The Friendship Bridge (, ) is a bridge which crosses the Saar river, south of Saarbrücken, and links the Saarland municipality of Kleinblittersdorf with the Lorraine commune of Grosbliederstroff.
Although the idea of having a bridge between the two places, linked with each other for centuries, originated in the 1860s, the bridge was in fact first built in 1880. Having been destroyed at the beginning of the Second World War, it was newly built in 1964. The bridge's current form as a footbridge was constructed in 1993.
While it impresses neither through architectural boldness nor through record breaking dimensions, the varied history of Franco-German relations, from "hereditary enmity" to a strong partnership within the European Union, can be interpreted through the bridge, especially since the 1963 Élysée Treaty came into force. While at times the bridge served as a border crossing between France and Germany, between these times it shifted between being seen as either an inner-German or an inner-French work of construction.
First Bridge in 1880
In the Middle Ages and in the early Modern Era, Groß- and Kleinblittersdorf were two districts of the Lorraine village of Bliederstorff (first documented in the year 777) on opposite banks of the Saar river. The prefixes Groß- (meaning big in German) and Klein- (meaning small) for the respective districts first appeared at the end of the 16th Century, and were simply an indicator of their different population sizes. Separated by the resolutions of the Congress of Vienna, both districts belonged to the German Empire after the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, although to different states (Großblittersdorf to the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine, Kleinblittersdorf to the Prussian Rhine Province). From 1919, Großblittersdorf was once again a municipality in France, while Kleinblittersdorf was located in the League of Nations controlled Saarland region as a result of the Treaty of Versailles, and from 1935 in the Third Reich. From 1940 until the end of the Second World War, they were both again under German rule. Whereas in 1956, like from 1919 until 1935, both places were again under French influence: Grosbliederstroff (as it is now known) as a municipality in the Moselle department and Kleinblittersdorf in the semi-autonomous Saarland, which was incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany on 1 January 1957 due to the Saar Treaty.
In the Middle Ages and the early Modern Era there were of course no structural river crossings. It is assumed that crossing the Saar, which had not yet been canalised, was initially made possible with the help of a ford and later a ferryman with a dugout canoe. It was not until 1868 that the idea of the bridge was embraced. The initial idea sought to construct a pier between a small river island in the Saar and the parallel lock canal (part of the Saar Canal), which was built in the years 1862–1879. Initiatives by the Mayor of Grosbliederstroff were repeatedly rejected by the Metz prefecture. It is not known whether there were attempts to also contact the responsible Prussian authorities on the Saar's eastern bank. However, it was not until soon after the war of 1870/71 that the planning of the project properly began. At this time there was clearly a large need for a further river crossing between Saarbrücken and Saareguemines, as many workers from the towns to the left of the Saar found employment in the factories in the district of Brebach, which today is in the south-east of Saarbrücken. In addition, the Saar was no longer a border river, rather it was located on German territory. Therefore, any of the German military personnel's fears that such a structure would make it easier for troops of the "hereditary enemy" France to cross the border into German territory became irrelevant.
In August 1968, the company Richard Schmidt in Luisenthal was commissioned to build a stone arch bridge with six pillars. On 1 October 1880, the bridge, despite having had no railing installed before the official opening, was initially approved for pedestrians and from January 1881 also approved for vehicles. Part of the construction costs were covered through the paying of a toll, and toll booths were built on both bridgeheads for this purpose. Commuters on the western bank of the Saar now had greater access to the Kleinblittersdorf train station on the important Saarbrücken-Saareguemines railway line, which was much easier and faster to reach than the previous ferry service. The new crossing additionally offered residents the welcomed opportunity to visit and to run errands in the other district.