Saar (river)

The **Saar** () is a river in northeastern France (Grand Est) and western Germany (Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate). It is a right tributary of the Moselle River. It rises in the Vosges Mountains in Grand Est and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier.

The first written mention of the Saar, in Latin language as _Saravus_, is found in the poem _Mosella_ by the Roman poet Decimus Magnus Ausonius.

## Geography

With a length of , it is the largest tributary of the Moselle river. Its drainage basin has an area of approximately .

### Course

The Saar river is born at the foot of Mont Donon, the highest peak of the northern Vosges Mountains. It flows first for about  through the French region of Grand Est. The Saar marks the border between France and Germany for about  from its confluence with the Blies, between the towns of Sarreguemines and Saarbrücken and goes into German territory.

Then the river flows about  through the Saarland, and about  through the Rhineland-Palatinate and, finally, flows into the Moselle at Konz between Trier and the Luxembourg border.

### Upper Saar

The _Sarre Rouge_ (Red Saar) and _Sarre Blanche_ (White Saar) are considered as the two source rivers of the Saar.

The Red and the White Saar have their sources on Donon, less than  distance apart. The source of the White Saar is near the town of Grandfontaine (Bas-Rhin department), and the source of the Red Saar is near the town of Abreschviller, (Moselle department). The confluence of the two rivers is near Hermelange (), south of Sarrebourg.

||Discharge|Length|Watershed|Source height|Coordinates|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="left"|Red Saar|1.86 m³/s|26.8 km|107.3 km²|785 m|align="left"||
|align="left"|White Saar|1.60 m³/s|26.6 km|80.4 km²|710 m|align="left"||

The Saar river, and its two source rivers, flow first through the Moselle department, in the Lorraine region; then, for a short distance, flow through the Bas-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region. From Sarrealbe to Sarreguemines, the Saar flows along the border with Germany. At Sarreguemines, the Blies river, the largest tributary of the Saar, flows into the Saar and its discharge rises from 20.9 m³/s to 41.5 m³/s.

### Middle and lower Saar

From Sarreguemines, the Saar is navigable (it is deep, wide and slow enough for a ship to pass). Then the Saar gets into German territory forming a narrow valley through the western Rhenish Massif. At its beginning in this region, it forms the famous **Saar loop** (German: _Saarschleife_) at Mettlach.

After 246 km (129 km in France, and 117 km in Germany) the Saar flows into the Moselle river at Konz (Rhineland-Palatinate) between Trier and the Luxembourg border.

Grapes, to produce wine, are grown along the lower Saar, mainly between Serrig and Konz.

## Tributaries of the Saar

Some of the important tributaries of the Saar are:

## Towns along the river

Some towns and cities found along the river are:
|France|Départments|Towns and cities|
| --- | --- | --- |
||Moselle|Abreschviller (Sarre Rouge), Lorquin, Sarrebourg, Fénétrange|
||Bas-Rhin|Sarre-Union|
||Moselle|Sarralbe, Sarreguemines|
||Saarland|Saarbrücken, Völklingen, Wadgassen, Bous, Saarlouis, Dillingen,  Merzig|
||Rhineland-Palatinate|Saarburg, Konz|

## Related pages

- List of rivers of France
- List of rivers of Germany
- Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

## Other websites

- MULEWF Rheinland-Pfalz: Saar

## Infobox (river)

- **name**: Saar
- **image**: Saarschleife.jpg
- **image caption**: Saar loop at Mettlach
- **map**: Sarre.png
- **source1**: Sarre Blanche
- **source1 location**: Vosges mountains, Bas-Rhin
- **source2**: Sarre Rouge
- **source2 location**: Vosges mountains, Moselle (department), Moselle
- **mouth location**: Moselle
- **subdivision type1**: Countries
- **subdivision name1**: France and Germany
- **source1 elevation**: ±
- **source2 elevation**: ±