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 Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, and

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 ...

'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 North ...

, 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 ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and the Neckar in the Kurpfalz (

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 The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the ...

, Germany's warmest region. Together with

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, 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 Dar ...

. Upstream along the Neckar lies

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, 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 Mannheim Palace (german: Mannheimer Schloss) is a large Baroque palace in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was originally the main residence of the Prince-electors of the Electorate of the Palatinate of the House of Wittelsbach unt ...

, one of the largest palace complexes in the world, and the second-largest in

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

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 emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...

of the Electoral Palatinate, and now houses the

University of Mannheim The University of Mannheim (German: ''Universität Mannheim''), abbreviated UMA, is a public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Academy of Sciences'', ...

, which repeatedly receives top marks in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

and is sometimes known as the "

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

of Germany". The

Mannheim May Market The May Market (german: Maimarkt) is the largest regional consumer exhibition of Germany, 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 ...

is the largest regional consumer exhibition of Germany. The civic symbol of Mannheim is the Romanesque

Mannheim Water Tower The Water Tower (German: ''Wasserturm'') is a well-known landmark of Mannheim, Germany. The water tower was built from 1886 to 1889 on the present Frederick Square (''Friedrichsplatz'') by Gustav Halmhuber. The tower, which is 60 meters high an ...

, 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 Modern ...

area ''

Friedrichsplatz The Friedrichsplatz in Mannheim is one of the most completely preserved neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau structures in Germany. It was laid out in the years following the completion of the Mannheim Water Tower in 1889. Water features On the out ...

''. Mannheim is well-known for its inventions, including the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

, the

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

, and the

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

, 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 The Bertha Benz Memorial Route is a German tourist and theme route in Baden-Württemberg and member of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It opened in 2008 and follows the tracks of the world's first long distance road trip by a vehi ...

that follows the tracks of the first long-distance automobile trip in history. A ''

Großstadt A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

'' (major city with more than 100,000 inhabitants) since 1896, Mannheim is now an important industrial and commercial city, a

university town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...

, 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 na ...

and Stuttgart, including an

ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

interchange (the

Mannheim Hauptbahnhof Mannheim Hauptbahnhof (German for ''Mannheim central station'') is a railway station in Mannheim in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is the second largest traffic hub in southwestern Germany after Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, with 658 train ...

), Germany's second-largest marshalling yard (the Mannheim Rangierbahnhof), and Germany's largest inland port (the

Mannheim Harbour Mannheim Harbour, named ''Rhein-Neckar-Hafen Mannheim'', is a river port on the Rhine in Mannheim, at the confluence of the Rhine and the Neckar in Baden-Wurttemberg. It consists out of 4 main harbour areas ''Handelshafen'', ''Rheinauhafen'', ''A ...

). The city is home to many factories, offices and headquarters of several major corporations such as

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 ...

ABB ABB Ltd. is a Swedish- Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to crea ...

, IBM,

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

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 drink, t ...

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 has ...

is home to German ice hockey record champions

Adler Mannheim The Adler Mannheim (English: ''Mannheim Eagles'', formerly Mannheimer ERC) is a professional ice hockey team of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest-level ice hockey league in Germany. The team is based in Mannheim, a city in the northern pa ...

as well as popular handball team

Rhein-Neckar Löwen Rhein-Neckar Löwen is a professional handball club founded in 2002, based in Mannheim, Germany. The club competes in the German Handball-Bundesliga and continentally in EHF European League. Rhein-Neckar Löwen play their home games in SAP Are ...

. 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. It ...

Creative Cities Network The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a major factor in their urban development.UNESCO City of Music". In 2020, Mannheim was classified as a global city with ' Sufficiency' status by the

Globalization and World Cities Research Network The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershi ...

(GaWC). Mannheim is a

smart city A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in return ...

; the city's

electrical grid An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...

is installed with a

power-line communication Power-line communication (also known as power-line carrier or PLC) carries data on a conductor that is also used simultaneously for AC electric power transmission or electric power distribution to consumers. A wide range of power-line communicati ...

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 Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (german: Reichsabtei Lorsch; la, Laureshamense Monasterium or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms. It was one of the most renowned monasteries o ...

. 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 al ...

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 The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

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 For ...

in 1689 during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

. 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 Charles III Philip (4 November 1661 – 31 December 1742) was Elector Palatine, Count of Palatinate-Neuburg, and Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1716 to 1742. Until 1728 he was also Count of Megen. Biography Born in Neuburg an der Donau, Charles P ...

began construction of

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 Carlo Luigi Grua (c. 1700 – 11 April 1773) was an Italian composer who is best known for his position as Kapellmeister for the Electoral Court at the German city of Mannheim. Born in Milan, he was raised to the position in 1733 by Elector K ...

. 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 subs ...

. In 1819,

Norwich Duff Admiral Norwich Duff FRSE (15 August 1792 – 21 April 1862) was a Royal Navy officer. Life The son of Captain George Duff RN, and Sophia Dirom, he was born at 9 South Castle Street, Edinburgh. He entered the Royal Navy in July 1805, just befor ...

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 Karl Freiherr von Drais (full name: Karl Friedrich Christian Ludwig Freiherr Drais von Sauerbronn) (29 April 1785 – 10 December 1851) was a noble German forest official and significant inventor in the Biedermeier period. He was born and died ...

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 Friedrich Engelhorn (17 July 1821 – 11 March 1902) was a German industrialist and founder of BASF in Ludwigshafen. Curriculum Vitae Friedrich Engelhorn was born on 17 July 1821 in Mannheim, where his father was a brewery master and pub ow ...

founded the ''Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik'' (Baden Aniline and Soda Factory,

BASF BASF Societas Europaea, SE () is a German multinational corporation, multinational chemical company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The ...

) 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 types ...

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 Mühlburg, formerly a town on its own right, is a borough located in the west of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name ''Mühlburg'' could be translated as 'Mill Castle' and refers to a water mill and a water castle located at the sit ...

(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, pp ...

works. When

World War I 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 fightin ...

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 fightin ...

, 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 Prosper L'Orange (born 1 February 1876, Beirut; died 30 July 1939, Stuttgart) was a German engineer and inventor who pioneered the precombustion chamber (or prechamber), which made possible high-speed diesel engines that did not require an air co ...

, 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

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1971-053-59, Mannheim, US-Truppen im Straßenkampf

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, air raids on Mannheim completely destroyed the city centre. Mannheim was heavily damaged during aerial bombing by the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

. The RAF razed the city center of Mannheim with nighttime

area bombing In military aviation, area bombardment (or area bombing) is a type of aerial bombardment in which bombs are dropped over the general area of a target. The term "area bombing" came into prominence during World War II. Area bombing is a form of str ...

, killing thousands of civilians. 2,262 of Mannheim's Jews were sent to concentration camps. Some sources state that the first deliberate

terror bombing Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematic ...

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.

and the

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

(''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 Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

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

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 Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...

and a second bridge across the Rhine were built, the pedestrian zone was established, the new Rosengarten conference centre was opened and the

Aerobus Aerobus is a self-propelled electrically powered bus-like vehicle riding on a suspended overhead cable. The cable arrangement, similar to a suspension bridge, allows for long spans of up to 600 metres between pylons. The Aerobus system was invent ...

was installed as a temporary transport system. Skyline von Mannheim aus Heidelberg betrachtet 16-9

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. Victoria-Turm Mannheim am Rangierbahnhof bei Nacht

Victoria-Turm Mannheim am Rangierbahnhof bei Nacht

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

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

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 The University Hospital Mannheim is a maximum care hospital with many specialisations. It currently consists of 21 specialised clinics, all situated on a historic campus in the centre of Mannheim and focuses on interdisciplinary and interprofess ...

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, notabl ...

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 lette ...

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 None may refer to: *Zero, the mathematical concept of the quantity "none" *Empty set, the mathematical concept of the collection of things represented by "none" *''none'', an indefinite pronoun in the English language Music * ''None'' (Meshuggah E ...

54.6%.

Culture

Theatre

The

National Theatre Mannheim The Mannheim National Theatre (german: Nationaltheater Mannheim) is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany. History In the 18 ...

was founded in 1779 and is the oldest "Stage" in Germany. In 1782 the premiere of ''Die Räuber'', written by

, 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 zeitraumexit (registered association) is an artist centre in Mannheim. The non-profit association and independent institution organizes, curates and (co-)produces exhibitions, performances, theatre, video art and installations. History zeitrau ...

Sport

There are two nationally renowned football clubs in Mannheim, SV Waldhof Mannheim, who currently are playing in the third tier 3. Liga, but who have played in the top tier, the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

; and

VfR Mannheim VfR Mannheim is a German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the national title in 194 ...

, winner of the German championship in 1949, now playing in the sixth tier

Verbandsliga Baden The Verbandsliga Nordbaden is a German amateur football division administered by the Baden Football Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Baden state association, the Verbandsliga is currently a ...

. The

(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 skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team playing in the professional

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

, 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

). The city is home to the

Mannheim Tornados The Mannheim Tornados are a baseball and softball club from Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. Founded in 1975, it is the oldest continuing baseball club in Germany. The first men's team plays in the first division of the Baseball Bundesliga and has ...

, the oldest operational baseball and softball club in Germany. The Tornados play in the first division of the Baseball Bundesliga 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 with ...

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.

are a

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

team playing in the professional German Handball League. The

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

visited Mannheim in 2008. Around 10,000 fans attended the event. UFC fighter

Dennis Siver Dennis D. Siver (Russian: Дмитрий Сивер, tr. Dmitriy Siver, born January 13, 1979) is a Russian-born German mixed martial artist who competed in the welterweight, lightweight, and featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Champio ...

lives and trains in Mannheim. Mannheim hosted the

European Show Jumping Championships The FEI European Show Jumping Championships is the European Championship for the equestrian discipline of show jumping. First held in 1957 in Rotterdam, and on an annual basis, it is held every two years, on the years between Olympic Games and Wor ...

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 is an annual international horse show held during the Mannheimer Maimarkt since 1964.

Education

The

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

, 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 The ...

'' as the '

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 } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

(at the

), the

Hochschule Mannheim The Mannheim University of Applied Sciences is a public higher education institute located in Mannheim, Germany. Referred to as Hochschule Mannheim in German and previously known as Fachhochschule Mannheim, it offers degree programs at bachelor ...

, 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 re ...

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: *

built the first two-wheeled ''

draisine A draisine () is a light auxiliary rail vehicle, driven by service personnel, equipped to transport crew and material necessary for the maintenance of railway infrastructure. The eponymous term is derived from the German inventor Baron Karl ...

'' in 1817. *

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 gen ...

, 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 a ...

undertook the world's first

road trip A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance journey on the road. Typically, road trips are long distances travelled by automobile. History First road trips by automobile The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by t ...

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 draisine, bicycle, built in Mannheim by Karl Drais, Karl Freiherr von Drais in 1817 File: 1885Benz.jpg, The world's first Benz Patent Motorwagen, motorcar, built in Mannheim by

in 1885 File:berthabenzmemorialrouteschild.jpg, Official sign of

, 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 of Germany, Social Democratic Party , 33,323 , 46.8 , 34,563 , 52.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Peter Rosenberger , align=left, Christian Democratic Union of Germany, 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 Panachage, vote splitting. 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 (Grüne) , 1,235,924 , 24.4 , 8.1 , 12 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) , 1,071,597 , 21.2 , 6.1 , 10 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 968,098 , 19.1 , 7.0 , 9 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for 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 (Germany), Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 307,305 , 6.1 , 1.6 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Germany), 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 (BIG) , 22,928 , 0.5 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, National Democratic Party of Germany, 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 (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. * Sullivan Barracks (Mannheim-Käfertal): formerly the headquarters of the 7th Signal Brigade (United States), U.S. Army's 7th Signal Brigade and the 529th Military Police Honor Guard Company's 2nd Platoon; vacated in 2014. * Taylor Barracks (Mannheim-Vogelstang): formerly the headquarters of the 2nd Signal Brigade (United States), 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

" 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

Mannheim Altes Rathaus St Sebastian 3600

* 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 *

(''Mannheimer Schloss'') – the city castle and main building of the

Wasserturm – the town's landmark water tower
* Jesuit Church *

– multifunctional indoor arena, home of Mannheim's ice-hockey team Adler Mannheim, "Die Adler" ("The Eagles") * Breite Strasse, Kunststrasse, and Kapuzinerplanken – Mannheim's main shopping destinations * International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg *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 Museum, 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 *Mannheim May Market, 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 (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, 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, unemployment rate of Mannheim is 7.2% as of 2020. The successor to the Karl Benz automobile manufacturing companies begun in Mannheim, Daimler AG, has had a large presence in Mannheim. Today, diesel engines and buses are assembled there. The Swiss Hoffmann–La Roche 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 Asea Brown Boveri, ABB, IBM, Alstom, BASF, BASF (Ludwigshafen), Bilfinger Berger, Reckitt Benckiser,

, Essity, Phoenix Group, Bombardier Inc., Bombardier, Pepperl+Fuchs, Caterpillar Inc., Caterpillar, Fuchs Petrolub, Fuchs Petrolub AG, Deere & Company, John Deere, Siemens AG, Siemens, Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, SCA, Südzucker, and other companies. The

provides health care to the inhabitants of Mannheim and the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region. With €4.5 billion, Mannheim ranks 22nd on the list of cities by market value of its DAX, TecDAX and MDAX companies. Konzernzentrale

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

in the north, Karlsruhe in the south, Saarbrücken in the west and Nuremberg in the east.

Railway transport

(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 InterCityExpress, ICE high-speed train system with connections to Frankfurt am Main–Berlin, Karlsruhe–Basel, and

–Munich. A new Frankfurt–Mannheim high-speed railway, high speed line to Frankfurt also is planned to relieve the existing Mannheim–Frankfurt railway.

River transport

is the second-largest river port in Germany. It has a size of 1131 hectare. 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

Aerial image of the Mannheim City airport

Although Frankfurt International Airport is only to the north, at various times over the years there were daily passenger flights from Mannheim City Airport (IATA code MHG) to London, Dresden, Berlin,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Munich, 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 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 (region), Palatinate, Odenwald, and southern

. 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 Trams in Mannheim/Ludwigshafen, 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,

, 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 Rapid transit in Germany#U-Bahn, 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. 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 Sister city, twinned with: *Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom (1957) *Toulon, France (1959) *Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (Berlin), Germany (1961) *Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Canada (1980) *Riesa, Germany (1988) *Chișinău, Moldova (1989) *Bydgoszcz, Poland (1991) *Klaipėda, Lithuania (2002) *Zhenjiang, China (2004) *Haifa, Israel (2009) *Qingdao, China (2016) *Chernivtsi, Ukraine (2022)

Notable people

*Josepha von Heydeck (1748–1771), mistress of Charles Theodore, Electorate of Bavaria, Elector of Bavaria *Johann Baptist Cramer (1771–1858), English pianist and composer *

(1821–1902), industrialist, founder of

*Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840–1902), Austro-German psychiatrist * Carl Benz (1844–1929), engine designer and automotive engineer, built the first practical motorcar *Henry Morgenthau Sr. (1856–1946), American politician and real estate investor *Robert Kahn (composer), 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 (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 Adler (composer), 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 *Schwefel, Norbert Schwefel (1960–2015), musician *Juergen Adams (born 1961), ice hockey player *Uwe Rahn (born 1962), footballer *Christine Lambrecht (born 1965), politician (SPD) *Franz Jung (bishop), 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 (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

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 Mannheim, 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

History

Early history

Early Modern Age

18th and 19th centuries

Early 20th century and World War I

Inter-war period

World War II

1950s to 1980s

Post-reunification

Geography

Climate

Demographics

Population

Nationalities

Religion

Culture

Theatre

Sport

Education

Inventions

Government and politics

Mayor

City council

United States military installations

Main sights

Economy

Media

Infrastructure

Road transport

Railway transport

River transport

Air transport

Local public transport

Block numbering and computer mapping

Twin towns – sister cities

Notable people

Notes and references

Notes

References

Further reading

External links