Leidingen: everyday life on the border

220 people live in Leidingen. One of the five streets is the “Neutrale Straße” or “Rue de la Frontière”. This is where the invisible border between Germany and France runs. Crossing borders is part of everyday life here.

At first glance, the little town of Leidingen is rather inconspicuous: 220 inhabitants, five streets, no supermarket, no inn, no school, no kindergarten. But the village of 220 has two Catholic churches.

And there is a reason for that: Leidingen is a village on the German-French border. The Church of St. Remigius is on the German side and the Eglise St. Jeanne-d’Arc is on French soil.

An invisible border runs through Leidingen, right in the middle of Neutrale Strasse or Rue de la Frontière. On the one hand, the German residents live in Leidingen, directly opposite the French. Your district is called Leiding.

Moselle Franconian dialect

This is everyday life for the local people. “French, German – it’s all the same,” says the German Gertrude Schutz in the Moselle Franconian dialect. There are some who have studied, others have not, but nevertheless everyone is equal. The 80-year-old has lived on the French side of the street with her husband Joseph, who is French, for 60 years.

Wolfgang Schmitt has been mayor of Leidingen for almost 30 years. He knows the couple well, as does everyone else in Leidingen, whether French or German. For him, the Franco-German reconciliation after several brutal wars is the most beautiful thing in history. Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle are his heroes. The two would have achieved incredible things, in which they would have promoted the rapprochement of the former hereditary enemies.

This is one of the reasons why the municipality dedicated the border viewing windows to the two statesmen: one on the French side, one on the German side. Schmitt is convinced that her commitment, which ultimately resulted in the Élysée Treaty, is of inestimable value for peace in Europe. 60 years ago – on January 22, 1963 it was signed.

Baguette or wholemeal bread

Schmitt’s father is French. This is nothing special in the Saargau, where the borders have always been fluid. The Moselle Franconian dialect was the common language for a long time. But that is getting lost more and more today, says Petra Johannes, who has lived in Leidingen on the German side for almost 20 years. Thanks to Saarland’s France strategy, the children learned French early and some French people also learned German at school – but the all-day schools left little room for actual encounters, as it used to be.

You used to play outside, crossed the border without even noticing it and yet always spoke the same language, the dialect. It’s just different today. Nevertheless, she loves life on the border. It’s still a bit like vacation and you have very practical advantages – so there’s both a French baker’s car and a German one. Baguette or wholemeal bread, croissants or pieces of pudding – in Leidingen you always have a choice.

Shopping at the neighbors

In this respect, the small town represents the whole of Saarland. Here, too, the borders between France and Germany are fluid. In Saarbrücken there is a Franco-German grammar school with students from both countries. In the pedestrian zone you hear at least as many French as German words.

No wonder: from Saarbrücken or Saarlouis it is just five minutes to cross the border, which is barely visible. However, many Saarlanders also live in France for tax reasons. Lots of people from Lorraine work in Saarland. And they all have one thing in common: you buy from your neighbors. The Germans go to the supermarket for a large selection of fish, cheese or good wine at reasonable prices.

And the French? They also come to shop because many things are cheaper for them in Germany, for example cosmetics and drugstore items. It’s still a “riwwer und niwwer”, i.e. back and forth in the border region – less because of the much-vaunted Franco-German friendship, but because of the very practical advantages that life on the border offers. When there was a state subsidy for fuel in France, people drove to France to fill up. When it was cheaper again in Germany, the French also filled up in this country.

Relationship crisis during the Corona pandemic

The everyday life of Franco-German cooperation along the border experienced a severe crisis during the Corona pandemic. In March 2020, the Saarland Minister of the Interior at the time closed the borders due to the high incidence in France. Only a few crossings remained open and there were strict controls. The federal police were also present in the tiny town of Leidingen and sent the French residents to the border crossing at Creutzwald, 18 km away. Many felt that this was a form of harassment, as it made their commute to work many times longer.

Corona showed how shaky the much-vaunted friendship between Germans and French can quickly become. When the French came to shop, they were sometimes downright abused because they were bringing the “plague” with them. Old wounds reopened and to this day occasionally cause distrust in our dealings with one another.

Even the convinced European Schmitt is not free from it. When he goes shopping in France, he still checks whether someone has scratched his car. But he is optimistic. This low relationship will also be overcome. But he thinks little of a romantic exaggeration of Franco-German friendship.

Less and less dialect

Schmitt agrees with his French colleague on that. Astrid Lemarchand is mayor for Leiding, Heining and Schreckling just across the border. It’s the very practical advantages that you’re always looking for: the Germans want cheaper houses, building land and, of course, tax advantages. The French are primarily concerned with well-paid jobs. This development is increasing and is a great pity, says Lemarchand.

Although many Germans lived on the French side, they sent their children to school in Germany. Only the French day-care center is also popular with Germans – after all, it’s free. In her childhood there was more, especially family contact across the border. So many friendships were formed.

And of course they spoke a common language with the dialect, understood each other in the truest sense of the word. But the dialect is no longer “à la mode”.

In order to create a common basis, one must ensure more personal contact – and as early as possible. She is therefore planning to build a small sports field in the border community of Heining this year. This is where French and German children will meet and learn each other’s language in a playful way. Real friendship can never be decreed from above anyway. It arises on a small scale.

Friendship needs nurturing

Her German colleague Schmitt sees it the same way. It is important that there is enough space for encounters in everyday life, in daily interactions or even side by side.

The 68-year-old builds it with passion. He has just managed to raise funds for the renovation of the Grenzblickhaus in Leidingen from the EU and Saarland. Together with the citizens – Germans and French – he wants to set up a cultural center for joint meetings, for events and for exchange. His conviction: friendship must be cultivated and communication is everything.

Maybe that would also be a good tip for Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. The thread of conversation between the two politicians seemed to be rather thinly woven, at least at times. So thin that Frenchman Macron warned Germany in October not to isolate itself in Europe. In the meantime, however, the signs are pointing towards convergence again. The Chancellor, the entire federal cabinet and numerous members of the Bundestag are expected in Paris to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty.

The report from Berlin at 6 p.m. in the first is also about the Franco-German friendship 60 years after the signing of the Élysée Treaty.