Stiftskirche St. Arnual

The beginnings of St. Arnual Abbey are closely linked to the Merovingian king Theudebert II, who allegedly gifted the village of Merkingen, the precursor to the present-day district, to Bishop Arnual of Metz around 600 AD. Bishop Arnual established a missionary center here and was likely buried on site. Archaeological findings from the 1990s confirm a Merovingian burial site in the crossing of the collegiate church. Early on, Arnual was revered as a saint, leading to the renaming of the locality to Sankt Arnual. The first confirmed documentary mention of the abbey dates to 1135. A highlight in the Middle Ages was the visit of King Louis VII of France in 1147. A medieval seal names a founder called Odoaker, suggesting a possible re-establishment or expansion of an already existing community of clerics. The abbey was subordinate to the Diocese of Metz and was the seat of an archpresbyterate, encompassing around 40 parishes. The canons, whose number never exceeded five to seven, initially resided in convent buildings of a cloister complex, later in individual manor houses. In the Middle Ages and early modern period, the area around the church and cloister served as a burial ground. A Latin school of the abbey was first mentioned in 1223. During the Reformation, the canons showed openness to Martin Luther's teachings, leading to conflicts and the plundering of the church treasury in 1561.

The Collegiate Church of St. Arnual is situated in the Sankt Arnual district of Saarbrücken, within the Regionalverband Saarbrücken in the federal state of Saarland, Germany.

The current collegiate church is an outstanding example of Gothic architecture and testifies to the former importance of the monastery. Archaeological excavations have provided important insights into the early medieval history of the site.

• Halberg Castle (Castle, approx. 1110 m away)
• Kaninchenberg Castle Ruin (Castle, approx. 1441 m away)
• Saarbrücken Castle (Castle, approx. 2323 m away)
• Erbprinzenpalais (Residence, approx. 2439 m away)