MANNHEIM, a town of Germany, in the Land of Baden, on the Rhine, at its confluence with the Neckar, 39 m. by rail N. of Karlsruhe, to m. W. of Heidelberg and 55 m. S. of Frank fort-on-Main. Pop. (1933), 275,160. The name of Mannheim was connected with its present site in the 8th century, when a village of the abbey of Lorsch lay between the Neckar and the Rhine. The history of modern Mannheim begins with the open ing of the 17th century, when the elector palatine Frederick IV. founded a town here, peopled chiefly with Protestant refugees from Holland, and built a castle which led to its being much at tacked in the Thirty Years' War. In 1688 Mannheim was cap tured by the French, and in 1689 it was burned down. Ten years later it was rebuilt and fortified. For its subsequent importance it was indebted to the elector Charles Philip, who transferred his residence from Heidelberg to Mannheim in 1720, and it remained the capital of the palatinate for nearly 6o years. In 1795 Mannheim was taken by the Austrians, and in 1803 the town was assigned to the grand duke of Baden, who razed the fortifications. Schiller's
plays were performed for the first time at Mannheim towards the end of the 18th century.
Nearly the whole of the south-west side of the town is occupied by the palace (1720-59), formerly the residence of the elector palatine of the Rhine. The left wing was totally destroyed by the bombardment of 1795, but has since been restored. The only noteworthy churches are the Jesuit church (1737-60), the Kon cordienkirche and the Schlosskirche.
Mannheim is the chief commercial town on the upper Rhine, and yields in importance to Cologne alone among the lower Rhenish towns. Barges of 2,000 tons go up the Rhine to Mann heim, but only those not exceeding i,000 tons go up beyond it to Kehl. Mannheim is thus the chief port of the upper navigation of the Rhine, with about 3o m. of quays. It is the principal em porium for south Germany for cereals, coal, petroleum, timber, sugar and tobacco, with a large trade in hops, wine and other south German produce.