MANNHEIM, man'him, Germany, a large town of Baden on the Rhine, at the confluence of the Neckar, 45 miles south of Frankfort. It lies in the administrative district of Mannheim, of 1,386 square miles area and 641,545 popula tion. Dikes protect it from inundation and there are extensive harbors and modern docks. A bridge across the Rhine, here 1,200 feet wide, connects with Ludwigshafen, Bavaria, and there is also a bridge across the Neckar. Mann heim is the first commercial town in the grand duchy and on the upper Rhine. This it owes to its admirable position on two important navi gable rivers and its railway communications, The arrivals of freight here in 1912 were 4,664, 763 tons, and the departures 729,129 tons. Dur ing the World War it was important as a dis tributing point for the German army. The princi pal articles of trade are corn, flour, wood, petro leum, coal, tobacco, cattle, sugar, iron goods, etc. The manufactures consist chiefly of iron-cast ings, machinery, chemicals, cigars, carpets, woolen goods, paper, tiles, celluloid and rubber wares, mirrors, carriages, trinkets, sugar, liqueurs, starch, glue, etc. Mannheim was once strongly
fortified and lying not far from the French frontier and near the centre of military opera tions, suffered severely during the wars between France and Germany. In a siege by the Aus trians in 1795 only 14 houses remained unin jured. Hence, notwithstanding the antiquity of its foundation, it has become an entirely modern town with regular, straight streets, known, as in America, by numbers, and with fine public squares. The principal buildings are the for mer Palatine palace, with a museum and pic ture gallery in one of its wings, a public library of 75,000 volumes and good gardens behind it ; the Jesuits' church, an Imposing edifice, with a profusely decorated interior; the former ob servatory building; the theatre, one of the best in Germany; several gymnasia and schools, conservatory of musk, and orphan age, town-house, railway station, etc. Pop. about 97,980; in 1899 the suburb of Neckaran was incorporated with it. Pop. 150,000.