Mannheim

Sister cities

• Zhenjiang
• Toulon
• Haifa
• Bydgoszcz
• Swansea
• Chișinău
• Riesa
• Klaipėda
• El Viejo
• Beyoğlu
• Windsor
• Qingdao

History

A brick kiln excavated in 1929 in the Seckenheim district, which operated from 74 AD to the early second century, attests to settlement in Roman times. The name of the city was first recorded as Mannenheim in a legal transaction in 766, surviving in a twelfth-century copy in the Codex Laureshamensis from Lorsch Abbey. The name is interpreted as "the home of Manno", a short form of a Germanic name such as Hartmann or Hermann. Mannheim remained a village throughout the Middle Ages. In 1606, Frederick IV, Elector Palatine started building the fortress of Friedrichsburg and the adjacent city centre with its grid of streets and avenues. On 24 January 1607, Frederick IV gave Mannheim the official status of a "city". Mannheim was mostly levelled during the Thirty Years' War around 1622 by the forces of Johan Tilly. After being rebuilt, it was again severely damaged by the French Army in 1689 during the Nine Years' War (also called "The War of Palatinate Succession" as Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, a younger brother of Louis XIV made a competing claim to the electorate of the Palatinate). After the rebuilding of Mannheim from 1698 onwards, the capital of the Electorate of the Palatinate was moved from Heidelberg to Mannheim in 1720 when Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine began construction of Mannheim Palace and the Jesuit Church; they were completed in 1760. In 1819, Norwich Duff wrote of Mannheim: During the eighteenth century, Mannheim was the home of the "Mannheim School" of classical music composers. Mannheim was said to have one of the best court orchestras in Europe under the leadership of the conductor Carlo Grua. The royal court of the Palatinate left Mannheim in 1778, as Charles Theodore had become Elector of Bavaria and moved to Munich. Two decades later, in…

Geography

Mannheim features a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb, Trewartha: Dobk). The city is located in Germany's warmest summer region, the "Rhine shift". The highest recorded temperature was on 27 June 2026. In comparison to other regions of Germany, Mannheim has a higher humidity in summer, causing a higher heat index. Snow is rare, even in the cold months. Precipitation occurs mostly during afternoon thunderstorms during warmer weather (average days with thunderstorms annually is 40–50). The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The city is one of the warmest in Germany in winter.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  8,690
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,966
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,663
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,369
• Zoropsid spider

  Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820) · Arachnida
  6,558
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,017
• Rose-ringed Parakeet

  Psittacula krameri (Scopoli, 1769) · Aves
  5,379
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,968

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2014-05-17
  2 km ESE of Pfungstadt, Germany
• M 3.4 — 2010-12-23
  4 km WNW of Mainz, Germany
• M 3.4 — 2010-06-29
  3 km NW of Hochheim am Main, Germany
• M 2.8 — 2008-11-25
  1 km S of Steinmauern, Germany
• M 2.8 — 2008-04-16
  5 km NNE of Bornich, Germany
• M 2.5 — 2008-03-07
  1 km N of Simmersfeld, Germany