Saarbrücken

The city has an international airport, Saarbrücken Airport, in the borough of Saarbrücken-Ensheim. The main campus of the Saarland University is located within the city forest of Saarbrücken-St. Johann. The public broadcaster of the Saarland, Saarländischer Rundfunk, has its seat on the Halberg Mountain in Saarbrücken-Brebach-Fechingen.

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 Sankt Johanner Markt (Market of St. Johann).

The modern city of Saarbrücken was created in 1909 by the merger of the three cities of Saarbrücken (now called Alt-Saarbrücken), St. Johann a. d. Saar, and Malstatt-Burbach. It was the industrial and transport centre of the Saar coal basin. Products included iron and steel, sugar, beer, pottery, optical instruments, machinery, and construction materials. The city twice separated from Germany: from 1920 to 1935, as capital of the Territory of the Saar Basin, and from 1947 to 1956, as capital of the Saar Protectorate.