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Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
after the state capital of Stuttgart, and
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
's 21st-largest city, with a 2020 population of 309,119 inhabitants. The city is the cultural and economic centre of the
Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (german: Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar, ), often referred to as Rhein-Neckar-Triangle, is a polycentric metropolitan region located in south western Germany, between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region to the Nor ...
, Germany's seventh-largest metropolitan region with nearly 2.4 million inhabitants and over 900,000 employees. Mannheim is located at the confluence of the
Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...
and the
Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Sc ...
in the
Kurpfalz The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
(
Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
) region of northwestern Baden-Württemberg. The city lies in the Upper Rhine Plain, Germany's warmest region. Together with
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
, Mannheim is the only city bordering two other federal states. It forms a continuous conurbation of around 480,000 inhabitants with Ludwigshafen am Rhein in the neighbouring state of
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
, on the other side of the Rhine. Some northern suburbs of Mannheim belong to
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...
. Upstream along the Neckar lies Heidelberg, the fifth-largest city of Baden-Württemberg and the third-largest of the Rhine-Neckar Region. Mannheim is unusual among German cities in that the city center's streets and avenues are laid out in a grid pattern, leading to its nickname ''Quadratestadt'' (''Square City''). Within a ring of avenues surrounding the city centre, there are squares numbered from A1 to U6 instead of street names. At the southern base of that system sits Mannheim Palace, one of the largest palace complexes in the world, and the second-largest in Baroque style after
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
. It was the former home of the
Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the Holy Roman Emperor, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century ...
of the Electoral Palatinate, and now houses the University of Mannheim, which repeatedly receives top marks in business administration and is sometimes known as the " Harvard of Germany". The Mannheim May Market is the largest regional consumer exhibition of Germany. The civic symbol of Mannheim is the Romanesque Mannheim Water Tower, completed in 1886 and rising to above the highest point of the
art nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Moder ...
area '' Friedrichsplatz''. Mannheim is well-known for its inventions, including the
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...
, the bicycle, and the tractor, which is why the city is often called the "city of inventions". The city is the starting and finishing point of the Bertha Benz Memorial Route that follows the tracks of the first long-distance automobile trip in history. A '' Großstadt'' (major city with more than 100,000 inhabitants) since 1896, Mannheim is now an important industrial and commercial city, a university town, and a major transportation hub between
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...
and Stuttgart, including an ICE interchange (the Mannheim Hauptbahnhof), Germany's second-largest marshalling yard (the
Mannheim Rangierbahnhof The Mannheim Rangierbahnhof (German for ''Mannheim marshalling yard'') is a marshalling yard in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the second-largest marshalling yard in Germany after the Maschen Marshalling Yard. Geography The stati ...
), and Germany's largest inland port (the Mannheim Harbour). The city is home to many factories, offices and headquarters of several major corporations such as Roche, ABB, IBM, Siemens,
Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy ...
and more. Mannheim's
SAP Arena SAP Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Mannheim, Germany. It is primarily used for ice hockey and handball, and is the home arena of the Adler Mannheim ice hockey club and the Rhein-Neckar Löwen handball club. Inaugurated in 2005, the arena h ...
is home to German ice hockey record champions Adler Mannheim as well as popular handball team Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Since 2014, Mannheim has been a member of the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
Creative Cities Network and holds the title of "
UNESCO City of Music UNESCO's City of Music programme is part of the wider Creative Cities Network. The ''Network'' launched in 2004, and has member cities in seven creative fields. The other fields are: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, an ...
". In 2020, Mannheim was classified as a global city with ' Sufficiency' status by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC). Mannheim is a smart city; the city's electrical grid is installed with a power-line communication network. The city's tourism slogan is "''Leben im Quadrat''" ("''Life in the'' ''Square''").


History


Early history

A brick kiln excavated in 1929 in the Seckenheim district, which operated from 74 AD to the early second century, attests to settlement in Roman times. The name of the city was first recorded as ''Mannenheim'' in a legal transaction in 766, surviving in a twelfth-century copy in the '' Codex Laureshamensis'' from Lorsch Abbey. The name is interpreted as "the home of Manno", a short form of a
Germanic name Germanic given names are traditionally dithematic; that is, they are formed from two elements, by joining a prefix and a suffix. For example, King Æþelred's name was derived from ', for "noble", and ', for "counsel". However, there are also ...
such as ''Hartmann'' or ''Hermann''. Mannheim remained a mere village throughout the Middle Ages.


Early Modern Age

In 1606,
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (german: Kurfürst Friedrich IV. von der Pfalz; 5 March 1574 – 19 September 1610), only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous" (german ...
started building the fortress of Friedrichsburg and the adjacent city centre with its grid of streets and avenues. On 24 January 1607, Frederick IV gave Mannheim the status of a "city", whether it really was one by then or not. Mannheim was mostly levelled during the Thirty Years War around 1622 by the forces of Johan Tilly. After being rebuilt, it was again severely damaged by the
French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...
in 1689 during the Nine Years' War. After the rebuilding of Mannheim that began in 1698, the capital of the
Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
was moved from Heidelberg to Mannheim in 1720 when Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine began construction of Mannheim Palace and the Jesuit Church; they were completed in 1760.


18th and 19th centuries

During the eighteenth century, Mannheim was the home of the " Mannheim School" of classical music composers. Mannheim was said to have one of the best court orchestras in Europe under the leadership of the conductor Carlo Grua. The royal court of the Palatinate left Mannheim in 1778. Two decades later, in 1802, Mannheim was removed from the Palatinate and given to the
Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and sub ...
. In 1819, Norwich Duff wrote of Mannheim: In 1819,
August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (; – ) was a German dramatist and writer who also worked as a consul in Russia and Germany. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl L ...
was assassinated in Mannheim. The climate crisis of 1816-17 caused famine and the death of many horses in Mannheim. That year Karl Drais invented the first bicycle. Infrastructure improvements included the establishment of Rhine Harbour in 1828 and construction of the first Baden railway, which opened from Mannheim to Heidelberg in 1840. Influenced by the economic rise of the middle class, another golden age of Mannheim gradually began. In the March Revolution of 1848, the city was a centre for political and revolutionary activity. In 1865, Friedrich Engelhorn founded the ''Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik'' (Baden Aniline and Soda Factory, BASF) in Mannheim, but the factory was constructed across the Rhine in Ludwigshafen because Mannheim residents feared
air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...
from its operations. From this dye factory, BASF has developed into the largest chemical company in the world. After opening a workshop in Mannheim in 1871 and patenting engines from 1878,
Karl Benz Carl Friedrich Benz (; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929), sometimes also Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent Motorcar from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automobile and fir ...
patented the first motor car in 1886. He was born in Mühlburg (now part of Karlsruhe).


Early 20th century and World War I

The Schütte-Lanz company, founded by Karl Lanz and Johann Schütte in 1909, built 22 airships. The company's main competitor was the
Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, ...
works. When
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
broke out in 1914, Mannheim's industrial plants played a key role in Germany's war economy. This contributed to the fact that, on 27 May 1915, Ludwigshafen was the world's first civilian settlement behind the battle lines to be bombed from the air. French aircraft attacked the BASF plants, thereby killing twelve people. The precedent was set for this attack by Germany's repeated air raids against British civilian populations throughout southeastern Britain during the first half of 1915. When Germany lost the war in 1918, according to the peace terms, the left bank of the Rhine was occupied by French troops. The French occupation lasted until 1930, and some of Ludwigshafen's most elegant houses were erected for the officers of the French garrison.


Inter-war period

After the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
, the Heinrich Lanz Company built the Bulldog, an advanced tractor, powered by heavy oil. As a result of the invention of the pre-combustion chamber by Prosper L'Orange, Benz & Cie. developed the world's first compact diesel-powered car at its motor works in Mannheim in 1923. In 1922, the ''Grosskraftwerk Mannheim'' (Mannheim large power station) was opened. By 1930, the city, along with its sister city of Ludwigshafen, which had developed out of the old Mannheim Rheinschanze, had a population of 385,000.


World War II

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, air raids on Mannheim completely destroyed the city centre. Mannheim was heavily damaged during aerial bombing by the RAF and the U.S. Air Force. The RAF razed the city center of Mannheim with nighttime area bombing, killing thousands of civilians. 2,262 of Mannheim's Jews were sent to concentration camps. Some sources state that the first deliberate terror bombing of the war occurred at Mannheim on 16 December 1940. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Mannheim in late March 1945, which was potentially well-defended by German forces. However, the German forces suddenly abandoned the city and the U.S. 44th Infantry Division entered unopposed on 29 March 1945. There had been a large American military occupation presence in the Mannheim area with up to 10 barracks. The first one shut down in 2007 going on until 2013 when the last one closed. (See ''United States military installations'' below).


1950s to 1980s

Rebuilding of the city began laboriously. Mannheim Palace and the
water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conjun ...
(''Wasserturm'') eventually were rebuilt and the National Theatre was replaced by a new building at a new location. At the old location there is a monument to Friedrich Schiller and the ''Zum Zwischen-Akt'' pub. The housing shortage led to the development of many new residential areas. In 1964, the City Hospital (''Städtisches Krankenhaus'') became part of the Heidelberg University for Clinical Medicine in Mannheim. In 1967, the University of Mannheim was established in the city. In 1975, the Bundesgartenschau (''Federal horticulture show'') was celebrated in Luisen and Herzogenried parks. A number of pieces of infrastructure were developed for the show: the telecommunications tower and a second bridge across the Rhine were built, the pedestrian zone was established, the new Rosengarten conference centre was opened and the Aerobus was installed as a temporary transport system. A number of major projects were completed in the 1980s and 1990s: a planetarium, an extension to the art gallery, the new Reiß Museum, Stadthaus, a new May Market ground, synagogue, mosque, State Museum for Technology and Work, Carl-Benz stadium and the Fahrlach tunnel were opened. Mannheim has lost many industrial jobs, although in the recent past the city was economically dominated by manufacturing. The city tried in the past to prevent the establishment of service providers by designating some locations as industrial areas. A prime example of the current trend is the construction of the Victoria Tower (Victoria-Turm) in 2001, one of the tallest buildings in the city, on railway land.


Post-reunification

Mannheim celebrated its 400th anniversary with a series of cultural and other events throughout 2007. The 400th anniversary proper was in 2006, since
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (german: Kurfürst Friedrich IV. von der Pfalz; 5 March 1574 – 19 September 1610), only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous" (german ...
laid the foundations of Mannheim citadel on 17 March 1606. In preparation for the anniversary, some urban activities were implemented, beginning in 2000: the building of the
SAP Arena SAP Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Mannheim, Germany. It is primarily used for ice hockey and handball, and is the home arena of the Adler Mannheim ice hockey club and the Rhein-Neckar Löwen handball club. Inaugurated in 2005, the arena h ...
with access to the city's new eastern ring road, the rehabilitation of the pedestrian zone in Breite Straße, the arsenal and the palace, the complete transformation of the old fair ground, and the new Schafweide tram line. The concept of the anniversary of the city aimed at a diverse range of events without a dominant central event. In 2001, the City hospital was officially and legally awarded with the title University Hospital Mannheim.


Geography


Climate

Mannheim is located in Germany's warmest summer region, the " Rhine shift". In summer, temperatures sometimes rise up to and higher. The highest recorded temperature was on 7 August 2015. The daily lows during heat waves can be very high by north European standards (around ). In September 2016, the average temperature in Mannheim was 18.6 °C, highest in Baden-Württemberg. In comparison to other regions of Germany, Mannheim has a higher humidity in summer which causes a higher heat index. Snow is rare, even in the cold months. Precipitation occurs mostly during afternoon thunderstorms during the warmer period (average days of thunderstorms in a year is 40–50). Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The
Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
subtype for this climate is " Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/
Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
).


Demographics


Population


Nationalities

The following list shows significant groups of foreigners in the city of Mannheim by nationalities. In total 44,7% of all Mannheim inhabitants are from foreign descent. With 68,9% in the Neckarstadt-West district the population is the most foreign, in the Wallstadt district with 23,1% it is the least. A large part of the immigrants are from the Balkans and European countries.


Religion

The distribution of Mannheim's population by religious affiliation (as of December 31, 2020) is
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
25.4%,
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
20.0%, and other/ none 54.6%.


Culture


Theatre

The National Theatre Mannheim was founded in 1779 and is the oldest "Stage" in Germany. In 1782 the premiere of ''Die Räuber'', written by Friedrich Schiller, was shown. Recently, more smaller stages have opened, such as the Oststadt-Theater, the TIG7 (Theater im Quadrat G7), the Theater Oliv, the Freilichtbühne, the Theater31, the Theater ImPuls, the Theater Felina-Areal, the Mannheimer Puppenspiele, the Kleinkunstbühne Klapsmühl', Schatzkistl, and zeitraumexit.


Sport

There are two nationally renowned football clubs in Mannheim, SV Waldhof Mannheim, who currently are playing in the third tier
3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...
, but who have played in the top tier, the Bundesliga; and VfR Mannheim, winner of the German championship in 1949, now playing in the sixth tier Verbandsliga Baden. The Adler Mannheim (formerly MERC, Mannheimer Eis- und Rollsport-Club) is an
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...
team playing in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga, having won the German championship a total of eight times (7 times Deutsche Eishockey Liga and one time the former highest German ice hockey league known as Bundesliga). The city is home to the Mannheim Tornados, the oldest operational baseball and softball club in Germany. The Tornados play in the first division of the
Baseball Bundesliga The Baseball-Bundesliga is the professional elite competition for the sport of baseball in Germany. In it, the men's German championship is determined annually. Like most European sports leagues, the Bundesliga uses a system of promotion and ...
and have won the championship 11 times, more than any other club. In 2003, the
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...
club was founded. The Mannheim Bandits are playing in the first German Football League which is called GFL1. As of 2018, between 500 and 900 people watch each game. Rhein-Neckar Löwen are a handball team playing in the professional German Handball League. The WWE visited Mannheim in 2008. Around 10,000 fans attended the event. UFC fighter Dennis Siver lives and trains in Mannheim. Mannheim hosted the European Show Jumping Championships in 1997, and the FEI European Jumping Championships in 2007 14–19 August, in the MVV-riding stadium. In 2002, Hobby Horse Polo was invented in Mannheim, evoking the classical rivalry towards "polite society" in Heidelberg. The
Maimarkt-Turnier Mannheim The Maimarkt-Turnier Mannheim is an annual international horse show held during the Mannheimer Maimarkt since 1964. The show jumping competitions take place in the ''MVV-Reitstadion'' and the dressage competitions take place in the ''MVV-Dress ...
is an annual international horse show held during the Mannheimer Maimarkt since 1964.


Education

The University of Mannheim is one of Germany's younger universities. Although founded in 1967, it has its origins in the ''Palatine Academy of Sciences'', established in 1763, and the former Handelshochschule (Commercial College), founded in 1907. Situated in Mannheim Palace, it is Germany's leading university in the fields of business and economics and attracts students from around the world. Described by ''
Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History Th ...
'' as the ' Harvard of Germany', it is seen as the training grounds of German business leaders. More than 12,000 students were enrolled in the 2013/14 semester. The university town also houses one of the medical schools of Heidelberg University (at the University Hospital Mannheim), the Hochschule Mannheim, a branch of the Duale Hochschule of the State of Baden-Württemberg and several musical and theatrical academies, including the Pop Academy Mannheim, the Musikhochschule and the Theaterakademie. These institutions draw a large and diverse student body. Dependents of U.S. military personnel attended Mannheim Elementary School until it closed in June 2012. In the 1980s the school had 2,200 students.


Inventions

According to
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
magazine, Mannheim is known for its exceptional inventive power and was ranked 11th among the Top 15 of the most inventive cities worldwide. Many significant inventions were made in Mannheim: * Karl Drais built the first two-wheeled '' draisine'' in 1817. *
Karl Benz Carl Friedrich Benz (; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929), sometimes also Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent Motorcar from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automobile and fir ...
drove the first automobile on the streets of Mannheim in 1886. At his workshop in Mannheim he produced a lightweight three-wheeled vehicle powered by a single cylinder petrol/gasoline-fueled
engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...
, first shown in public during 1886. This powered tricycle subsequently came to be widely regarded as the first automobile/motor car powered by an internal-combustion engine. Karl's wife
Bertha Benz Bertha Benz (; ; 3 May 1849 – 5 May 1944) was a German automotive pioneer and inventor. She was the business partner and wife of automobile inventor Carl Benz. On 5 August 1888, she was the first person to drive an internal-combustion-engined ...
undertook the world's first road trip by automobile from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back, about 65 miles then, on modern roads about 55 miles, in August 1888. * The Lanz Bulldog, a popular tractor with a rugged, simple Diesel engine was introduced in 1921. * Karl Benz developed the world's first compact diesel-powered car at the Benz & Cie. motor works in Mannheim during 1923. * Julius Hatry built the world's first rocket plane in 1929. File:draisine1817.jpg, The world's first bicycle, built in Mannheim by Karl Freiherr von Drais in 1817 File: 1885Benz.jpg, The world's first motorcar, built in Mannheim by
Karl Benz Carl Friedrich Benz (; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929), sometimes also Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent Motorcar from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automobile and fir ...
in 1885 File:berthabenzmemorialrouteschild.jpg, Official sign of Bertha Benz Memorial Route, commemorating the world's first long-distance journey by automobile from Mannheim to Pforzheim in 1888


Government and politics


Mayor

The mayor is the head of the city council and chairman of the council, being selected by direct suffrage for a term of eight years. The current mayor is Peter Kurz from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who was elected during 2007 with 50.53 percent on a turnout of 36.64 percent in the first round. He was reelected in 2015. The most recent mayoral election was held on 14 June 2015, with a runoff held on 5 July, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Peter Kurz , align=left, Social Democratic Party , 33,323 , 46.8 , 34,563 , 52.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Peter Rosenberger , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 24,098 , 33.8 , 29,830 , 44.9 , - , , align=left, Christopher Probst , align=left, Free Voters/Mannheimer List , 11,354 , 15.9 , align=center colspan=2, ''Withdrew'' , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Sommer , align=left, Die PARTEI , 2,327 , 3.3 , 1,920 , 2.9 , - , colspan=3 align=left, ''Other'' , 123 , 0.2 , 112 , 0.2 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 71,225 ! 99.1 ! 66,425 ! 99.3 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 641 ! 0.9 ! 499 ! 0.7 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 71,866 ! 100.0 ! 66,924 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 234,081 ! 30.7 ! 233,134 ! 28.7 , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Mannheim
The city leaders since 1810 are: * 1810–1820: Johann Wilhelm Reinhardt * 1820–1832: Valentin Möhl * 1833–1835: Heinrich Andriano * 1836–1849: Ludwig Jolly * 1849–1852: Friedrich Reiß * 1852–1861: Heinrich Christian Diffené * 1861–1870: Ludwig Achenbach * 1870–1891: Eduard Moll * 1891–1908: Otto Beck * 1908–1913: Paul Martin * 1914–1928: Theodor Kutzer * 1928–1933: Hermann Heimerich (SPD) * 1933–1945: Carl Renninger ( NSDAP) * 1945–1948: Josef Braun (CDU) * 1948–1949: Fritz Cahn-Garnier (SPD) * 1949–1955: Hermann Heimerich (SPD) * 1956–1972: Hans Reschke (independent) * 1972–1980: Ludwig Ratzel (SPD) * 1980–1983: Wilhelm Varnholt (SPD) * 1983–2007: Gerhard Widder (SPD) * 2007–present: Peter Kurz (SPD)


City council

The council has 48 seats and is elected by direct suffrage for five years. In the local elections in Baden-Württemberg, voters are allowed to take advantage of cumulative voting and
vote splitting Vote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate. Vote sp ...
. Since the Second World War the SPD, except in the elections of 1999 and 2004, has received more votes than the CDU. At the 2019 election the Greens received most votes for the first time. The next municipal election will take place in 2024. The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (for ...
(Grüne) , 1,235,924 , 24.4 , 8.1 , 12 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Social Democratic Party (SPD) , 1,071,597 , 21.2 , 6.1 , 10 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 968,098 , 19.1 , 7.0 , 9 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany ...
(AfD) , 465,694 , 9.2 , 1.4 , 4 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Free Voters/Mannheimer List (ML) , 372,461 , 7.4 , 1.9 , 4 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...
(FDP) , 307,305 , 6.1 , 1.6 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 302,685 , 6.0 , 0.2 , 3 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI (PARTEI) , 151,449 , 3.0 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, Middle-Class for Mannheim (MfM) , 67,163 , 1.3 , 0.1 , 1 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Human Environment Animal Protection (Tierschutzpartei) , 55,458 , 1.1 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , , align=left, Mannheimer People's Party (MVP) , 27,491 , 0.5 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left,
Alliance for Innovation and Justice The Alliance for Innovation and Justice (german: Bündnis für Innovation und Gerechtigkeit; BIG) is a minor party in Germany aimed primarily at immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of wh ...
(BIG) , 22,928 , 0.5 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, National Democratic Party (NPD) , 13,784 , 0.3 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 5,062,037 ! ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ballots ! 118,721 ! 100.0 ! ! 48 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 238,496 ! 49.8 ! 11.1 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Mannheim


United States military installations

A number of U.S. Army Europe installations were located in and near Mannheim during the Cold War. The following locations provided services to and housed the "U.S. Army Garrison Mannheim" and other units of the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army Garrison Mannheim was formally deactivated on 31 May 2011. * Coleman Barracks and
Coleman Army Airfield Coleman Barracks/Coleman Army Airfield (ICAO: ETOR) is a United States Army military installation located in the Sandhofen district of Mannheim, Germany. It is assigned to U.S. Army, Europe ( USAREUR) and administered by the U.S. Army Install ...
(Mannheim-Sandhofen): The headquarters of the American Forces Network-Europe, and Also, the location of the United States Army Corrections Facility-Europe. * Funari Barracks (Mannheim-Käfertal), vacated in 2014. * Spinelli Barracks (Mannheim-Feudenheim), vacated in 2015, the home of the Army's 28th Transportation
Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
. * Sullivan Barracks (Mannheim-Käfertal): formerly the headquarters of the U.S. Army's 7th Signal Brigade and the 529th Military Police Honor Guard Company's 2nd Platoon; vacated in 2014. *
Taylor Barracks Taylor Barracks is a former military installation in the Vogelstang suburb of Mannheim, Germany, operated and administrated by the United States Army, Europe, USAREUR. In Dec 2010 USAREUR announced that the installation was handed back to the Ger ...
(Mannheim-Vogelstang): formerly the headquarters of the U.S. Army's 2nd Signal Brigade; vacated in 2011. * Turley Barracks (Mannheim-Käfertal): in the early 1990s was home to the 181st Transportation Bn, with companies of 40th, 41st, 51st, 590th, TTP, and HHC transportation companies and also the headquarters of the NATO ACE Mobile Force (Land) (AMFL). * The Benjamin Franklin Village (Mannheim-Käfertal), housing. Also, it was the home of the Mannheim American High School and the Middle School, which closed on 9 June 2011. The last soldier and his family moved out in 2012. The following locations were part of the "U.S. Army Garrison Heidelberg" but were within the area of the city of Mannheim; They were vacated in 2010 and 2011: * Friedrichsfeld Service Center (Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld) * Hammonds Barracks (formerly Loretto Kaserne) (Mannheim-Seckenheim) * Stem Kaserne (Mannheim-Seckenheim) All personnel of the U.S. Army military community left Mannheim by 2015, some of them moving to Wiesbaden. With the exception of four barracks, all other barracks formerly occupied by the U.S. military had been returned to the German state for conversion to civilian use in 2011.


Main sights

* Fernmeldeturm Mannheim – 217.8-metre-high telecommunication tower, landmark of Mannheim * – post World War II synagogue * Yavuz Sultan Selim Mosque * Luisenpark – named one of the most beautiful parks in Europe with around 1.2 million visitors annually * Mannheim Palace (''Mannheimer Schloss'') – the city castle and main building of the University of Mannheim
Wasserturm – the town's landmark water tower
* Jesuit Church *
SAP Arena SAP Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Mannheim, Germany. It is primarily used for ice hockey and handball, and is the home arena of the Adler Mannheim ice hockey club and the Rhein-Neckar Löwen handball club. Inaugurated in 2005, the arena h ...
– multifunctional indoor
arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectato ...
, home of Mannheim's ice-hockey team "Die Adler" ("The Eagles") * Breite Strasse, Kunststrasse, and Kapuzinerplanken – Mannheim's main shopping destinations *
International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (german: Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the citi ...
* Kunsthalle Mannheim – museum of modern and contemporary art * Technoseum – technology museum
Multihalle - multi-purpose hall in Mannheim's Herzogenriedpark, the world's largest self-supporting wooden lattice-shell construction
* Wildpark and Waldvogelpark am Karlstern * The city centre – designed in squares (Quadratestadt) * Reißinsel – a natural area that an honorary citizen of Mannheim, Carl Reiß, bequeathed to the residents of Mannheim * Reiß-Engelhorn-Museen – museum with four exhibition halls presenting exhibits in archaeology, world cultures, history of art and culture, photography, and history of theater and music * Maimarkt – largest regional trade fair in Germany * Marktplatz (Market square) – hosts a farmers' market every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers are sold. * (Mannheim Fair) – twice a year (spring & autumn), a big fair that takes place on Neuer Messplatz-square.


Economy

With a
gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
(GDP) of €20.921 billion, Mannheim ranks 17th on the list of German cities by GDP as of 2018. In the 2019 edition of the , the independent city of Mannheim ranked 35nd out of 401 counties and independent cities in Germany, making it one of the places with "high future opportunities". Mannheim is among the most attractive business locations in Germany thanks to its competitive business environment and growth opportunities and is considered the economic centre of the
Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (german: Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar, ), often referred to as Rhein-Neckar-Triangle, is a polycentric metropolitan region located in south western Germany, between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region to the Nor ...
, which is one of Germany's most important business locations. The New Economy Magazine elected Mannheim under the 20 cities that best represent the world of tomorrow emphasizing Mannheim's positive economic and innovative environment. The
unemployment rate Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refer ...
of Mannheim is 7.2% as of 2020. The successor to the Karl Benz automobile manufacturing companies begun in Mannheim,
Daimler AG The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...
, has had a large presence in Mannheim. Today, diesel engines and buses are assembled there. The Swiss
Hoffmann–La Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX ...
diagnostic group (formerly known as Boehringer Mannheim) has its division headquarters in Mannheim. Additionally, the city also hosts large factories, headquarters and/or offices of ABB, IBM, Alstom, BASF (Ludwigshafen), Bilfinger Berger,
Reckitt Benckiser Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trading as Reckitt, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the m ...
,
Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy ...
, Essity, Phoenix Group, Bombardier, Pepperl+Fuchs, Caterpillar, Fuchs Petrolub AG, John Deere, Siemens, SCA, Südzucker, and other companies. The University Hospital Mannheim provides health care to the inhabitants of Mannheim and the
Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (german: Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar, ), often referred to as Rhein-Neckar-Triangle, is a polycentric metropolitan region located in south western Germany, between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region to the Nor ...
. With €4.5 billion, Mannheim ranks 22nd on the list of cities by market value of its DAX, TecDAX and MDAX companies. MVV Energie based in Mannheim is the largest municipal energy supplier in Germany.


Media

In addition to the only local daily newspaper ', the Ludwigshafen newspaper '' Die Rheinpfalz'', the Heidelberg newspaper ' and the '' Bild Rhein-Neckar'' offer a local section for Mannheim. In addition, the weekly paper ''Wochenblatt Mannheim'' with its official gazette is published. The '' Kommunal-Info Mannheim'' is published fortnightly. Free district newspapers are distributed in almost all parts of the city.


Infrastructure


Road transport

The Mannheim/Ludwigshafen area is surrounded by a ring of motorways connecting it to
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...
in the north, Karlsruhe in the south, Saarbrücken in the west and
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
in the east.


Railway transport

Mannheim Hauptbahnhof (central station) is at the end of the Mannheim-Stuttgart high-speed rail line and is the most important railway junction in the southwest of Germany, served by ICE high-speed train system with connections to
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...
Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
, Karlsruhe
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...
, and Stuttgart
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
. A new high speed line to Frankfurt also is planned to relieve the existing Mannheim–Frankfurt railway.


River transport

Mannheim Harbour is the second-largest
river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers pu ...
in Germany. It has a size of 1131
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...
. In 2016, 6.9 million tons of goods were handled on the water side. Around 500 companies with about 20,000 employees are located in the Mannheim Harbour.


Air transport

Although
Frankfurt International Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres. ...
is only to the north, at various times over the years there were daily passenger flights from Mannheim City Airport (
IATA code IATA codes are abbreviations that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) publishes to facilitate air travel. They are typically 1, 2, 3, or 4 character combinations (referred to as unigrams, Bigram, digrams, trigrams, or wikt:tetragram, ...
MHG) to
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
,
Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
,
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
,
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
, and Saarbrücken. Currently, scheduled commercial passenger flights serve Berlin and Hamburg.


Local public transport

Local public transport in Mannheim includes the RheinNeckar S-Bahn, eleven
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
lines, and numerous bus lines operated by Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (Rhine-Neckar transport) (RNV). The RheinNeckar S-Bahn, established in 2003, connects most of the Rhine-Neckar area including lines into the
Palatinate Palatinate or county palatine may refer to: *the territory or jurisdiction of a count palatine United Kingdom and Ireland *County palatine in England and Ireland * Palatinate (award), student sporting award of Durham University *Palatinate (col ...
, Odenwald, and southern
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...
. All S-Bahn lines run through Mannheim Hauptbahnhof, except S5. Further S-Bahn stations are at present Mannheim-Rangierbahnhof, Mannheim-Seckenheim, and Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld-Süd. The integrated Mannheim/Ludwigshafen tramway network also extends to Heidelberg. It is operated by RNV, a company wholly owned by the three cities mentioned and a couple of municipalities in the Palatinate. RNV is the result of a merger on 1 October 2009 between the region's five former municipal transportation companies. Interurban trams are operated by RNV on a triangular route between Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Weinheim that was originally established by the Upper Rhine Railway Company (''Oberrheinische Eisenbahn'', OEG), and the company also operates interurban trams between Bad Dürkheim, Ludwigshafen, and Mannheim. In the 1970s a proposal to build a U-Bahn out of the Mannheim and Ludwigshafen tramways was begun, but only small sections were built due to lack of funds. The only underground station in Mannheim is the Haltestelle Dalbergstraße. U-Bahn planning now has stopped. All public transport is offered at uniform prices set by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (Rhine-Neckar transport union, VRN).


Block numbering and computer mapping

The center of the city uses an addressing system unique within Germany. Rather than street names and numbers, each block is given a code and a number is given to each building, i.e. C3, 17 is block C3, building 17. This practice dates back centuries, and is a result of the original use of the city center as a fort, with the fort's internal system being adopted when it became public streets. The street themselves are unnamed. The codes are laid out in a simple progressive pattern, i.e. C3 is between C2 and C4 in one direction and B3 and D3 in the other, but those unused to the system will often become lost. A street named Breite Straße goes through the middle of the blocks from south to north, with blocks A-K on the west side of the street and L-U on the east, with each row going 1 to at most 7 based on distance from this road. House numbers begin on the south corner nearest Breite Straße and go counterclockwise for A-K and Clockwise for L-U. This causes major issues with most mapping software, as the databases they use are based on the standard street-number system, and thus aren't able to accommodate a completely different system for a small area. A variety of fixes have been tried, none with a high level of success. In particular, these systems have issues because an address on a block can be on any of up to 4 roads, so attempts to fix the issue by giving the roads false names within the database have often failed to give accurate addressing, though such can still be seen on some platforms, like
Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...
. Finding an address in this area thus generally requires resorting to asking directions or using one of the many posted public maps.


Twin towns – sister cities

Mannheim is
twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...
with: * Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom (1957) * Toulon, France (1959) * Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (Berlin), Germany (1961) * Windsor, Canada (1980) * Riesa, Germany (1988) * Chișinău, Moldova (1989) * Bydgoszcz, Poland (1991) * Klaipėda, Lithuania (2002) * Zhenjiang, China (2004) *
Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...
, Israel (2009) * Qingdao, China (2016) *
Chernivtsi Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also #Names, other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the Romania–Ukraine border, borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this ...
, Ukraine (2022)


Notable people

*
Josepha von Heydeck Josepha von Heydeck (1748–1771), was the royal mistress of Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine, from 1765 until 1771. Biography Josepha Seyffert was the issue of a palatinate govermental secretary Seyffert and Maria Franziska Reichard. In 176 ...
(1748–1771), mistress of Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria *
Johann Baptist Cramer Johann (sometimes John) Baptist Cramer (24 February 1771 – 16 April 1858) was an English pianist, composer and music publisher of German origin. He was the son of Wilhelm Cramer, a famous London violinist and conductor, one of a numerous family ...
(1771–1858), English pianist and composer * Friedrich Engelhorn (1821–1902), industrialist, founder of BASF * Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840–1902), Austro-German psychiatrist *
Carl Benz Carl Friedrich Benz (; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929), sometimes also Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent Motorcar from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automobile and fir ...
(1844–1929), engine designer and automotive engineer, built the first practical motorcar *
Henry Morgenthau Sr. Henry Morgenthau (; April 26, 1856 – November 25, 1946) was a German-born American lawyer and businessman, best known for his role as the United States Ambassador to Turkey, ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Morgenthau was on ...
(1856–1946), American politician and real estate investor * Robert Kahn (1865–1951), composer and pianist * Otto Hermann Kahn (1867–1934), investment banker, collector and philanthropist * Emmy Wehlen (1887–1977), musical comedy actress and silent screen star * Sepp Herberger (1897–1977), football player and manager * Wilhelm Fuchs (1898–1947), Nazi SS officer and Holocaust perpetrator executed for war crimes *
Hedwig Hillengaß Hedwig Hillengaß (5 October 1902 – 22 May 1970) was a German operatic soprano, who appeared in leading roles, first operetta, later opera, in Germany. In May 1936, Bizet's ''Carmen'' was broadcast with her in the title role. Besides the standa ...
(1902–1970), operatic soprano * Albert Speer (1905–1981), Nazi architect, Minister for Armaments and Munitions during World War II * Julius Hatry (1906–2000), aircraft designer and builder, created the world's first purpose-built rocket plane * Hans Filbinger (1913–2007), politician * Samuel Hans Adler (born 1928), German-American composer, conductor and professor * Claus Leininger (1931–2005), theatre director and manager * Wolf Wolfensberger (1934–2011), German-American psychologist * Roger Fritz (1936–2021), actor * Rudi Altig (1937–2016), cyclist * Christiane Schmidtmer (1939–2003), actress * Fred Breinersdorfer (born 1946), writer * Karl W Schweizer (born 1946), historian and author * Kurt Fleckenstein (born 1949), artist/sculptor * Peter Dani (1956–2002), American footballer * Norbert Schwefel (1960–2015), musician *
Juergen Adams Juergen Adams (born February 13, 1961) is a retired German professional ice hockey player. Adams began his career in the school and youth teams of the Mannheimer ERC. In 1980, he came as a student to the professional team and was immediately wi ...
(born 1961), ice hockey player * Uwe Rahn (born 1962), footballer * Christine Lambrecht (born 1965), politician (SPD) * Franz Jung (born 1966), Roman Catholic bishop * Steffi Graf (born 1969), tennis player * Xavier Naidoo (born 1971), pop singer * Christian Wörns (born 1972), footballer * Lexi Alexander (born 1974), director * Bülent Ceylan (born 1976), German-Turkish comedian *
Jochen Hecht Jochen Thomas Hecht (born 21 June 1977) is a German ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey player. He has been serving as assistant coach for Adler Mannheim since March 2022. Hecht played 833 games in the National Hockey League ( ...
(born 1977), ice hockey player * Uwe Gensheimer (born 1989), handball player * Giulia Enders (born 1990), writer and medical researcher * Hakan Çalhanoğlu (born 1994), Turkish footballer


Notes and references


Notes


References


Further reading

* Wiederkehr, Gustav: Mannheim in Sage und Geschichte, H. Haas'schen Buchdruckerei, 1907, (Festgabe zur Feier des dreihundertjährigen Bestehens der Stadt). * David, Manfred: Mannheimer Stadtkunde. Edition Quadrat, Mannheim 1982, . * Staatl. Archivverwaltung Baden-Württemberg in Verbindung mit d. Städten u. d. Landkreisen Heidelberg u. Mannheim (Hrsg.): Die Stadt- und die Landkreise Heidelberg und Mannheim: Amtliche Kreisbeschreibung. Band 1: Allgemeiner Teil. Karlsruhe 1966, DNB 458203858. Band 3: Die Stadt Mannheim und die Gemeinden des Landkreises Mannheim. Karlsruhe 1970, DNB 366145509. * Landesarchivdirektion Baden-Württemberg (Hrsg.): Das Land Baden-Württemberg – Amtliche Beschreibung nach Kreisen und Gemeinden. Band V. * Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 1976, . * Huth, Hans: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Stadtkreises Mannheim. München 1982, . * Oesterreich, Carmen And Volker (Hrsg.): Mannheim, wo es am schönsten ist – 55 Lieblingsplätze. Berlin 2008, . * Schenk, Andreas: Mannheim und seine Bauten 1907–2007. Hrsg. v. Stadtarchiv Mannheim und Mannheimer Architektur- und Bauarchiv e. V. 5 Bde. Edition Quadrat, Mannheim 2000–2007, . * Walz, Guido (Red.): Der Brockhaus Mannheim. 400 Jahre Quadratestadt – Das Lexikon. Bibliographisches Institut & F. A. Brockhaus, Mannheim 2006, . * Naturführer Mannheim. Entdeckungen im Quadrat. Hrsg. von der Stadt Mannheim und der Bezirksstelle für Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege Karlsruhe. Verlag Regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher 2000, . * Ellrich, Hartmut: Mannheim. Sutton, Erfurt 2007, . * Nieß, Ulrich and Caroli, Michael (Hrsg.): Geschichte der Stadt Mannheim. Verlag Regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher, Band 1: 2007, . Band 2: 2007, . Band 3: 2009, . * Mannheimer Altertumsverein/ Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen: Mannheim vor der Stadtgründung – Teile I und II. Hrsg. Hansjörg Probst, 4 Bände. Mannheim 2007/08, . * Vetter, Roland "Kein Stein soll auf dem andern bleiben" Mannheims Untergang während des Pfälzischen Erbfolgekrieges im Spiegel französischer Kriegsberichte .


External links


Official websiteOfficial tourism site
*

in the German National Library
Parks in MannheimMannheim
in Britannica.com
U.S. Army Garrison Mannheim homepageThe Mannheim Heritage of World Cultures
{{Authority control Cities in Baden-Württemberg Historic Jewish communities Karlsruhe (region) Populated places on the Rhine Planned capitals History of the Palatinate (region) Baden Holocaust locations in Germany