Mannheim / Germany

Mannheim ; Palatine German: Mannem or Monnem) is a Universitätsstadt in the southwestern part of Germany and the third-largest in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart and Karlsruhe with a 2019 population of approximately 310,700 inhabitants. The city is at the centre of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region and is Germany's eighth-largest metropolitan region. Mannheim is located at the confluence of the Rhine and the Neckar in the northwestern corner of Baden-Württemberg. The Rhine separates Mannheim from the city of Ludwigshafen, just to the west of it in Rhineland-Palatinate, and the border of Baden-Württemberg with Hesse is just to the north. Mannheim is downstream along the Neckar from the city of Heidelberg. Mannheim is unusual among German cities in that its streets and avenues are laid out in a grid pattern, leading to its nickname "die Quadratestadt" . The eighteenth century Mannheim Palace, former home of the Prince-elector of the Palatinate, now houses the University of Mannheim. The city is home to major corporations including Daimler, John Deere, Caterpillar, ABB, Fuchs Petrolub, IBM, Roche, Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, Phoenix Group, Pepperl+Fuchs, Siemens, and several other well-known companies. In addition, Mannheim's SAP Arena is not only the home of the German ice hockey record champions the Adler Mannheim, but also the well-known handball team, the Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Since 2014, Mannheim has been a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and holds the title of "UNESCO City of Music". Mannheim is a smart city; the city's electrical grid is installed with a power-line communication network.The city's tourism slogan is "Leben. Im Quadrat." The civic symbol of Mannheim is der Wasserturm , a Romanesque water tower completed in 1886 that rises to 60 metres above the highest point of the art nouveau area Friedrichsplatz. Mannheim is the starting and finishing point of the Bertha Benz Memorial Route.