Mannheim [1] is a city in the northwest corner of the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany, at the confluence of the Rhine and Neckar rivers.

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.

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.

• Public transportation network

See

Water tower in winter

• Water tower: One of the most famous icons of the Jugendstil (Arte-Nouveau style) in Germany, the water tower (and small park surrounding it) is a great place to sit in the summer for a picnic or just a little rest. The park is surrounded by the Rosengarten, a conference hall of reddish brick, and the colors on a sunny day are amazing.
• Mannheim's Palace (part of the University of Mannheim): Closed until 2007 for restoration, but you can still see it from the outside. It is right next to the main train station.
• Paradeplatz: the center of the city, pedestrians-only. A small park.
• Konkordienkirche (church):
• Luisenpark (one side is free, one side is pay)
• Herzogenriedpark

Museums

• Reiss-Engelhorn Museum [2]. At D5 and C5 (see above for explanation of downtown addresses), the REM houses a permanent exhibit on world cultures along with an exhibition hall whose contents range from photography to astronomy.
• Landesmuseum für Technik und Arbeit, LTA (Museum of Technology), Museumsstraße 1, 0621/4298-9 [3].
• Kunsthalle (Art Gallery), Friedrichsplatz 4 [4].

Do

The National Theater [5] 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).

Buy

Eat

• Mannheim is known for its many pretzel stands. Little pretzel baguettes with mozzarella and tomato are quite yum.
• The Döner is a kind of Turkish kabob found throughout Germany and is definitely worth trying!

Drink

Blau (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 Friday and Thursday nights with English, Irish, 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. Tuesday is trivia night. 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

• Youth hostel [6]

Get out

• Ludwigshafen is right across the river.
• Heidelberg the most famous city near Mannheim and is reachable by street car (30 minutes), regional train (20 minutes) or ICE (10 minutes).
• The cathedrals at Mainz and Speyer, and the cathedral and Nibelungen bridge at Worms are all about 30 minutes away.
• The gardens at Schwetzingen are worth seeing (about 30 minutes away by regional train)
• Weinheim is a nice little town with the traditional red roofs and is reachable with the street car.