This weekend (June 17-19, 2011) it was Saarbrücken's turn. Frequent readers of my blog may remember that Saarbrücken is both the capital of the Saarland and my place of birth. It may not be as glamorous as Chicago or Berlin, or even other cities that are closer to Saarbrücken populationwise, but it is the Saarland's central hub for pretty much everything, and I do enjoy a little shopping spree at the pedestrian zone, not only for sentimental reasons.
Saarbrücken is actually quite pretty, in certain areas at least. Among them is the Old City, which has its roots in times long bygone. Hence the idea to celebrate there; "Alt / stadt / fest" literally means "Old City Festival". - Since I like etymological topics, I would like to stress that Saarbrücken appears to translate as "Saar Bridges" (the Saar being the main river), but according to the German Wikipedia page "Brücken" is related to "Briga" (rock), or less likely to "Broich" (swamp). The river Saar has its name from the Celtic word "Sara", meaning "flowing water". Finally, please note that, defying standard German grammar, the demonym is not "Saarbrückener", but "Saarbrücker".
The historical area of Saarbrücken features an original palace, which once was the home of the counts of Nassau-Saarbücken. It is located on a little hill from where the river Saar can be watched. The top left photo shows the courtyard as seen from the open side of the U-shaped complex. (If you look closely you may discover a couple of newly weds that apparently came there for a photoshoot.) The photo in the center shows the view from the garden across the river. (The garden is to the left of the palace in the first photo.)
The pompous building to the right is the Staatstheater, an important witness to the Saarland's turbulent past. As a result to Germany's defeat in World War I, the Saarland (then an industrial powerhouse with numerous steel factories and coal mines) was seized by the French as a means of compensation, and also protection against retaliation. Politically, the Saarland was under direct administration of the League of Nations, the predecessor of today's United Nations. However, a referendum among its population returned the Saarland to Germany, which by that time was already the infamous Nazi state. Hitler was so pleased by the outcome of the referendum that he granted the Staatstheater to the Saarland's capital. In fact, the theater is built in the neo-classical style the Nazis were enamoured by ... Despite the dark history, the Staatstheater is the main site in Saarbrücken for performing arts, such as plays, operas and classical concerts.
The bottom left photo gives a glimpse on the A620, the city highway that passes right along the banks of the Saar. The close proximity allows for a nice view while driving on this road, but since the Saar's sources are in the (French) Vosges Mountains, the A620 is always flooded in spring time ...
After this history lesson I would like to pass on to the culinary specialties of our region. The influence of our French neighbors is omnipresent, and while the French language isn't exactly popular among school kids, I haven't met a single Saarländer who didn't like the French cuisine. Therefore, I made good use of this opportunity to eat some really good food. In chronological order I had: a merguez sausage (which looked infinitely better than on Wikipedia), a Schwenker steak (which wasn't real as it came from an ordinary grill), an onion-bacon quiche type flatbread (actually from the Baden region - the vendors apparently travel to many such festivals throughout the summer season; it was very yummy regardless), one 0.3L beer, a crêpe filled with Nutella (the consistency of which is very much like peanut butter), a seafood pot with rice (similar to the Spanish paella; Spain is a southern neighbor of France) along with a glass of white wine called "Entre Deux Mers" ("In Between Two Seas"), and lastly another 0.3L beer (which is the one on the large photo on the right).
Home sweet home!
