Mannheim Palace

Mannheim Palace is among the largest Baroque palace complexes in Europe by floor area, ranking just behind Versailles, Würzburg, and Ludwigsburg — it stretches an astonishing 440 metres from end to end along Mannheim's grid street plan. It was built between 1720 and 1760 for Elector Carl III Philip after he moved the Palatine court from Heidelberg following a dispute with the city's Protestant citizens, and the scale of the palace was a deliberate statement of electoral power. The interior highlights include the Rittersaal (Knights' Hall), a two-storey ballroom with stucco work by Italian artists, the magnificent Electoral Apartments with their original Rococo furnishings and Gobelin tapestries, the court chapel with its fine organ, and the Mannheim Palace Church with its elliptical dome. The largest portion of the palace now houses the University of Mannheim, so the courtyards and corridors buzz with student life, while the state rooms in the central wing are preserved and open as a museum with guided tours available. The palace square (Schlossplatz) is one of Germany's largest urban squares, and the Baroque gardens behind the palace lead to the Wasserturm and the Friedrichsplatz. Mannheim is an ICE rail hub, and the palace is a 5-minute walk from Mannheim Hauptbahnhof. Combine the visit with the Kunsthalle art museum and a walk through the Quadrate grid of the city centre.