On 27 October 1956, in Luxembourg, Christian Pineau, French Foreign Minister, and Heinrich von Brentano, Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) sign the Saar Treaty which, amongst other things, lays down the terms for the return of the Saar to Germany.

The Franco-German Treaty signed on 27 October 1956 in Luxembourg settles the Saar question and provides for the political reintegration of the territory into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 1 January 1957.

On 1 January 1957, the Saar is returned to the Federal Republic of Germany. On this occasion, the Saar Prime Minister, Hubert Ney, flies the flags of the Saar and of Germany at the Chancellery in Saarbrücken.

On 13 September 1956, in a Saarbrücken radio broadcast, the German State Secretary, Walter Hallstein, gives an upbeat evaluation of negotiations between France and Germany on financial and economic issues relating to the Saar Statute.

On 29 November 1956, Heinrich von Brentano, Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), outlines to the Bundestag the implications of the Treaty signed on 27 October 1956 in Luxembourg by France and Germany in order to resolve definitively the Saar question.

On 1 January 1957, Hubert Ney, Prime Minister of the Saar, welcomes the political return of the Saar to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and calls for the peaceful reunification of Germany.

On 1 January 1957, during the celebrations to mark the return of the Saar to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, gives an address in which he welcomes the peaceful manner in which the Saar question has been resolved.

‘Negotiations on the conventions — Erwin Müller: “What — is that all you’re bringing me compared with what’s written on the menu!?!”’ In March 1953, the Saar satirical magazine Der Tintenfisch illustrates the astonishment of Erwin Müller, Saar Minister for Justice, at the disappointing results of the negotiations between France and the Saar in the following fields: economic relations, the joint operation of the Saar’s mines, Franco-Saar courts, mutual legal assistance, fiscal and budgetary cooperation and mutual administrative assistance.

On 3 March 1950, in Paris, France and the Saar sign 12 conventions on the special status of the Saar which concern, in particular, the application of the economic union between France and the Saar, the operation of railways and mines in the Saar, the establishment of nationals from the two countries and the exercise of their professional activities, the supervision of insurance companies in the Saar, pharmaceutical regulations, inland waterway transport, mutual legal assistance, units and measuring instruments and the conditions for Franco-Saar road transport operations.

Johannes Hoffmann, Prime Minister of the Saar from 1947 to 1955.