The May Market (german: Maimarkt) is the largest regional consumer exhibition of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, which always begins on last Saturday in April and lasts for eleven days. The traditionally last day is therefore called May Market Tuesday. It takes place at the

Maimarktgelände The Maimarktgelände (May Market Grounds) is an exhibition site located in Mannheim, Germany, which covers a surface of 210,000 m². It hosts the annual Mannheim May Market as well as open-air concerts and other events. Starting in April each year ...

Mannheim 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 after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

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 ...

History

The May Market has a long history beginning in 1613 in Mannheim (when the city was only six years old) after

John II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken John II the Younger (german: Johann II. der Jüngere) (26 March 1584 – 9 August 1635) was the Duke of Zweibrücken from 1604 until 1635. Life John was born in Bergzabern in 1584 as the eldest son of John I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken ...

granted it privileges. The market was originally used for shopkeepers and cattle dealers. In the 18th century, the May Market was moved under the arcades of stores in the city center. In 1876, the side shows were separated from the May Market and shifted to the old show ground. In 1892, part of the May Market moved to the newly opened slaughterhouse. In 1900 the remainder followed. In addition to the old cattle and horse market, agricultural equipment was now added, along with butcher's shops and sales of dairy produce. The first May Market after the Second World War was held in 1949 in the Rosengarten meeting building. Later it was held in the slaughterhouse area again. In 1962, it was finally shifted by the Mannheim exhibition company to Friedensplatz opposite Luisen Park and with extensions it developed into its current form. Since 1985, the event takes place east of the city in Mühlfeld so that its old site could be used for the new

Technoseum The Technoseum (former name State Museum of Technology and Work, German: ''Landesmuseum für Technik und Arbeit'') is a technology museum in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with displays covering the industrialisation of the south-western ...

building. In 1989, the May Market hall was built as its first permanent exhibition hall (7500m ² surface area). This is used all year round and offers facilities for pop concerts for up to 12,000 visitors. Further permanent installations are the glass-walled studio of SWR as well as several administration buildings at the main entrance. In 2005, the May Market was connected to the Mannheim tram network as part of the construction 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 has ...

Infrastructure

The May Market Grounds (Maimarktgelände) cover a surface of 210,000 m², of which about 130,000 m² is serviced by infrastructure (water, electricity, telephone, partly WLAN). The building of the

about 500 m away in September 2005 involved the construction of the urgently needed direct tram connection as well as a further 7,000 parking spots. Previously, visitors had to take the shuttle bus to transfer to the tram terminus at

Neuostheim Neuostheim/Neuhermsheim is a suburb of the city of Mannheim, Germany, composed of Neuostheim and Neuhermsheim and is considered to be one of the more attractive neighbourhoods of Mannheim. It is located 3.5 km (2.2 mi) east of the city centre. ...

Maimarkt-Turnier

The Maimarkt-Turnier is an annual international

horse show A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer fo ...

held during the Mannheimer Maimarkt since 1964. The main

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...

competitions are usually designed as CSI 3* and the main

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

competitions as CDI 4* (until 2017 CDI 3*).Maimarkt-Turnier
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Notable events

Marillion Fish OpenAir Mannheim Maimarktgelaende 1986 06 21

Legendary open-air concerts have taken place in the May Market area. Participants have included

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

, the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

and

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

. It also hosted the

Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was an annual hard rock and heavy metal music festival held in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland, ...

festival on 31 August 1986 and 1 September 1990. The most popular German TV variety show, Wetten, dass..? was transmitted live on 13 December 1997, as well as on 5 November 2005, from Mannheim May Market.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maimarkt-Gelande Tourist attractions in Mannheim Fairs in Germany Horse driving competition Equestrian sports in Germany Polo competitions Polo in Germany Sports competitions in Mannheim Show jumping events Dressage events