Mannheim
This article is about the German city. For other uses see Mannheim (disambiguation).Mannheim is a city in
Germany. With 307,640 inhabitants it is the second largest city in the state of
Baden-Württemberg after the capital
Stuttgart.
Mannheim is situated at the confluence of the rivers
Rhine and
Neckar, in the northwestern corner of the state of Baden-Württemberg. The
Rhine separates Mannheim from the adjacent
Rhineland-Palatinate city of
Ludwigshafen. The
Hessian border is north of the city. Mannheim is the largest city of the
Rhine Neckar Area, a metropolitan area with 2.4 million inhabitants.
Mannheim is unique among German cities in that its central area is laid out in a grid pattern (called
Quadrate, squares), much like many North American cities. The main route through the squares leads to an enormous 18th century palace. This former seat of the
Electors of the Palatinate now houses the
University of Mannheim.
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Wasserturm (water tower), Mannheim's landmark. |
Mannheim's city symbol is the
Wasserturm (
water tower), located in the east of the downtown area.
Mannheim is first mentioned in a document from
766, the "
Codex Laureshamensis" from the Lorsch Cloister. It is listed as "Mannenheim" (Home of Manno). It remained a village until
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine initiated building the fortress
Friedrichsburg and the adjacent grid-like city core.
The city was destroyed subsequently in the
Thirty Years' War in
1622 by
Tilly's troops, and in the
Nine Years War for the Palatinate succession in
1689 by the French.
Rebuilt in
1720, the capital of the
Palatinate was transferred from
Heidelberg to Mannheim. It was then that
Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine began construction of the
Mannheim Palace and the
Jesuitenkirche. They were completed in
1760. In the 18th century Mannheim was home to the so-called
Mannheim School of
classical composers. It was reputed to have one of the best court orchestras in Europe under the leadership of
Carlo Grua.
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Map of Mannheim, 1888, showing the grid layout centered on the palace (now the University). |
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Mannheim University in the palace. |
Karl Benz invented and drove the world's first
car in Mannheim in
1885. He was granted a patent for that first automobile in January of the next year. Earlier still in 1817,
Karl Drais invented and rode the first two-wheeled contraption called Laufmaschine or
velocipedeâ€"the very start of horseless personal transport. Banker
Otto Hermann Kahn was also born there.
In 1819
Norwich Duff noted the following observations:
*'Mannheim is in the Duchy of Baden and situated at the confluence of the
Rhine and
Neckar over both of which there is a bridge of boats. This is the third town of this name having been twice burnt. The houses are large, and the streets broad and at right angles to each other, and is one of the most airy clean towns I have seen in Germany. It was formerly fortified but the fortifications were rased in 1806 and gardens fill their places. There is a large Chateau here belonging to the Grand Duke and a very good garden; part of the Chateau was destroyed when the town was bombarded and has never since been repaired, the other part is occupied by the Grand Duchess widow of the late Grand Duke who was succeeded by his Uncle having left only three daughters. She is the sister of
Eugene Beauharnais [so presumably she was born
Hortense de Beauharnais daughter by her former marriage of Napoleon Buonaparte's
Empress Josephine]. There is a Cathedral, a Theatre which is considered good, an observatory, a gallery of pictures at the Chateau and some private collections. About a mile below the town the Russian Army crossed the
Rhine in 1813. Population 18 300.'
During the
Second World War, Mannheim (as a key industrial centre) was heavily damaged by U.S. and British bombing. The city was occupied by the U.S. Army on March 29, 1945. There has been a large American military presence in the Mannheim area ever since (see
United States military installations below).
*
Fernmeldeturm Mannheim*
Pylon test facility MannheimThe successor to the Karl Benz automobile manufacturing companies begun in Mannheim,
DaimlerChrysler has had a large presence in Mannheim. Today, trucks and buses are assembled there. The Swiss
Roche Diagnostic group (formerly known as Boehringer Mannheim) has its division headquarters in Mannheim. Additionally, the city also hosts large factories/offices of
ABB,
Alstom,
BASF,
Bombardier,
Fuchs Petrolub AG,
John Deere,
Siemens,
Südzucker and other companies.
A number of United States military installations are present in Mannheim, including the headquarters of the
5th Signal Command, the Army's telecommunications command in the European theater. The following installations make up the U.S. Army Garrison Mannheim:
*Funari Barracks (Mannheim-Käfertal) (5th Signal Command headquarters)
*Sullivan Barracks (Mannheim-Käfertal) (7th Signal Brigade headquarters) (Headquarters of
504th Signal Battalion, 1961 - 1965)
*Benjamin Franklin Village (Mannheim-Käfertal) Also home to the
Mannheim American High School, The Bison.
*Taylor Barracks (Mannheim-Vogelstang) (2nd Signal Brigade headquarters)
*Spinelli Barracks (Mannheim-Feudenheim)
*Turley Barracks
*Coleman Barracks (Mannheim-Schonau) (AFN, U.S. Army Confinement Facility Europe)
*Friedrichsfeld Quartermaster Depot
The long-term future of the Mannheim military community is in doubt, since it was not included in U.S. Army Europe's 2004 announcement of those military communities that would remain after a long-term restructuring and downsizing of U.S. forces in Germany. However, specific plans concerning the future of the American military community in Mannheim have yet to be announced.
The Mannheim/Ludwigshafen area is surrounded by a ring of motorways connecting it to
Frankfurt in the north,
Karlsruhe in the south,
Saarbrücken in the west and
Nürnberg in the east.
Mannheim's main
train station is southern Germany's most important railroad junction and part of the
ICE high-speed train system with connections to
Frankfurt am Main /
Berlin,
Karlsruhe /
Basel and
Stuttgart /
Munich. The city is also home to the second largest
river port in Germany.
Although
Frankfurt International Airport is only 65 km north, since
2004 there have been daily passenger flights from
Mannheim City Airport (
IATA code MHG) to
Berlin,
Hamburg and Saarbrücken.
* -
Bydgoszcz,
Poland* -
Swansea,
Wales* -
Toulon,
France*
Rhein Neckar Guide Regional hotel, restaurant and tourist guide
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504th Signal Battalion Photos and maps of Benjamin Franklin Village, Sullivan Barracks and the Mannheim Military Community in the 1960s
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U.S. Army Garrison Mannheim homepage
