Maison · Photo: Hochstrasser Tanya · CC BY-SA 3.017 historic monuments, more per resident than almost any compared French town
Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 2023. The Culture ministry lists 17 historic monuments in Sarre-Union, none of them classé, France’s highest protection. The oldest date from the 16th century. We have photos of 17 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Sarre-Union in 17 photos
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
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Ancien hôtel de ville de NeusaarwerdenInscrit+12See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Sarre-Union has the 2nd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 2,700 to 2,800 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 2. 9 of the 41 have none.
Where Sarre-Union’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
Classé is the higher protection: any work on the building needs the State’s permission. Work on an inscrit building must be declared to the State in advance. Around both, building work in sight of the monument (usually within 500 m) needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
Points as the ministry gives them: a monument spread over several plots has one point.
17 inscrit monuments in Sarre-Union
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 17, A to Z
14 more, named only by their kind
14 more are named in the list only by their kind: 14 houses (maisons), most from the 17th and 18th centuries. The 14 with an address are in the list above, by it.
Most of Sarre-Union’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes: 14 of 17 monuments (82%). 1 is a religious building.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once.
Sarre-Union has had a protected historic area since 2023
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR44-57 | – November 8, 2023 | – |
A site patrimonial remarquable protects a whole area rather than one building: inside it, building work follows the area’s own plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
The list gives no boundaries, so the map can’t show the area.
Over half of Sarre-Union’s monuments were protected in 1934
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1923: Ancien temple réformé. 15 were protected in 1934 alone. 1 has been added since 2011.
26% of homes in Sarre-Union were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
26% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished between 1971 and 1990 than in any other period (26%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
5 people born in Sarre-Union before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Everyone born in Sarre-Union Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Historic monuments in the towns around Sarre-Union
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarre-Union | 2,731 | 17 | 0 | Yes |
| Sarralbe Moselle | 4,364 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Hambach Moselle | 2,766 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Woustviller Moselle | 2,786 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Puttelange-aux-Lacs Moselle | 3,016 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sarreguemines Moselle | 20,143 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Sarrebourg Moselle | 12,170 | 6 | 3 | — |
Sarre-Union in brief
Few towns are as rich in historic monuments as Sarre-Union: per resident it has more than 99% of compared French towns. All told, the list holds 17 historic monuments. Its housing is old: 26% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. Only one of the 41 towns nearest its size has more historic monuments.
Part of it has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2023. Most entries on the list, 82%, are houses and homes. Of the 5 people born here before 1900, the best known include Henri Karcher (1748), Michel Eusèbe Mathias Betting de Lancastel (1797) and Théodore Karcher (1821). Otherwise the figures are ordinary: most dated ones come from the 16th to 18th centuries.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Monuments historiques. France protects buildings at two levels. Classé, the higher (about a third of the list), means any work needs the State’s permission; inscrit means work must be declared to the State in advance. The Culture ministry’s Mérimée base lists every protected building, and this page counts them.
- Partly protected. Many entries protect part of a building only (its façades and roofs, a staircase, a painted room). Each counts as one monument, like a fully protected one.
- Where a monument is counted. In the commune named on its protection, moved to today’s commune where communes have since merged. A monument listed for several communes counts in each.
- Sites patrimoniaux remarquables. Since 2016 France’s protected historic areas (the former secteurs sauvegardés, ZPPAUP and AVAP) share one name. Inside one, building work follows the area’s plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
- What isn’t here. Protected objects (furniture, organs, paintings), old buildings with no protection, UNESCO World Heritage listings and labels such as “Plus Beaux Villages de France” aren’t on this list, so this page doesn’t count them.
- No History Grade yet. Everything on this page is described, not graded: France’s History Grade isn’t built yet.
Questions about the history of Sarre-Union
How many historic monuments are there in Sarre-Union?
The Culture ministry lists 17 historic monuments in Sarre-Union: 17 inscrit, none classé.
How old are the monuments of Sarre-Union?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 16th century.
Is Sarre-Union a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Sarre-Union has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2023.
When were monuments in Sarre-Union first protected?
The first in 1923, the latest in 2011.
How old are the homes in Sarre-Union?
26% of its main homes were built before 1919 (median compared French town: 7.4%).
France has no History Grade yet: this page describes, it doesn’t grade.
Sources: Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée base on POP (immeubles protégés au titre des monuments historiques), October 2026 · Ministère de la Culture, sites patrimoniaux remarquables, October 2026 · INSEE, census 2023 (main homes by build period) · Wikidata and Wikipedia (people born here) · Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata (photos of the monuments, each with its own credit and license) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 9, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.