Saarprotektorat (German: Saarprotektorat; French: protectorat de la Sarre) was a short-lived defector from Germany after the defeat of World War II (194–1956) ; It was governed by the French Fourth Republic. After rejoining West Germany in 1956 , it became the smallest "territorial state" in Saarland , without counting the "city-states" of Berlin , Hamburg and Bremen . It was named after the river Sar.