or Mainz, the capital of the circle of Lower Rhine, in the grand duchy of Baden, is situated at the confluence of the Neckar and the Rhine, 34 miles N. of Carlsruhe, and 13 N.W. of Heidelberg. The town is built with great regularity and uniformity, and consists of eleven streets running in one direction, and crossed at right angles by ten others. The town is thus divided into squares of houses, which are distinguished not by names, but by numbers and letters of the alphabet. The houses are all two storeys in height, except those at the corners of the streets, which rise to the height of three storeys. The principal thoroughfares are lined with trees, and thus form agreeable promenades. The largest street, called Schrancken, is scarcely half a mile in length. The town was formerly fortified, but the defences were destroyed, and their site is now occupied by gardens and promenades. Both the Rhine and the Neckar are here crossed by bridges of boats, and the latter river has also a suspension bridge. In some of the public places there are fountains, which, however, are not supplied with water, as that is very scarce at Mannheim. The most remarkable building in the town is the magnificent palace of the grand duke, one of the largest in Germany, completed in 1729. It has a picture gallery, a gallery of copperplates, a collection of plaster casts from the most famous ancient sculptures, a collection of antiquities, and a museum of natural history, together with a library containing 60,000 or 70,000 volumes. Mannheim has several Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches, of which that of the Jesuits is the finest. There is a handsome observatory, with a tower 115 feet high, from which a fine view may be had; a theatre, merchants' hall, hospitals, &c. The principal educational institutions are a gymnasium, a botanic garden, and a mercantile school. There are also public baths, a club, and a reading-room. In the neighbourhood of Mannheim there are numerous gardens, and the park connected with the palace has an extent of 200 acres. There are at Mannheim manufactories of tobacco, shawls, linen, and cards; and bleaching and tanning are carried on to a considerable extent. The commerce of this town has been recently very much increased; the principle articles of trade are tobacco, corn, wine, wood, hops, linen, cattle, &c. Its position on two navigable rivers, and its connection by railway with most of the principal cities of Germany, are very favourable to its trade, and render it the first commercial city in the duchy. Till the year 1606 Mannheim was only a village, but at that time Frederick IV., the elector palatine, enlarged and fortified it. During the Thirty Years' War it was taken by Tilly, Duke Bernhard of Weimar, the French, and the Bavarians. It was afterwards taken by the French in 1688; and in 1720 was made the seat of the electoral court. On the reigning family of Bavaria becoming extinct in 1777, the Elector Charles Theodore succeeded, and removed his court from Mannheim to Munich. It was taken by the French in 1795, by the Archduke Charles in 1799, was again occupied by the French, and finally in 1801, restored to Baden. Pop. (1852) 24,316.