DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Saarland
Stadtverband: Saarbrücken

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Völklingen is situated at an elevation of 198 m near Saarbrücken in Germany's state of Saarland. With a population of about 44,000 it is the third-largest city in Saarland. Situated at the crossroads of old trading routes, it was a cente for trading and commerce already in Celtic and Roman times. The first document mentioning Fulcolingas dates from 822. During the following centuries, the rural settlement belonged to the counts of Saarbrücken. The early industrialisation goes back to the 16th/17th century. Iron melting was begun in 1572, surface mining for coal was introduced in 1621. The Huguenots who came to Völklingen in 1604 introduced glassworks in 1616. After the Peace of Campo-Formio in 1797, when all German regions west of the Rhine river became part of France, Völklingen became a Mairie within the Arrondissement Saarbrücken (Sarrebruck). After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the Saar region became part of Prussia, which initiated a powerful development of steel industry. However, following the steel crisis of the 1970s all iron works were closed. The last works that were closed in 1983, Alte Völklinger Hütte, has been preserved as an industrial monument and was listed as a World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO in 1994 (see also list of other UNESCO heritage sites). The works, which cover some 6 ha between the old town and the river Saar, were founded in 1873 and were the first industrial site to have received this recognition.

The old town hall (Altes Rathaus) [left] was built in 1874–1876 in Classicist style and was later remodelled in Art Nouveau style.