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:''This article is about the city in Germany. 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.

Mannheim's city symbol is the ''Wasserturm'' (water tower), located in the east of the city centre.

Contents

History

Main sights

Industry

United States military installations

Transportation

Sport

Sister cities

References

External links

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 [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 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

★ Fernmeldeturm Mannheim

★ Luisenpark - named one of the most beautiful parks of Europe

★ Pylon test facility Mannheim

★ Mannheim Palace (''Mannheimer Schloss'') - the city castle and main building of the University of Mannheim

★ Wasserturm - the town's landmark

★ SAP Arena - multifunctional Stadium, home of the Mannheim Ice-hockey Team "Die Adler", which means "The Eagles."

★ Breite Strasse, Kunststrasse and Kapuzinerplanken - Mannheims main shopping destination

★ Film Festival Mannheim - Heidelberg

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:

★ 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 and Middle School [1].

★ Taylor Barracks (Mannheim-Vogelstang) (2nd Signal Brigade headquarters)

★ Spinelli Barracks (Mannheim-Feudenheim)

★ Turley Barracks (Mannheim-Wohlgelegen), formerly home of University of Maryland University College Mannheim Campus (closed in 2007, will be returned to Germany by 2008)

★ Coleman Barracks/Coleman Army Airfield (Mannheim-Schönau) (American Forces Network-Europe HQ, U.S. Army Confinement Facility Europe)

★ Friedrichsfeld Service Center (Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld)

★ Stem Kaserne (Mannheim-Seckenheim)

★ Hammonds Barracks (Mannheim-Seckenheim)
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 Europe. On July 11th, 2007, the DOD announced that Turley Barracks would be closed in late 2007 and returned to Germany by 2008 [2].
As is standard policy with all bases returned to host nation control, Turley Barracks will be handed over to the ''Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben'' (the federal agency which oversees the assets of the German federal government). It is most likely that the entire facility will be sold, possibly to the city of Mannheim which would like to redevelop the site although many buildings have landmark status.

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 Hauptbahnhof (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 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.
The establishment of the RheinNeckar S-Bahn on 2003 connected nearly all of the Rhine-Neckar area, including lines into the Palatinate, Odenwald and southern Hesse. All S-Bahn lines run through Mannheim Hauptbahnhof. Further S-Bahn stations are at present Mannheim-Rangierbahnhof, Mannheim-Seckenheim and Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld-Süd.
Local public transport in Mannheim include eleven tram lines and numerous bus lines operated by Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (Rhine-Neckar transport). Metre-gauge trams are operated in Mannheim by the ''MVV Verkehr AG'' and in Ludwigshafen by the ''Verkehrsbetriebe Ludwigshafen am Rhein'' and run through on each other tracks. In addition the Oberrheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (OEG), operates interurban trams on a triangular route between Mannheim, Heidelberg and Weinheim and the Rhein-Haardtbahn operates interurban trams between Bad Dürkheim, Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, both also running on MVV tracks. In the 1970s a proposal to build a U-Bahn out of the Mannheim and Ludwigshafen tramways was begun, but only small sections were in fact built due to lack of funds. The only underground station in Mannheim is the Haltestelle Dalbergstraße. U-Bahn planning has now stopped. All public transport is offered at uniform prices set by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (Rhine-Neckar transport union, VRN).
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.

Sport

Mannheim will host the 2007 European Show Jumping Championships^[1] 14 - 19 August, in the MVV-riding stadium. This is second time the city has hosted it, they previously held the championships 1997.

Sister cities

★ Bydgoszcz, Poland

★ Chişinău, Moldova

★ Klaipėda, Lithuania

★ Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom

★ Toulon, France

★ Haifa, Israel

★ Windsor, Canada

★ Zhenjiang, People's Republic of China

References

1. FEI European Jumping Championship, Mannheim

External links

★ Official page of Mannheim

★ Rhein-Neckar Metropoliten Region Visitors' Site

★ Parks in Mannheim

★ 504th Signal Battalion Photos and maps of Benjamin Franklin Village (Käfertal), Sullivan Barracks (Käfertal)and the Mannheim Military Community in the 1960s

★ U.S. Army Garrison Mannheim homepage