Neumarkt, Square in Saarbrücken

Neumarkt is a square in the Alt-Saarbrücken district of Saarbrücken whose original rectangular layout can no longer be made out. Since the 1960s the busy Wilhelm-Heinrich-Brücke has shaped the site, and a car park built beneath the central area raised the street level noticeably. The former level and appearance survive only in the parking area at the southwest corner, at the junction with Wilhelm-Heinrich-Straße.

The square was originally the heart of the old city with a large market hall, the Saalbau building, and Hotel Bristol that defined its character until World War II. After wartime destruction and the construction of the city motorway in the 1960s, the square was fundamentally transformed and lost much of its historic structure.

The square's name, Neumarkt ("new market"), recalls its former role as Alt-Saarbrücken's counterpart to the St. Johanner Markt across the Saar. That market function is gone: the row of houses closing the square toward the river was demolished for the A620 motorway in the 1960s, and the raised street level above a car park hides the old rectangular layout.

The square lies in Alt-Saarbrücken where Hohenzollernstraße meets Wilhelm-Heinrich-Straße, and the busy Wilhelm-Heinrich-Brücke now crosses its Saar side. The central level was raised by the construction of an underground car park, so the original ground level can only be guessed at in the car park at the southwest corner. Since April 2018 a slightly changed traffic routing has applied.

The original rectangular layout survives only in the parking lot at the southwest corner, where the old street level can still be read. The square once matched the St. Johanner Markt across the Saar in importance for Alt-Saarbrücken. The Kaiser-Friedrich-Brücke was replaced after the war by a temporary footbridge known as the Kummersteg.