Understand
The center of Mannheim is laid out like a chess board, with no real street names. Addresses in the Quadrat take the form of a grid reference, such as Q3, 12 designating a block.
Mannheim was a small fishing village before it became a city at the beginning of the 17th century. It was constructed on the site of a fortress guarding the confluence of the rivers Rhine and Neckar. Even nowadays, a few remnants of the fortification can be seen, and the peculiar street layout owes to that part of its history. For 58 years, it served as a royal residence and gave Schiller, Lessing, Goethe and Mozart a home for some time. Before World War II it used to be a beautiful city, but was flattened in bomb raids due to its industrial significance. When it was time to rebuild the city, Mannheim, as many other german cities, opted for an all out modern approach to urban development. Thus, most of the old quarters were replaced by typical fifties buildings. If you are not an adept to architecture, their appeal might not be easy to grasp. As a result, the impression is more of an industrial city with a few spots of beauty.
Modern Mannheim is the second biggest city in Baden-Württemberg and one of the hotspots of immigration. Because of that you'll encounter a lively and colorful mixture of nationalities and cultures in the city. The Mannheim/Heidelberg area hosts the largest concentration of US military personnel in Germany, and barracks are found in many of the suburbs.
Get in
By plane
If you arrive at Frankfurt airport, and want to go to Mannheim or Ludwigshafen, you can either take the ICE high speed train (takes 30 minutes) from the Mannheim Hauptbahnhof, or the Lufthansa Airport Shuttle bus (60 minutes travel time). It's slightly cheaper than the ICE train (35€ for a roundtrip, compared to about 40€ with the train), but takes twice the time. More importantly, if you fly with Lufthansa, Condor, SAS or South African Airways you can have your luggage checked in directly to your final destination.
The Airport Shuttle arrives at and departs at the front of Hotel Dorint near the Wasserturm. The old departure near the central station no longer exists.
By train
ICE, IC and regional trains all stop in Mannheim. Most street car lines also stop at the main station, so getting around is not a problem.
By bus
There's a bus connection from Frankfurt to Mannheim (see the "By plane" section).
Get around
The public transportation system in most large cities in Germany is quite extensive. Bus routes cover Mannheim, and the street car system connects Mannheim to Ludwigshafen across the river, Heidelberg a few minutes away, and Weinheim, in addition to major routes across and through the city.
See
Museums
Do
The National Theater has a different show almost every night (for some shows, like ballets or opera, the language barrier is not at issue). The street car stops right outside the theater, and student tickets are much reduced (like 5 or 15 euro).
Eat
Drink
(german for "blue") is the favourite hangout for leftists, post-punks and alternative culture adepts. It is also here where you are likely to run into activities of the "Büro für angewandten Realismus" (office for applied realism), a group of artists that organise cultural events every now and then. Additionally, there are displays of their artwork in the pub. Jungbuschstrasse 14, 68059 Mannheim
The Onyx is bustling with activity almost every night after normal working hours. They offer a full bar and excellent menu for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is located near the Wasserturm (water tower). Typically more dressy than other hangouts. Friedrichsplatz 12, 68165 Mannheim. Tel: 0621/1286888
Café Bernstein is a nice french style Bar/Café that offers a good selection of beers and wines. They also offer a small but fine selection of lunch/dinner. Reasonable prices. Exceptional friendly staff! Bernstein is located in the Schwetzinger Vorstadt. 10 min walk from Main station. Seckenheimer Straße 58, 68167 Mannheim. Tel: 0621/4949159
SOHO Club is a small club with reasonable prices, good music and relaxed guests between 20 and 40. Music varies from night to night, see Homepage for details (http://www.soho-club.de/). SOHO Club is located on the Ring-road that begirds the inner city. Don't miss the cocktail happy hour until 11 p.m. J7,16, 68159 Mannheim. Tel: 0621/13382
Murphy's Law Website/Calendar of Eventsis a great Irish pub that serves up Boddington's and Kilkenny on tap (a rare find), in addition to the usual suspects. The pub fare is better than most, especially the Irish breakfast, chili, and fish and chips. It's usually packed on the Weekend nights with English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish and American ex pats and a few Germans (typically University students) thrown in there for local flavor. Just a hop and a skip from the main train staion. Weeknds, Fall to Spring usually feature live music. Tuesday is trivia night. Be sure to say hello to John at the end of the bar. Kaiserring 10-12 (Bahnhofvorplatz), 68161 Mannheim. Tel: 0621/1563925
You might also want to have a look at http://www.schneckenhof.de (German language), which has a detailed Nightlife guide. http://www.meier-online.de has a calendar and guide for all kinds of events and locations in Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen.
Sleep
Get out
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.
Mannheim's city symbol is the Wasserturm (water tower), located in the east of the city centre.
History
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.
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 . There is a Cathedral, a Theatre which is considered good, an observatory, a gallery of pictures at the Chateau and some private collections. About 2 km (1 mile) below the town the Russian Army crossed the Rhine in 1813. Population 18 300.
During World War II, Mannheim (as a key industrial centre) was heavily damaged by US and British bombing. The city was occupied by the US 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).
In 2007 Mannheim celebrates its 400th birthday with a series of cultural and other events spread over the whole year.
The 400th birthday proper was in 2006 since Frederick IV, Elector Palatine laid the foundations of the Mannheim citadel, on March 17 1606.
Main sights
Industry
The successor to the Karl Benz automobile manufacturing companies begun in Mannheim, DaimlerChrysler has had a large presence in Mannheim. Today,cars 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 (Ludwigshafen), Bilfinger Berger, Bombardier, Fuchs Petrolub AG, John Deere, Siemens, SCA, Südzucker and other companies.
United States military installations
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 area. The following installations make up the U.S. Army Garrison Mannheim:
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.
Transportation
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 main 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 / Berlin, Karlsruhe / Basel and Stuttgart / Munich. Mannheim Harbour is 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.
Sister cities
External links
