City (pop., 2002 est.: city, 182,858; urban agglom., 959,084), capital of Saarland state, southwestern Germany.
Located on the Saar River , Saarbrücken was chartered in 1321 and belonged to the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken until it was occupied by the French in 1793. It passed to Prussia in 1815 and became the capital of the Saar region in 1919. The present city was formed in 1909 by the union of the former Saarbrücken with Burbach-Malstatt, Sankt Johann, and Sankt Arnual. In 1959 it was made capital of Saarland. Historic buildings include the 18th-century Baroque Ludwigskirche, the Gothic abbey church of St. Arnual (с 1270–1330), and the Old Bridge over the Saar (1546).