Population 316,000. Mentioned in A.D. 766 as a fishing village near the confluence of the Neckar and Rhine. Became a city in 1607, a military strongpoint and a refuge for persecuted Calvinists. In the 18th Century, Mannheim's opera, theater, library, art museums, and observatory were the best in Germany.
Mannheim's center has been destroyed four times by war, but has maintained its characteristic street layout: a grid in which blocks are numbered and most streets have no names.
Attractions
-
Paradeplatz (parade ground) with huge bronze monument
-
Baroque Schloß (palace) that now houses the university
-
Baroque Jesuit Church
-
National Theater
-
Kunsthalle (art gallery)
-
Landesmuseum (State Technology Museum)
-
Museumsschiff (Museum of Rhine Shipping)
-
Friedrichsplatz Park with the ornate Wasserturm (water tower) and Rose Garden.
-
In the peaceful Luisenpark is a 205-meter broadcast tower with an elevator to its viewing platform.
Mannheim's
web site.