town, Moselle département, Lorraine région, northeastern France, just southwest of Saarbrücken, Ger. The town, which has an important cokery and manufactures mining equipment, is at the edge of the Saar Coal Basin. Remains of the medieval castle of the counts of Forbach crown a nearby hill (Schlossberg). Forbach was the scene of a French defeat (Aug. 6, 1870) during the Franco-German War. Pop. (1999) 22,807; (2005 est.) 22,400.