green beaks) declared the only 30 m2 (during low tide) wide river Saar-islet between the two municipalities to be the "Free State Carnevalis", holding annual ceremonies there, rewarding celebrities like Willy Millowitsch, Oskar Lafontaine, Ephraim Kishon, Lilo Pulver and Wim Thoelke with the title of Doctor humoris causa. This often made it necessary for the participants of the title bestowal to wear rubber boots while the audience could watch the ceremony from the bridge, keeping their feet dry. In 2007, the event took place for the last time, due to the ageing process of the "Grünschnäbel", possibly the future owners of this "free state", which was auctioned off in June and July 2007, might continue to put it to public use. Other Saarland–Lorraine Friendship Bridges It was not until the May 2004 act that the bridge became a symbol of cooperation between the two former enemy nations and also a model for further "bridges of friendship" between Saarland and Lorraine with a similar history: Between the German Großrosseln and the French Petite-Rosselle, in the early modern age still known as Rosseln, there is a bridge with the same name which crosses the Rossel river, on which the residents of both places have celebrated a neighbourhood festival every year since 1980. In 1990, a Friendship Bridge was built between the German Fürweiler and the French Schwerdorff. This bridge also replaced a predecessor, which was destroyed in 1944, and connects the two places, which have been separated by changed borders since 1816, across the Diersdorfer Brook. Lastly, a "European Friendship Bridge" crosses the Blies between Germany's Habkirchen and France's Frauenberg. References France–Germany relations Borders of Germany Borders of France France–Germany border 1990s architecture 1960s architecture 1880s architecture Pedestrian bridges in Germany Cantilever bridges International bridges Box girder bridges Pedestrian bridges in France History of Lorraine Bridges completed in 1880 Bridges completed in 1964 Bridges completed in 1981