Jakobsmarkt Medelsheim

A Market Held for Almost 500 Years

Anyone strolling through the Bliesgau village of Medelsheim on the third Sunday in July walks in the footsteps of a tradition that is unique in Saarland. The Jakobsmarkt Medelsheim dates back to a charter granted around 1535 — a time when the present-day Saarland was divided between Lorraine, the Palatinate, and small immediate imperial lordships, and market rights were a significant distinction. Cultivated over centuries, then temporarily forgotten, the market was revived in 1999 and is now one of the well-attended summer events in the Saarpfalz district.

Medelsheim, the 'Gold Village'

Medelsheim, a district of the municipality of Gersheim in the southernmost part of Saarland, bears the title Gold Village — an award in the nationwide competition "Our Village Has Future". You can feel it as soon as you walk through the village center: well-maintained sandstone facades, lushly planted front gardens, an intact village green, and the typical Bliesgau landscape of scattered fruit trees, beech forests, and calcareous grasslands right on its doorstep. The Bliesgau was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2009; Medelsheim is located right in the middle of it.

Over 100 Stalls Around the Parish Church

The market activity is concentrated around the Parish Church of St. Martin and along Burgstraße. Over 100 vendors set up their stalls — and the assortment has retained its old breadth: regional specialties from Bliesgau and Lorraine (cheese, sausage, honey, mustard, cider), arts and crafts (wood carvings, ceramics, jewelry, leather goods), household items, clothing, children's toys, as well as food stalls with the classic Saarland-Palatinate specialties Flammkuchen, Schwenker, and Lyoner.

Organiser: The Fire Brigade

The market is organised by the Friends of the Medelsheim Volunteer Fire Brigade Association, which reinvests all proceeds into equipping the local brigade and supporting club life. This has two effects: the market remains uncommercially enough to preserve its folk festival character, and the village community supports the event throughout the year — from applying for stall permits to setting up on market morning.

Bliesgau Experience Before and After the Market

Those travelling to Medelsheim from within Saarland or from the Palatinate should combine their visit with a short Bliesgau tour. The nearby Gollenstein near Blieskastel — the largest surviving menhir in Central Europe — is a must-see, as is the European Cultural Park Bliesbruck-Reinheim, the German-French archaeological area right on the border. A guided walk through the scattered fruit tree meadows allows you to experience the landscape that earned the Bliesgau its biosphere status.

Atmosphere

The Jakobsmarkt is not a high-gloss event, but a grown village festival with a market character: residents sit in front of their houses, associations serve food in the courtyards, children run around with sweets between the stalls, and older Medelsheim residents chat in the church square. The atmosphere is familiar, and visitors come from neighboring Lorraine — a typical festival day in the German-French border region.