Saarburg

Saarburg stands on the Saar upstream from its junction with the Moselle. A castle above the river was established in the tenth century, and the settlement below received town rights from King Rudolf in 1291. The archbishops of Trier made the castle and town part of their territorial network. A mill on the diverted Leuk stream supplied an additional source of revenue in the fourteenth century.

The castle and town experienced conflict on the western frontier: French troops captured and damaged the castle in 1673, and occupied town and castle again from 1705 to 1714. A bell foundry was operating in Saarburg by the 1770s. During the French period the town became the seat of a canton, before passing to Prussia after 1815.