Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [452]
The grandiose yellow Staatstheater ( 309 20; www.theater-saarbruecken.de, in German & French; Schillerplatz) was built on Hitler’s orders to thank the Saarlanders for their 1935 vote to rejoin Germany. It opened in 1938 with Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman and today presents opera, ballet, musicals and drama.
LEFT BANK
Crossing the Saar River via the pedestrians-only Alte Brücke takes you over the autobahn and up to the Stengel-designed baroque Schlossplatz, around which you’ll find all the city’s museums dealing with history and historic art. The dominant building here is the Saarbrücker Schloss, which mixes several architectural styles, from Renaissance to baroque to neoclassical. The northern wing was once used by the Gestapo as offices and detention cells.
The Schloss’ basement and a modern annex house the well-designed Historisches Museum Saar ( 506 4501; www.historisches-museum.org, in German; Schlossplatz 15; adult/student €5/3; 10am-6pm Tue, Wed, Fri & Sun, 10am-8pm Thu, noon-6pm Sat). The section covering Saarland from 1870 to 1914 includes a film of Saarbrücken street life – with cameo appearances by a surprising number of dogs – made in 1904. From here you can descend to the castle’s massive bastions and Kasematten (casemates; English brochure available). Other exhibits look at Saarland under French rule (1920 to 1935) and the Nazi era. Signs are in German and French.
The Kreisständehaus (Schlossplatz 16), completely renovated in 2009, now houses two museums. The Saarland Museum’s Alte Sammlung (Old Collection) display’s a millennium’s worth of paintings, porcelain, tapestries and sculptures from southwest Germany and the Alsace and Lorraine regions of France. Fans of the Romans, the Celts and their predecessors won’t want to miss the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (Museum of Early History & Prehistory; 954 050; www.vorgeschichte.de, in German & French). The star exhibit here features resplendent gold jewellery from around 400 BC, discovered in the tomb of a Celtic princess at Bliesbruck-Reinheim.
The Museum in der Schlosskirche ( 954 0518; Am Schlossberg 6; admission free; 10am-6pm Tue & Thu-Sun,10am-10pm Wed), inside a desanctified late Gothic church, features religious art from the 13th to 19th centuries. Highlights include the elaborate tombs of three 17th- and 18th-century princes.
To the northwest is Stengel’s handsome Ludwigsplatz, flanked by stately baroque town houses. Ludwigskirche ( 10am-5pm Tue-Sun, except during weddings), built in 1775, sports a facade festooned with biblical figures and a brilliant white interior with stylish stucco decoration. If the church is closed, you can sneak a peek through the windows of the vestibule.
Return to beginning of chapter
Sleeping
DJH hostel ( 330 40; www.jugendherberge.de; Meerwiesertalweg 31; dm €20.40; ) In Saarbrücken’s green belt, this modern, 192-bed hostel is 100m from a supermarket, a 15-minute walk from the Hauptbahnhof and 1.5km northeast of Rathaus St-Johann. Served by buses 101, 102 and 150 from the Rathaus and, Monday to Friday, by buses 112 and 124 from the Hauptbahnhof.
Hotel Schlosskrug ( 367 35; www.hotel-schlosskrug.de, in German; Schmollerstrasse 14; s/d €36/59, s without bathroom €28) A friendly, if ordinary, midsize hotel with some of the cheapest rooms in town. Near a trendy student neighbourhood.
Hotel Stadt Hamburg ( 379 9890; www.hotel-stadt-hamburg-saarbruecken.de, in German; Bahnhofstrasse 71-73, 3rd fl; s/d €59/80; ) An unpromisingly small street door leads to a cheerful, well-kept establishment decorated with original watercolours, oils and collages (the owner is an artist). The 28 cheerful rooms are decorated in shades both pastel and saturated. Very central, but quiet.
Hotel Madeleine ( 322 28; www.hotel-madeleine.de, in German; Cecilienstrasse 5; d Mon-Thu €79-89, Fri-Sun €69-75; ) Central