Saar River
Encyclopedia
The Saar is a river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in northeastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and western Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains
Vosges mountains
For the department of France of the same name, see Vosges.The Vosges are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. They extend along the west side of the Rhine valley in a northnortheast direction, mainly from Belfort to Saverne...

 on the border of Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

 and Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...

 and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....

. It has two headstreams (the Sarre Rouge and Sarre Blanche, which join in Lorquin
Lorquin
Lorquin is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France....

), that both start near Mont Donon
Mont Donon
Mont Donon is the highest peak in the northern Vosges. It is a Category 2 climb in the Tour de France.On Donon, there is a 80 metre tall lattice tower for TV transmission...

, the highest peak of the northern Vosges. After 246 km (126 km in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and 120 km in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

) the Saar flows into the Moselle at Konz (Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

) between Trier and the Luxembourg border. It has a catchment area
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of 7 431 km².

The Saar was very important for the Saarland coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

 and steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 industries. Raw materials and finished products were shipped on it by water via the Canal des houillères de la Sarre
Canal des houillères de la Sarre
The Canal des houillères de la Sarre connects the Canal de la Marne au Rhin in Gondrexange to the Saar River in Sarreguemines in northeastern France. -External links:* * -References:...

, the Marne-Rhine Canal
Marne-Rhine Canal
The Marne-Rhine Canal is a canal in north eastern France. It connects the river Marne in Vitry-le-François with the Rhine in Strasbourg. Combined with the canalised part of the Marne, it allows transport between Paris and eastern France. The original objective of the canal was to connect Paris...

 and the Rhine, for instance, to the Ruhr area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...

 or the port of Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

.

Although the German part of the Saar has been upgraded to a waterway
Waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Waterways can include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:...

 by deepening, construction of sluices and straightening, there is no significant shipping traffic.

The Saar flows through the following departments of France, states of Germany
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...

 and towns:
  • Moselle
    Moselle
    Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

     (F): Abreschviller
    Abreschviller
    Abreschviller is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France....

     (Sarre Rouge), Lorquin
    Lorquin
    Lorquin is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France....

    , Sarrebourg
    Sarrebourg
    Sarrebourg is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It lies in on the upper course of the river Sarre.It should not be confused with Saarburg in Germany....

    , Fénétrange
    Fénétrange
    Fénétrange is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-External links:* IGN website* INSEE website* Quid website* *...

  • Bas-Rhin
    Bas-Rhin
    Bas-Rhin is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.- History :...

     (F): Sarre-Union
    Sarre-Union
    Sarre-Union is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It consists of two older towns that were unified on 16 June 1794. On the east bank of the Sarre river is the town of Bouquenom and on the west bank the town of Ville Neuve de Sarrewerden .-References:*...

  • Moselle
    Moselle
    Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

     (F): Sarralbe
    Sarralbe
    Sarralbe is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France....

    , Sarreguemines
    Sarreguemines
    Sarreguemines is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.It is the seat of an arrondissement.-Geography:...

  • Saarland
    Saarland
    Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...

     (D): Saarbrücken
    Saarbrücken
    Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....

    , Völklingen
    Völklingen
    Völklingen is a town in the district of Saarbrücken, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated near the border with France, on the river Saar, approx. 10 km west of Saarbrücken....

    , Wadgassen
    Wadgassen
    Wadgassen is a municipality in the district of Saarlouis, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx. 6 km southeast of Saarlouis, and 15 km west of Saarbrücken.-Fusion:...

    , Bous
    Bous, Germany
    Bous is a municipality in the district of Saarlouis, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx. 5 km southeast of Saarlouis, and 15 km west of Saarbrücken....

    , Saarlouis
    Saarlouis
    Saarlouis is a city in the Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2006, the town had a population of 38,327. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located at the river Saar....

    , Dillingen
    Dillingen, Saarland
    Dillingen is a town in the district of Saarlouis, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx. 5 km northwest of Saarlouis, and 25 km northwest of Saarbrücken. The Dillinger Hütte steelworks is located here....

    , Merzig
    Merzig
    Merzig is the capital of the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx. 35 km south of Trier, and 35 km northwest of Saarbrücken.-Municipalities:...

  • Rhineland-Palatinate
    Rhineland-Palatinate
    Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

     (D): Saarburg
    Saarburg
    Saarburg is a city of the Trier-Saarburg district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany, on the banks of the Saar River in the hilly country a few kilometers upstream from the Saar's junction with the Moselle....

    , Konz
    Konz
    Konz is a town in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Saar and Moselle, approx. 8 km southwest of Trier....

    .


On the banks of the Saar is the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

-World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

 Völklinger Hütte
Völklinger Hütte
The Völklingen Ironworks is located in the German town of Völklingen, Saarland. In 1994, it was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.It is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage .- History :...

. At Mettlach
Mettlach
Mettlach is a municipality in the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx. 7 km northwest of Merzig, and 30 km south of Trier.Villeroy & Boch's headquarters are in Mettlach....

 the Saar passes the well-known Saar loop. The lower Saar in Rhineland-Palatinate is a winegrowing region of some importance, producing mostly Riesling
Riesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...

. Until the early 20th century, much more wine was grown on the banks of the Saar, reaching much further up from the mouth of the river, up to Saarbrücken. Only in the early 21st century have some enterprising farmers from the Saarland area started experimenting with winegrowing again.
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