Sarreguemines: The Faience Town Where the Blies Meets the Sarre
Grand Est, France
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200
XP
+100 France
= 300 total
1 day
Sarreguemines: The Faience Town Where the Blies Meets the Sarre
200 + 100 XP
Sarreguemines stands where the Blies flows into the Sarre on the German border, and it was a great faience town until the last of the works closed on 1 February 2007. The Musée de la Faïence, in the apartments of Paul de Geiger's villa — he directed the works from 1871 to 1913 — keeps a winter garden and a salon des Faïences protected since 1979, and the Moulin de la Blies, the mill Alexandre de Geiger built in 1841, shows the machines that made the ware. By the water, the Casino des Faïenceries that Paul de Geiger put up in 1878 for his workers, with a library, games rooms and a gymnasium, is faced with faience tiles from the factory.
Required Activities
1
of 5
In the Musée de la Faïence, in the old apartments of Paul de Geiger's villa, find the winter garden and the salon des Faïences, protected as a historic monument since July 1979, and Alexandre Sandier's Cléopâtre panel the museum bought in 2025
2
of 5
At the Moulin de la Blies, the mill Alexandre de Geiger built in 1841 and the works abandoned after 1979, follow the period machines of the Musée des techniques faïencières through from raw clay, then walk out into the Jardin des Faïenciers, where the ruins of the plant are staged among flowers, trees and water
3
of 5
On the western wall of the Casino des Faïenceries, find Alexandre Sandier's La Céramique: a woman personifying the craft, with the words kaolin and argile beside her, the Coupe Sandier of about 1880 in her hands, and the factory chimneys behind her
4
of 5
Walk or cycle out to the point where the Blies meets the Sarre and work out where the frontier stops running down the middle of the river, following the canal towpath that carries EuroVelo 5 on your way back
5
of 5
Find the old faience kiln standing behind the town hall, the last of the works left in the middle of the town
In the Musée de la Faïence, in the old apartments of Paul de Geiger's villa, find the winter garden and the salon des Faïences, protected as a historic monument since July 1979, and Alexandre Sandier's Cléopâtre panel the museum bought in 2025
At the Moulin de la Blies, the mill Alexandre de Geiger built in 1841 and the works abandoned after 1979, follow the period machines of the Musée des techniques faïencières through from raw clay, then walk out into the Jardin des Faïenciers, where the ruins of the plant are staged among flowers, trees and water
On the western wall of the Casino des Faïenceries, find Alexandre Sandier's La Céramique: a woman personifying the craft, with the words kaolin and argile beside her, the Coupe Sandier of about 1880 in her hands, and the factory chimneys behind her
Walk or cycle out to the point where the Blies meets the Sarre and work out where the frontier stops running down the middle of the river, following the canal towpath that carries EuroVelo 5 on your way back
Find the old faience kiln standing behind the town hall, the last of the works left in the middle of the town
Before you go
Mir redde Platt, the town's festival of the Rhine Franconian dialect, has been held every year since 1999.
The Casino des Faïenceries is not a museum: it holds a restaurant, a brasserie and a performance hall, and its 1878 wing burned in 1959 and was rebuilt in 1983 with its original half-timbering restored. It has been a listed monument since 1998.
Both Sarreguemines museums close on Mondays, except bank holiday Mondays, and take an annual closure from the afternoon of 24 December until about 9 January, so the Christmas and New Year window is out. From 1 November to 31 March the Moulin de la Blies breaks for two hours at midday. The two sites are a couple of kilometres apart along the Blies and the winter garden is in the Musée de la Faïence in the town, not at the mill. The Casino des Faïenceries is looked at from outside.
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XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
300 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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