Mannheim Palace is a large Baroque palace in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was originally the main residence of the Prince-electors of the Electoral Palatinate. It is now primarily used by the University of Mannheim.
The city of Mannheim, founded in 1606, was fortified and at the present site of the castle there was a fortress called Friedrichsburg, sometimes serving as alternative residence for the Elector, one of the most important territorial princes of the Holy Roman Empire.
The site of the palace is impressive, although the construction of roads and railway tracks has diminished its dominating look. To the southwest, it faces the Rhine and Ludwigshafen. To the northeast the palace presents its 450 m long front to the Mannheim city centre. TheBreite Straße runs from the palace to Mannheim's central square, the Paradeplatz.
The central part of the palace is the Mittelbau with its representative halls. Today, the Mittelbau holds university library halls and theRittersaal hall. A Palace museum was opened here in 2007. The Mittelbau is flanked by the Ehrenhof West and Ehrenhof Ost wings, which include the Ehrenhof yard in front of the Mittelbau. In those two wings, there are mainly lecture halls and offices of the university's humanities section. Below the Ehrenhof, there is a massive bunker dating from World War II.
The northern wing includes the impressive Schlosskirche (palace church) and the law section, as well as Mannheim's lower district court. The southern/eastern wing is much larger than the northern one, including the Schneckenhof yard (a popular university party ground) and holding most of the university's central institutions, as well as the largest lecture halls. The heating costs for the palace are nearly €2 million Euros annually.
There is currently considerable building activity in the palace, due to Mannheim's anniversary in 2007. The palace has been repainted in a bright ocher/yellow, the Mittelbau has been thoroughly rebuilt (including a new roof construction), and the Ehrenhof yard is to be restructured and paved with granite.
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