Demographic History
First posted on June 12th 2008





Economic History of the Saarland



Note : this page is conceived telegram-style and selective. The data given below refer to the Saarland in her post-1950 borders, including historical events pertaining to the territory further back in history


Article Saarbrücker Steinkohlengebirge, from Meyers 1885-1892

Agriculture
Viticulture
Mining Industry
Coal Mining
Manufacturing Industry
Glass Industry
Steel Industry



"Saarbrücker Steinkohlengebirge", from Meyers Konversationslexikon 1885-1892
A mountainous landscape located almost on the souhern tip of the Rheinprovinz, but also extending into the Bavarian Rheinpfalz and into Alsace-Lorraine. Her main part is located between Saarbrücken and Ottweiler, borders in the south on the area of coloured sandstone of the Upper Rhenish system of mountain ranges and is, in its northern part, covered by Rotliegendes, which interrupted by porphyres and melaphyres, extends until it reaches the tertiary basin of Mainz and almost until the mouth of the Nahe. In the south the productive coal area crosses the Saar, in the northeast the Bliss. Its length between Luisenthal and Neunkirchen is 24 km, its area 184 square km. In this part, near Duttweiler and Wahlscheid, there are 77 seams worthy of exploitation. In this district, in 1820 only 100,000 tons were produced, 1886 in the Prussian administrative district of Trier alone 6,002,649 tons, at a value of almost 44 1/3 million Mark. Under the Rotliegendes, the upper formation of the carboniferous formation, the sandstone poor in seams, is well-developed.
See "Der Steinkohlenbergbau des preussischen Staats in der Umgebung von Saarbrücken" von Nasse (Geologie, Technik), Hasslacher (Geschichte) u. Jordan (Absatzverhältnisse), 4 volumes (Berl. 1884-1885); "Flötzkarte vom Saarbrückener Steinkohlendistrikt", 1:50,000 (Saarbr. 1883).

Agriculture

Viticulture
It is assumed that the pre-Roman Celtic population on the Saar already was engaged in viticulture. The Frankish conquest of the 5th century is believed to have resulted in an interruption of viticulture; during the Middle Ages it was practised by the monastic orders. Today the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region, extending into adjacent Rheinland-Pfalz, is one of Germany's wine producing areas.

Mining Industry
Coal Mining
Coal mining in the region is documented as far back as the 14th century, and presumably older. Mining long was limited to coal near the surface and was conducted in small-scale operations, until Prince Wilhelm Heinrich von Nassau-Saarbrücken in 1751 nationalized all mines; coal production in 1790 was 50,000 tons. During the French administration, a mining academy was established, the Ecole pratique des mines in Völklingen 1807. The completion of the Saar Canal in 1866, connecting the Saar with the Rhine-Marne-Canal, permitted the shipment of Saar coal to the iron ore mines of Lorraine, which allowed for the expansion of the steel industry in Lorraine and the emergence of one on the Saar.
In the 1960es the decline of coal mining on the Saar began, as local coal was no more competitive and had to be subsidized. Presently, just one mine is still in operation, at Ensdorf; it is planned to close down in 2018.

Manufacturing Industry
Glass Industry
The glass industry started in Völklingen in 1612, established there by Huguenots.

Steel Industry
In Neunkirchen, steel industry dates back into the 16th century; in Burbach the plant was established in 1856. In 1873 a steel mill was established at Völklingen; in 1881 it was taken over by the Röchling brothers, who turned it into a flourishing enterprise, of such an importance that in 1916-1918 it became the target of repeated air attacks. The Saar steel industry was affected by the steel crisis which began in 1975; the Völklingen plant was shut down in 1984. The company Saarstahl, which was created by merging the various Saarland steel manufacturers, continues to operate.








EXTERNAL
FILES 		Article Bergbau im Saarland, from Wikipedia German edition
Geschichte, from Stadt Völklingen, in German
History of the Völklingen Plant, from Saarstahl

DOCUMENTS Article Saarbrücker Steinkohlengebirge, from Meyers Konversationslexikon 1885-1892
REFERENCE B.R. Mitchell, International Historical Statistics 1750-1988 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted om June 12th 2008

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