Tour of Mannheim Palace

Sunday, July 4 between 16.15 until 18.30

The tour of the museum will reveal to you the beauty and splendor of the staterooms of Mannheim Palace.

Ever since German Elector Friedrich IV laid the foundations for the construction of Fort Friedrichsburg in 1606, the city of Mannheim had to be rebuilt again four times due to destructions and damages during wartimes. What has been preserved throughout the centuries though is the city’s unique grid-structured center which coined Mannheim’s nickname “Quadratestadt” (city of squares). Nowadays, given its number of approximately 310,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second largest city of Baden-Württemberg and considered to be the “secret capitol of the Electoral Palatinate.” In 2007, open-minded and tolerant Mannheim committed primarily to commerce and supply of services, celebrated its 400 years of existence.

Ordered by famous German Elector Carl Philipp, the building of Mannheim Palace started in 1720 targeting to build one of the biggest absolutist baroque palaces in the Upper-Rhine area worth representing the court of Mannheim, which enjoyed a prominent reputation as a center of culture, arts, and sciences. The construction of the enormous complex of buildings, which ultimately featured one more window than Versailles Palace, took nearly forty years. However, in World War II the impressive baroque building was almost completely destroyed. It was not until fifty years later that Mannheim Palace could glisten in its renewed splendor with the end of the reconstruction works in 2007. Ever since its foundation in 1967, the University of Mannheim is located in the palace’s premises.

Details of the Tour: English-speaking guides, dressed in historical costumes, will pick you up from the entrance hall of the university’s east wing at 16.15 and lead you to the museum of the palace where your tour begins. Depending on the number of participants, several groups will be guided through Mannheim Palace. Tours will take place between 16.30 and 18.30 and will take one hour each.

The price covers all costs of the tour conducted by an English-speaking tour guide.