Historisches Museum Saar, Historical museum in Saarbrücken, Germany
The Historisches Museum Saar stands at Schlossplatz south of Saarbrücken Castle on Talstraße. Its above-ground section is a narrow, elongated building with a barrel roof, designed by Cologne architect Gottfried Böhm in 1993. Most of the 2,700 m² museum lies underground beneath the square, with 1,700 m² of permanent exhibition space in the cellar.
The museum was founded in 1985 by the Stadtverband Saarbrücken, now the Regionalverband Saarbrücken, and was called the Regionalgeschichtliches Museum until 1994. Its starting point was the 1975 rediscovery of one of five former Gestapo cells in the cellars of Saarbrücken Castle, where the Gestapo had been based from 1935. The permanent exhibition was expanded in 1989, 1993 and 2008, and since 2023 the museum has been redesigning it, with the Underground Castle and the Red Tower reopening in May 2026.
The museum reflects how the Saar region developed a distinct identity shaped by its position between two nations and their competing interests. Visitors can see how this dual heritage continues to influence local life and community memory.
The museum is located in the city center of Saarbrücken and is easily accessible by public transportation. Set aside enough time to explore at a comfortable pace, as the collections span multiple thematic areas and historical periods.
Beneath the museum lie actual archaeological remains of a medieval castle that visitors can view in the basement level. These underground layers offer direct insight into the building layers that accumulated at this site over many centuries of habitation.
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