Mannheim: The City of Squares
Mannheim, a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, is known as the City of Squares due to the unique organizational structure of it's city center which sits at the confluence of the Rhein and Neckar rivers. Instead of giving the streets names, the blocks have been named. Well, not exactly names…they have numbers and these numbers are organized according to the game of chess. Needless to say, it can be a little interesting to navigate as a foreigner.
A friend Laura Wilson, an artist who moved to Mannheim several months ago, explained a little of what she thought of her new home. She remarked that it's a nice city to live in with a good combination of industrial, city culture, and nature with the Rheine and Neckar Rivers running both around or through it. She feels the city is easy to get around with Stassenbahn (the interurban train) and bike however the chess board city center has been a bit complicated but she's getting used to it. She explains how the city center blocks are organized with a system that extends from the 600 meter long Mannheim Castle frontage:
Starting from the castle, squares on the left-hand side are named A to K, whiles squares on the right-hand side are named from L to U. Square numbers always begin with 1 along the central axis and ascend to the surrounding streets. House numbers begin at the corner located next to the castle. From A to K, numbers count clockwise, from L to U counter-clockwise around the squares.
