Saarburg

Saarburg, a town of Germany, in the imperial province of Alsace-Lorraine, on the Saar, 44 m. N.W. from Strassburg by rail. Pop. (1905) 9818. Its chief industries are the manufacture of watch springs, gloves, lace, beer and machinery, and it has a trade in grain. Saarburg, which has been identified with the Pons Saravi of the Romans, belonged to France from 1661 to 1871, its earlier owners having been the bishops of Metz and the dukes of Lorraine.

Another Saarburg is a town in Prussia at the confluence of the Saar and the Leuk. Pop. (1905) 2186. It has the ruins of a castle, formerly belonging to the electors of Trier, and is still partly surrounded by walls. It has manufactures of bells, furniture and cigars, other industries being tanning and vinegrowing. Saarburg dates from the 10th century and received municipal rights in 1291. From 1036 until 1727, when it passed into the possession of France, it belonged to the electors of Trier. It became Prussian in 1815.

See Hewer, Geschichte der Burg and Stadt Saarburg (Trier, 1862).