Saarland honors Kohl and Mitterrand by naming a street on the bridge

Tribute to great Europeans: Two streets in Saarland will commemorate the former Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl (1930-2017) and the former French President François Mitterrand (1916-1996). The street signs were ceremoniously unveiled at a ceremony with Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) in Saarlouis. The fact that both streets meet in the middle of a bridge over the Saar is particularly symbolic.

“Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand loved freedom and they wanted peace, coming from very different political directions,” said Merz. But they knew that freedom and peace would only exist if it was protected. “We want to be able to defend ourselves so that we don’t have to defend ourselves: This sentence remains true,” emphasized the Chancellor, quoting the poet Friedrich Hölderlin: “At the same time, in these months we see once again: Where there is danger, what saves us also increases.”

Two names, one bridge

The Christian Democrat Kohl was chancellor from 1982 to 1998, the socialist Mitterrand was president from 1981 to 1995. Their handshake in front of the Douaumont ossuary near Verdun in September 1984 is considered an important sign of reconciliation between former enemies. However, before Kohl and Mitterrand made history in France, they made politics in Saarland: both met in Saarbrücken in May 1984 to discuss Europe and easing border traffic.

Just a few weeks later, Germany and France signed the agreement named after the city in Saarbrücken on the gradual dismantling of border controls. The agreement initially made it possible to cross the border at slow speeds and usually only with a visual inspection. A year later, Germany, France and three other countries agreed to gradually reduce border controls in Schengen, Luxembourg.

Where their paths converge

In 2022, Saarlouis was the first city in Saarland to name a street after Kohl (CDU). The city council recently decided to dedicate a previously unnamed section of street to Mitterrand in the future. Rue François Mitterrand begins in the Roden district and flows into Helmut-Kohl-Straße towards the city center. They meet in the middle of the bridge named after Federal President Gustav Heinemann (1899-1976).

Mitterrand and Kohl jointly received the International Charlemagne Prize in 1988. The jury honored her contributions to European unification and Franco-German cooperation.

Once an enemy country, today a neighborhood

Hardly any other place is as emblematic of the eventful German-French history as Saarland: after the Second World War, initially under French control, it became part of the Federal Republic in 1957. The special proximity to France is still part of everyday life today: France is a central economic and cooperation partner, people cross the border every day to work, shop or in their leisure time.

Politically, Kohl and Mitterrand were worlds apart, but in European politics the Christian Democrat and the Socialist nevertheless came together for years. Even in the decisive phase of German unification, the relationship remained resilient: at the beginning of 1990, Kohl personally asked Mitterrand for support for the unification process - and received it.

The current Chancellor also has a connection to Saarland: Friedrich Merz completed his legal clerkship in Saarbrücken, where he worked as a judge at the district court - and his wife Charlotte comes from the state. In the Golden Book of the city of Saarlouis on Monday, Merz wrote, among other things: “We are only strong together in Europe.”