Saarlouis, Fortress city in Saarland, Germany.
Saarlouis is a fortress town on both banks of the Saar River, a few kilometers from the French border. Stone fortifications mark the hexagonal outline of the original complex and surround the historic old town.
Louis XIV commissioned military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban in 1680 to build a strategic fortress on the Saar. The fortified town remained in French hands until the Peace of Westphalia and then changed several times between French and German rule.
The city coat of arms displays a rising sun with three French lilies, recalling the era when King Louis XIV founded the fortress. Many streets in the old center carry French names and follow the original layout from the seventeenth century.
The fortifications can be explored on a walk along the remaining bastions. A stroll along the Saar offers quiet paths with views of green spaces and riverbanks.
Between 1936 and 1945, the fortress town was called Saarlautern, a renaming that reflected the political upheavals of those years. The Ford automobile plant employs thousands and has shaped the economic life of the region for decades.
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