Saarbrucken

On Sunday we drove west to Saarbrucken, the capital of the small "state" of Saarland. Saarland boarders France and has been inhabited since Celtic and Roman times. It has alternately been ruled by France and Germany (flip-flopping many times) and has even spent time as an independent territory. The Saarland people must be German at heart because whenever given a choice - be part of France, Germany or be independent - they vote to be part of Germany. Saarland is rich in coal which probably contributed to its turbulent political history (everyone wanted control of this energy source). When coal mining and steel production declined Saarland took a real economic hit - it was the most economically depressed "state" in West Germany in the 1970's. In the 1980's Saarland started to entice other businesses (especially information technology) and has been doing better economically since.

We went to Saarbrucken, the capital of Saarland, to visit our friend Matt who is a student there. He took us to some of his favorite places. Our first stop was the Volklinger Hutte, about 10 km northwest of Saarbrucken. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is really interesting! It is an old foundry - in operation from 1872 to 1986 when it was abandoned.














Inside the foundry was an amazing exhibit of artwork - gold and silver plates, cutlery, drinking vessels, precious gems embedded in the handles of swords, vases, and many many other amazing pieces. No pictures were allowed but I was able to sneak a few...














It was a really strange feeling to see these amazing, priceless pieces of art exhibited among the old machinery of the foundry. We were looking at these pieces of art, seeing the machinery and smelling the sweat and metal of this dangerous place - where countless poor toiled to support the extravagant wealth of these pieces of art.

A relaxing mid-afternoon lunch...

then a gorgeous view of the Saar River. This area had beautiful hiking trails. If the weather had been nice it would have been tempting!


















We stopped by the French boarder - Daniel wanted to run into France. He did - literally! See the signs - leaving Saarland, welcome to France.

Great fun! Thanks Matt!