Formalized the return of the Saar Protectorate to West Germany following a 1955 referendum rejecting the Saar Statute.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 27 October 1956
- Signing location
- Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
- West German signatory
- Foreign Minister Heinrich von Brentano
- French signatory
- Foreign Minister Christian Pineau
- Saarland incorporation date
- 1 January 1957
- Economic transition period end
- 1959
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Saar Statute referendum held on 23 October 1955 produced a majority vote against the proposed statute, which would have established the Saarland as an autonomous protectorate under Western European Union supervision. This outcome compelled West Germany and France to negotiate a new arrangement governing the territory's political future.
On 27 October 1956, West German Foreign Minister Heinrich von Brentano and French Foreign Minister Christian Pineau signed the Saar Treaty in Luxembourg. The agreement settled the status of the Saar Protectorate, providing for its return to West Germany while establishing an economic transition period lasting through 1959 during which France retained economic control.
Following the Saarland Landtag's declaration of accession to the Federal Republic of Germany, the territory was formally incorporated into West Germany on 1 January 1957. France continued to oversee the Saarland's economic affairs through 1959, after which full integration was completed, resolving a longstanding post-World War II territorial dispute between the two nations.
Political Outcome
The Saar Protectorate was returned to West Germany, with formal incorporation on 1 January 1957 and a Franco-controlled economic transition period through 1959.
Saarland existed as a French-administered protectorate separate from West Germany
Saarland incorporated into West Germany as a federal state from 1 January 1957