Saint Arnual

Sankt Arnual is a district of Saarbrücken. Until 1897, Sankt Arnual was an independent municipality.
Once, this area was inhabited by the Mediomatrici. In Roman times, there was a Roman garrison on the opposite bank of the Saar and a Gallo-Roman settlement at the site of today's St. Arnual market. The village of Merkingen developed on the ruins of this settlement, which was supposedly granted to the Bishop of Metz, Arnual, by the Merovingian king Theodebert II around 600. The document from the Bishop of Metz, Adventius, dated 857 is not preserved in its original form but only in French summaries from the 18th century. Bishop Arnual founded a successful missionary center around 600 and is probably also buried here. Five different churches in the Middle Ages were forerunners of today's collegiate church. Archaeological excavations in the 1990s have confirmed a significant Merovingian burial site in the crossing of the collegiate church. Soon, Arnual was venerated as a saint, and Merkingen was renamed Sankt Arnual.

Wikipedia