page_title: Mannheim Palace
section_title: Structure
hierarchical_section_title: Mannheim Palace / Structure
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Schloss Mannheim, Ehrenhof, Panorama 180 Grad - aus 5 Aufnahmen zusammengesetzt English: Mannheim Palace, panoramic view, 180 degrees - 5 pictures stitched Français&#160;: Château de Mannheim Italiano: Palazzo di Mannheim
context_page_description: Mannheim Palace is a large Baroque palace in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was originally the main residence of the Prince-electors of the Electorate of the Palatinate of the House of Wittelsbach. Part of the palace is used by the University of Mannheim. The castle, which features tapestries, furniture, paintings, porcelain and silverware can be visited on a free-flow basis with audioguides.
context_section_description: 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. By surrounding an area of 6 hectare the castle is one of Europe's biggest palaces and the second biggest one in Baroque style, second only after Versailles. For reasons of prestige the architects made sure that Mannheim Palace has one more window than Versailles. The Breite 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 state rooms and the Rittersaal hall. The Mittelbau is flanked by the Ehrenhof West and Ehrenhof Ost wings, which include the Court of Honor 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. Initially constructed as defensive military fortification designed to protect up to 1,500 residents or valued materials from Russian and Allied bombing attacks, it served as a hotel with a capacity for up to 65 guests after the war. Today it is used as occasional exposition space for modern and urban art, e.g. during the Long Night of Museums in Mannheim. 
  The northern wing includes the impressive Schlosskirche (palace church) and the law section, as well as Mannheim's Amtsgericht (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 and the central Hasso Plattner Library. Two sculptures are located on the central courtyard and represent the two founders of the Mannheim Palace Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine and Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria.
  The palace has been repainted in a bright ocher/yellow, the Mittelbau (Corps de Logis) has been thoroughly rebuilt (including a new roof construction), and the Ehrenhof (Court of Honor) was restructured and paved with granite.
caption: Mannheim Palace, 180 degrees panoramic view
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