377. The state capital (Landeshauptstadt) of Saarland is …

Answer options

1. Neunkirchen
2. Homburg
3. Saarbrücken
4. Völklingen

Explanation

Within the federal order of the Basic Law (Art. 20(1) GG), a Landeshauptstadt is the seat of a Land’s highest constitutional organs—above all the state government, the Landtag, and typically the state constitutional court. Saarbrücken fulfills this role for Saarland and had already served as the principal administrative center during the League of Nations mandate and subsequent French administration. Its status as capital is bound up with the “Saar question” (the 1935 plebiscite and the 1955 Saar Statute referendum) and Saarland’s accession to the Federal Republic on 1 January 1957. The city also embodies Franco-German reconciliation and the Saar-Lor-Lux cross-border region, consistent with the Basic Law’s European commitment in Article 23.