France agrees to the return of the Saarland
Although the territories along the Saar River had always belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, France had repeatedly attempted to annex the area since the 17th century. Both the “Sun King”, Louis XIV, and Napoleon seized and held the area for a number of years, but were then forced to relinquish it. After the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles placed the Saar region under French administration, a status that remained until 1935, when a majority voted in favour of reunification with Germany.
Following the Second World War, the Saarland became part of the French zone of occupation. However, it was soon established as an independent Saar State with its own constitution and citizenship. In the hope of detaching it from Germany and profiting from its rich coal reserves, France began to integrate the area into the French economy. The Franco-German rapprochement of the 1950s then led to the idea of Europeanizing the Saarland. However, the plans drawn up to this end were contingent on the approval of the Saarland population, which voted overwhelmingly against them. Confronted with a two-thirds majority in favour of reunification with Germany, the French government began negotiating the Saar Treaty with West Germany, which was signed on 27 October 1956. In early 1957, the Saarland became the tenth constituent state of the Federal Republic of Germany.
About the Deutschlandmuseum
An immersive and innovative interactive museum covering 2,000 years of German history
The whole year at a glance
