | Blieskastel | 20,770 | 108 | 192 |
10 | Dillingen | 20,143 | 22 | 914 |
Vital statistics
- Births from January–June 2016 = 3,880[9]
- Births from January–June 2017 = 4,023
- Deaths from January–June 2016 = 6,434
- Deaths from January–June 2017 = 6,942
- Natural growth from January–June 2016 = -2,554
- Natural growth from January–June 2017 = -2,919
Religion
Saarland is the most religious state in Germany. The adherents of the Catholic Church comprise 56.8% of the population, organised in the two dioceses of Trier (comprising the formerly Prussian part of Saarland) and Speyer (for the smaller eastern formerly Palatine part). 17.5% of the Saarlandic population adhere to the Protestant Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, EKD), organised in the two Landeskirchen named Evangelical Church in the Rhineland and Evangelical Church of the Palatinate, both following the same former territorial partition. 25.7% are not affiliated with one of these churches.[10]
Saarland has the highest concentration of
Politics
Except for the periods between 1985 and 1999, as well as since 2022 – when the centre-left
After the 2022 state elections the previous Grand Coalition between the CDU and SPD, the two largest parties in the Landtag, was replaced by an SPD majority government, the only single-party majority government of any German state, led by minister-president Anke Rehlinger.
Current government of the Saarland
Office | Incumbent | Since | Party |
---|---|---|---|
Minister-president of the Saarland | Anke Rehlinger | 2022 | SPD |
Vice Minister-president of the Saarland and Minister for the Economy, Innovation, Digital Matters and Energy |
Jürgen Barke | 2022 | SPD |
Minister for the Interior, Construction and Sport | Reinhold Jost | 2022 | SPD |
Minister for Education and Culture | Christine Streichert-Clivot | 2019 | SPD |
Minister of Justice and Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection |
Petra Berg | 2022 | SPD |
Minister for Social Affairs, Health, Women, and the Family | Magnus Jung | 2022 | SPD |
Minister for Finance and Science | Jakob von Weizsäcker | 2022 | SPD |
Head of the State Chancellery | David Lindemann | 2022 | SPD |
Economy
The gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was €35.4 billion in 2018, accounting for 1.1% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €32,800 or 109% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 93% of the EU average. The GDP per capita was the second lowest of all states in West Germany.[11]
Important income sources are the automobile industry, steel industry, ceramic industry and computer science and information systems industry. In the past, coal mining was an important branch of industry. However, the last coal mine in Saarland closed in 2012, ending 250 years of coal mining history in the region.[12] The decision to close the mines was motivated by safety concerns about earthquakes in the region.[13]
The unemployment rate stood at 5.8% in October 2018 and was higher than the national average but below the EU28 average.[14]
Year[15] | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unemployment rate in % | 9.8 | 9.0 | 9.1 | 9.5 | 9.2 | 10.7 | 9.9 | 8.4 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 6.7 | 6.1 |
Education
Saarland is home to the Saarland University and the administrative headquarters of the Franco-German University.
Culture
Local dialect
People in the Saarland speak
In general, both dialects are an integral part of Saarland identity.
Both dialects, particularly in their respective Saarland flavour, share many characteristic features, some of which will be explained below.
Women and girls are often referred to using the neuter pronoun es, with the pronunciation being something like Ähs: Ähs hat mir's gesaat ('it told me so', instead of 'she told me so'; vs. High German: Sie hat es mir gesagt). This stems from the word Mädchen (girl) being neuter (es is correct when referring to words like Mädchen but would not be used by itself in reference to a woman).
The subjunctive in Rhine Franconian is normally composed with the words dääd (High German täte = "would do") or gänge ("would go") as auxiliary verbs: Isch dääd saan, dass... ("I would say that...") instead of the High German Ich würde sagen, dass....
Declension is rather different:
- The genitive case does not exist at all and is entirely replaced by constructs with the dative case.
- In most instances, words are not altered when in the dative case. Exceptions are mostly pronouns.
- The same holds for the nominativecase instead of the accusative.
Both the Rhine Franconian and Moselle Franconian dialects (and
French has had a considerable influence on the vocabulary, although the pronunciation of imported French words is usually quite different from their originals. Popular examples include Trottwaa (from trottoir), Fissääl (from ficelle), and the imperative or greeting aalleh! (from allez!).
The English sentence "My house is green" is pronounced almost the same in the Rhine Franconian variant: Mei Haus is grien. The main difference lies in the pronunciation of the ⟨r⟩ sound.
Regional beer brewer Karlsberg has taken advantage of the Saarlandish dialect to create clever advertising for its staple product, UrPils. Examples include a trio of men enjoying a beer, flanked by baby carriages, the slogan reading "Mutter schafft" (meaning "Mum's at work" in Saarlandish, but plays on the High German word Mutterschaft 'motherhood'); another depicts a trio of men at a bar, with one realizing his beer has been drunk by one of the others, the slogan reading "Kenner war's" (meaning "It was no one" [Keiner war es] in Saarlandish, but playing on the High German word Kenner 'connoisseur', translating to "It was a connoisseur"); a third shows an empty beer crate in outer space, the text reading "All" (meaning "empty" in Saarlandish, but playing on the same High German word meaning "outer space").
French
The French language has a special standing in Saarland due to its geographical proximity to France. Today, a part of the population is able to speak French, and it is compulsory at many schools.[18] Saarbrücken is also home to a bilingual "Deutsch-Französisches Gymnasium" (German-French high school). In January 2014 the Saarland state government announced its aim of making the region fully bilingual in German and French by 2043.[19]
Sports
The Saar competed in the qualifying section of the 1954 FIFA World Cup, but failed after coming second to West Germany but ahead of Norway. It also competed as Saar in the 1952 Summer Olympics and the field handball world championships in the beginning of the 1950s.
Museums
- Airplane exhibition Hermeskeil (Flugausstellung Peter Junior Hermeskeil)
- Bergwerk Göttelborn
- Bergwerk Reden
- Feinmechanisches Museum Fellenbergmühle
- Grube Düppenweiler
- Haus Ludwig
- Hillfort of Otzenhausen
- Historic Museum Saar
- Kunstforum Baden-Badener Versicherung, a former art museum from 1992 to 2016
- Roman Villa Borg
- Roman Villa Nennig
- Römermuseum Schwarzenacker
- Saarlandmuseum
- Saarschleife
- Saarlandish Mining Museum Bexbach
- Saarlandish Watchmuseum Püttlingen
- German newspaper museum
- Saarländisches Zweiradmuseum
- Castle-mountain caves Homburg
- Völklingen Ironworks UNESCO World heritage site
- Wolves park Werner Freund
- Zentrum für Biodokumentation
Notes
References
- ^ "Bruttoinlandsprodukt, Bruttowertschöpfung | Statistikportal.de". Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder | Gemeinsames Statistikportal (in German). Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ "Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder". Statistik-portal.de. Archived from the original on 13 May 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
- S2CID 145465919.
- ^ "Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, ECSC Treaty".
- ^ "Fortgeschriebener Bevölkerungsstand*) am Jahresende 1926 bis 2018" (PDF).
- ^ Zensus 2014: Bevölkerung am 31. Dezember 2014 31 December 2014 German Statistical Office.
- ^ "Saarland (Germany): Counties, Cities and Communes - Population Statistics, Charts and Map". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ "Bevölkerung". Statistische Ämter des Bundes Und der Länder. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- ^ a b Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland – Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31. Dezember 2018 EKD, January 2020
- ^ "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat.
- ^ "Last coal marks end of Saarland mining". The Local. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
- S2CID 213509984.
- ^ "Arbeitslosenquote nach Bundesländern in Deutschland 2018". Statista (in German). Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ "Federal Statistical Office Germany - GENESIS-Online". Federal Statistical Office Germany. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ Stedje, A. (2007). Deutsche Sprache gestern und heute. Munich, Germany: Wilhelm Fink.
- ^ Steitz, L. (1981). Grammatik der Saarbrücker Mundart. Saarbrücken: Saarbrucker Druckerei und Verlag.
- ^ "Kernlehrpläne – Gesamtschule". Saarland.de. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
- ^ "German region of Saarland moves towards bilingualism". BBC News. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
Further reading
- Long, Bronson. No Easy Occupation: French Control of the German Saar, 1944-1957 (Boydell & Brewer, 2015).
- Wiskemann, Elizabeth. "The Saar" History Today (Aug 1953) 3$8 pp 553–560.
External links
- Official governmental portal
- Statistics office
- Henze, Sam (3 August 2005). "France, Germany and the Struggle for the War-making Natural Resources of the Rhineland". Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Describes the contest for the Saar over the centuries.
- Geographic data related to Saarland at OpenStreetMap