Mannheim

Mannheim is located at the confluence of the Upper Rhine and the Neckar in the Kurpfalz (Electoral Palatinate) region of northwestern Baden-Württemberg. The city lies in the Upper Rhine Plain, Germany's warmest region, between the Palatine Forest and the Oden Forest. Mannheim forms a continuous urban zone of around 500,000 inhabitants with Ludwigshafen am Rhein in the Rhineland-Palatinate, while some northern suburbs lie in Hesse; Hamburg is the only other German city with a presence in two states other than its own.

Unusually for a German city, central Mannheim's streets and avenues are laid out in a grid pattern, leading to its nickname as the Quadratestadt (Square City) and the tourism slogan "Leben im Quadrat" ("Life in the Square"). Also, most of the streets in central Mannheim do not have street names; the city blocks are instead referred to by letter and number. At the southern base of this system is Mannheim Palace.