Regional history museum on Saarbrücken's Schlossplatz: the Saar region since 1870, an original Gestapo cell, and an underground castle complex.
October 3, 2026 – November 8, 2026
Trainee architectural drafters from a Saarbrücken vocational school present their own designs for new forms of remembrance, inspired by the memorial to the murdered Sinti and Roma of Saarland.
The museum dates back to 1985, when the then Stadtverband Saarbrücken (Saarbrücken municipal association) set up a "Regionalgeschichtliches Museum" (regional history museum) in the cellars of Saarbrücken Palace. The impetus came from a detention cell that the Gestapo had built into the vaults after 1935, whose walls still bear prisoners' inscriptions. The first section, on National Socialism in the Saar region, was created around this site and opened on November 9, 1988; a year later, a section on the postwar period up to the region's reintegration into Germany was added.
In 1993 an extension designed by Gottfried Böhm was inaugurated; it references the former Baroque stables and provides space for temporary exhibitions. Since 1994 the museum has been called Historisches Museum Saar and has been run by a special-purpose association of the Regionalverband Saarbrücken and the state of Saarland. Between 2004 and 2007, archaeologists uncovered remains of the medieval castle and the Renaissance fortifications beneath the Schlossplatz, which can be visited from the museum ever since.
The permanent exhibition, newly installed in 2008, follows the history of the German-French border region from the war of 1870/71 to the Saarland's economic integration into West Germany in 1959, covering the German Empire, World War I, the League of Nations period, the Nazi dictatorship, and the autonomous Saar state. Since 2023 it has been gradually revised: in May 2026 the Underground Castle, newly staged with media installations, and the Red Tower opened, and the remaining sections are expected to follow by the end of 2028.
| Adults | €7 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €4University students, trainees/apprentices, people of retirement age, and holders of the Ehrenamtskarte (volunteer card) (with proof) |
| Children & teens | freefree up to age 17 · Children and teens under 18 are admitted free. |
| Seniors | €4Reduced admission for people of retirement age. |
| Visitors with disabilities | freePeople with a degree of disability of 50 or higher are admitted free. |
| Students & apprentices | €4University students and trainees with ID. |
| Groups | –Groups of 10 or more should register in advance at the museum ticket desk; group tour €50 per hour (max. 25 people) plus admission. |
| Combined ticket for the Museen am Schlossplatz (Historisches Museum, Alte Sammlung, Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Schlosskirche) | €8reduced €5 |
| Express ticket (30 minutes) | €2 |
Free admission: Free admission on the first Wednesday of every month.
Free admission also for recipients of unemployment benefit (ALG I), basic income support, and social assistance, asylum seekers, and members of ICOM, the Deutscher Museumsbund, the Bundesverband Museumspädagogik, the friends' association, and others. Saar Pass: free admission once; other tourist cards with a discount. Registered city tours may take a short look (up to 15 minutes) into the Underground Castle free of charge. Public guided tours at no extra charge.
Step-free entrance; most exhibition areas are easily usable by wheelchair, but the Red Tower can only be reached by stairs; the walkway in the Underground Castle has been widened. Accessible parking spaces behind the Altes Rathaus (old town hall), with an approx. 200 m gently rising cobblestone path to the entrance. No tactile guidance system, but tactile stations and orientation maps in the Underground Castle; a media guide with Easy Language, sign language, and audio description is in development. Certified under "Reisen für Alle" (Travel for All).
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 17 |
|---|
Children under 14 only when accompanied by adults; in the Underground Castle this applies up to age 16. Strollers are allowed in the exhibition.
Schlossplatz (Bus 105, 108)
Bus lines 105 and 108 from the main station (Hauptbahnhof) to the Schlossplatz stop (approx. 7 minutes); about a 20-minute walk from the main station via the Alte Brücke.
Paid parking
Paid parking around Saarbrücken Palace and in the Parkhaus Talstraße 38–42 parking garage; bus parking in front of the palace wall on Franz-Josef-Röder-Straße.
No museum café of its own; Café am Schloss (Schlossplatz 15a) is right next door, and the restaurant Tomate2 is nearby. Museum shop in the entrance area. Coat check and lockers are limited; backpacks, umbrellas, and bags larger than A4 are not allowed in the exhibition.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 1.5 hrs |
|---|---|
| Audio guide | no |
| School programs | yes |
| Photography | Allowed for private purposes without flash, tripod, or selfie stick; prohibited in marked areas and in some special exhibitions. |
| Good to know | Public guided tours (approx. 60–90 minutes) Saturdays at 15:00 ("From Castle to Palace" and Schlossplatz), Sundays and public holidays at 14:00 (Underground Castle) and 15:00 (Saarland History 1870–1959); admission only, max. 25 people, spots can be reserved online. Group tours also in French and English, registration three weeks in advance. Exhibition texts in German, French, and mostly English. In the Underground Castle max. 30 people at a time, sturdy footwear recommended. Free museum bus for school classes (Tue–Thu mornings). |
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