2007 Germany €10 Silver Coin "Saarland Treaty"

• Issue date:
• Mint: Karlsruhe (G)
• Denomination: €10
• Quality: Proof/Uncirculated
• Limits: 300,000/1.3 million
• Alloy: 92.5% Sterling Silver
• Diameter: 32.50 mm
• Weight: 18 grams
• Design: Erika Binz-Blanke
• Box/Capsule: No/Yes
• Certificate: No


• Image shows proof quality


• Edge Lettering: "Deutschland * Frankreich * Europa" (Germany * France * Europe)

This issue commemorates the 50th anniversary of Saarland joining the German Federation on January 1, 1957 - the last international border change in Europe until the Fall of Communism.

Saarland is one of the 16 states of Germany and is the smallest in both area (except for certain city-states) and population (approx. 1 million). Most inhabitants live in a city agglomeration on the French border, surrounding the capital of Saarbrucken. The state borders France in the south and west, Luxembourg in the west and the state of Rheinland-Pfalz in the north and the east.

In 1920 the Saargebiet was created in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles. It comprised portions of the Prussian Rhine Province and the Bavarian Rhenish Palatinate. The area was put under the control of the League of Nations, but was in practice administered by France until 1935. When the original 15-year-term was over, a plebiscite was held in the territory on January 13, 1935 with 90.3% of those voting favoring joining Germany.

In 1933, a considerable number of anti-Nazi Germans fled to the Saar, as it was the only remaining part of Germany that was not under the political control of the Third Reich. As a result, anti-Nazi groups campaigned heavily for the Saarland to remain under French control as long as Adolf Hitler ruled Germany, but only a small number of people favored that condition.

From March 1, 1935-March 21, 1945 Saarland was administered by Nazi Germany. After World War II the Saarland came under French administration again, as the Saar Protectorate. In 1954, France and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) developed a detailed plan called the Saarstatut to establish an independent Saarland, but a plebiscite rejected it by 67.7%. On October 27, 1956, the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to join the Federal Republic of Germany, which it did on January 1, 1957.