The Saarland is a border region in Germany that is very close to France and Luxembourg. From the city center of Saarbrücken it is a distance of less than five kilometers to our French friends. Half way you can find a nice park, the Deutsch-Französischer Garten (DFG) or Jardin Franco-Allemand. It was opened in 1960 by chancellor Konrad Adenauer and prime minister Michel Debré. It is a park used by French and German visitors to relax.
You’ll find a small river (the Ehrentalbach), a lake (the Deutschmühlenweiher) and many green fields to enjoy the sun, have a picnic or to play. Inside the park there are also different coffee bars and restaurants; a ropeway and a narrow-gauge railway transport passengers. You might be irritated to also find a small cemetery there and that is because the grounds have not been selected randomly for a French-German garden: During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870/1871 this area was a battleground.
The Battle of Spicheren was not of too high relevance for the war, but nearly 3,000 French and German soldiers died there and the battle was remembered on German side for very long time. Having a French-German garden there is great and I love it how the French-German enmity (“Erbfeindschaft” in German) turned into friendship: when walking through the garden you can hear a good mix of both languages.
Deutsch-Französischer Garten
Deutschmühlental / Ehrental
Saarbrücken
Saarland / Sarre
Germany
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