Saarschleife

The narrowing of the Saarschleife between Besseringen and Dreisbach stems from the fact that the Saar, coming from the colored sandstone of the Merzig Basin, enters a section of hard quartzite rock.

The advantage offered by a spur surrounded by a river attracted the original Celtic inhabitants of the area to erect a protective wall that lies two kilometers to the east of the ruins of Castle Montclair that dates from the Middle Ages.

During a period of great migration following the fall of the Roman Empire and the establishment of Francia, a noble family from Ardennes erected Skiva Castle (also recorded as "Skipha" or "Sissiva") on the spur around 1000 AD.

As a result, the castle's remains would only be stabilized two centuries later when Frederick William IV of Prussia initiated preservation efforts upon his first stay in Mettlach in 1835.

The proposed facility would have included a Thingstätte to hold 4000, a tower, a "Hall of Honor for the Victims on the Saar" as well as a school building for 600 students stretching out over 800 meters.

The plans for the massive complex were drawn up by Clemens Klotz, the Cologne-based architect who built the Kraft durch Freude facilities of Prora on the island of Rügen as well as the Vogelsang Ordensburg in the Eifel region, and the responsibility for the project's planning fell to Robert Ley, the NSDAP Reichsleiter, and the German Labor Front.

The planned complex was announced as a gift of gratitude to the inhabitants of the Saarland following the results of the 1935 Saar status referendum.

[3][4] On 23 July 2016 the Treetop Walk Saarschleife opened to the public with an observation tower soaring above the historically popular vantage point known as "the Cloef.

Nearly a decade later, the former presidents of France and Poland Jacques Chirac and Lech Kaczyński met for a three-party summit with Angela Merkel on 5 December 2006.49°30′04″N 6°32′58″E / 49.50111°N 6.54944°E / 49.50111; 6.54944