Mannheim (Germany)

Mannheim is a city in Germany's southwestern part, the 3rd-largest in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, following Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. Mannheim is among the 20 biggest cities in Germany, with a population of around 295,000 inhabitants. Mannheim is at the centre of larger densely populated Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, with a population of 2,400,000 and is Germany's 8th-largest metropolitan area.

Mannheim city is located at the confluence of Rhine and Neckar in the northwestern corner of Baden-Württemberg. Rhine separates Mannheim from Ludwigshafen city, just to the west of it in Rhineland-Palatinate. The border of Baden-Württemberg with Hesse is to the north. Mannheim is downstream along Neckar from Heidelberg city. Mannheim is unusual among the cities in Germany in that its streets are laid out in a grid pattern, leading to a nickname "die Quadratestadt" ("city of the squares"). The 18th century Mannheim Palace is former home of Prince-elector of the Palatinate, but today it houses the University of Mannheim.

Mannheim is home to major corporations including ABB, Caterpillar, Daimler, John Deere, Fuchs Petrolub, IBM, Reckitt Benckiser, Siemens, Roche, Unilever, Phoenix Group, and several other famous companies. Mannheim's SAP Arena is the home of German ice hockey record champions Adler Mannheim, as well as the well-known handball team, Rhein-Neckar Löwen. According to Forbes magazine, Mannheim is famous for its exceptional inventive power. It was ranked 11th among Top 15 of the most inventive cities in the world. Since 2014, Mannheim has been a member of UNESCO Creative Cities Network and holds the title "UNESCO City of Music".