Historical Sketch

The Saar territory was formed out of the former Prussian Rhine Province and Bavarian Palatinate. After World War I, it was carved out of Germany, and in 1920, France was given a 15-year mandate over the territory by the League of Nations. After its expiry, and a referendum, the Saar returned to Germany in 1935. Ten years later, after the German defeat in World War II, France occupied the Saar once more and placed it under her sovereignty, however without formal annexation. Instead, a semi-independence under French suzerainty in the framework of an international protectorate should be attained. But the so-called "European Saar Statute" failed in a referendum in 1955. Subsequently, France renounced to her claim, and the Saar joined the Federal Republic of Germany in early 1957.

Monetary History Overview

Since the Saar territory switched several times between Germany and France, so did the accounting and currency system. Between 1920 and 1923, the accounting in French Franc was gradually introduced. At the time of the formal demonetization, all cash holdings and deposits in German Mark had already disappeared in the hyperinflation. After the return to Germany following the 1935 referendum, French money was demonetized immediately and exchanged into German Reichsmark. After the Second World War, Saar was part of the French occupation zone of Germany. The French monetary system got introduced in 1947, before the three Western Allies carried out the currency reform for Germany. In mid-June 1947, the Saar Mark was created as interim currency to stop all inflow of German money, and the Reichsmark notes were withdrawn until the end of the month. In November of the same year finally, French accounting was introduced, and the Saar Franc was in fact identical to the French Franc. French banknotes and coins circulated and were complemented with local subsidiary coins in 1954. In 1955, the second referendum turned out in favour of an adherence to Germany once more. In 1957, Saar joined the Federal Republic of Germany, and in July 1959, the German Mark was introduced and the French (Saar) currency demonetized within two months.

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