Historic Border Stones Between Saar Territory and German Reich

The border between the Saar region and the German Empire once ran here. A boundary stone marks the former line. Today you will find a nice rest area with a wonderful view.

Historical border between the Saargeg area and the German Empire

Old frontierOn the 475 meter high Metzenberg summit, the common boundary lines of the secular and spiritual powers have separated country and people since time immemorial. In the early Middle Ages it was the limit of influence of the old Hirsteiner Hubengericht (Hube = manor district), so in the late Middle Ages the boundary line separated the Hirsteiner High Court under the Lords of Rüdesheim from "Trierscher Authority of St. Wendel". After the dukes of Zweibrücken converted to the Protestant faith as legal successors in the 16th century with all subjects (cuius regio, eius religio), the religious boundary to Furschweiler in the Catholic Archdiocese of Trier ran here. After the »Congress of Vienna« in 1814, a new border arose between the Principality of Birkenfeld in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and the Principality of Lichtenberg in the Duchy of Saxony-Coburg. Lichtenberg became the Prussian district of St. Wendel in 1834. On the other hand, after the First World War, Hirstein moved to the "province" of Birkenfeld in the Oldenburg Free State. The "Versailles Treaty" after the First World War divided the "Saar area" from the "German Reich" from 1920 to 1935 and placed it under a League of Nations mandate. This border also followed the old line over the Metzenberg ridge. Until 1946 the border between the districts of Birkenfeld and St. Wendel, today only the border between Hirstein and Furschweiler remains. At the foot of the board there is a small surveying stone with a rounded head from the first systematic, metric survey of the country by the French (approx. 1805-1814). Next to it rises the large boundary stone 65D from 1920 with the stamped "S" for Saar area and "D" for German Empire and the border line on its head. The number "65" designates the border section and the "D" a main boundary stone in the area of the Oldenburg region of Birkenfeld. “A number instead of the“ D ”means a lower limit stone. Older historical stones were sometimes used. A stone with symbols of sovereignty from the Kurtrier and Pfalz-Zweibrücker times from 1731 is to be discovered. Source: Text information board