Colors of Mannheim - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

The formation of the traditions and culture of the modern inhabitants of Mannheim was greatly influenced by the Swabian tribes. They lived in these places in the early middle ages. The locals inherited not only a rich range of interesting traditions and special gastronomic preferences from them but also a peculiar dialect, which not all residents of Germany can understand. Local residents are characterized by modesty and diligence, as well as the desire for order and cleanliness. The last feature of the national character of the inhabitants of the surrounding areas is often ridiculed, there are many jokes about local inhabitants.

Every weekend, local residents arrange cleaning on the territory of their houses. If you go for a walk in the early morning, then you can see inhabitants with brooms literally at every house which diligently clean their territory. Such a Saturday cleaning have become a good tradition for citizens and even got a special name – "kervoh". Passing by the houses of local residents, you can always see neatly trimmed shrubs, and a perfect lawn in the summer. Locals never relax in their backyards and gardens, they always work here at any time of the year.

Speaking about the gastronomic preferences of the inhabitants of Mannheim, it is worth noting their love for potatoes. Locals cook dozens of different dishes, from simple fried potatoes in a pan to all kinds of salads and stews. Culinary remains the most popular subject for discussion among locals, it is customary to relax here at a well-laid table. Despite the love of the townspeople to hearty and delicious food, local cooking is devoid of any special delights. The traditional cuisine of Mannheim can be described as very practical and thrifty, the most refined and expensive dishes in local restaurants are made from elite meats. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

The thriftiness of local residents is also often the subject of controversy and jokes of residents of the surrounding areas. Historically, Mannheim was formed in a fairly poor agricultural area. For hundreds of years, locals worked for the benefit of a rich harvest, and then put a lot of effort to save the grown vegetables. Despite the fact that the hard times for the city were far behind, thrift has remained a bright feature of the national character for local residents. They are not used to spend too much, always try to save money earned and lead a fairly modest lifestyle. Many foreign tourists may consider this behaviour as banal greed, in fact, these are the prevailing features of the local character for many years.

Mannheim has many interesting features, in terms of the layout of city streets, it is one of the most accurate and mathematically verified cities in Germany. The Central district of the city still has the layout of a chessboard which was formed hundreds of years ago. All streets are located strictly parallel and perpendicular to each other, the entire Central district is divided into blocks of regular square shape. There are no names for the streets, the letters of the Latin alphabet and the numbers from 1 to 9 are used for the designation of quarters. The Central area of Mannheim is a historic place and it is often called "city of squares".

The picturesque town has a rich cultural life and there are many interesting holidays and festivals during the year. Since 1952 Mannheim has been a permanent venue for the International film festival, which is always visited by a huge number of foreign guests. Every year, the festival is visited by more than 60,000 tourists, it is attended by famous producers, filmmakers and actors. The city has a school of fine arts, as well as a higher school of music, so it hosts interesting concerts and exhibitions throughout the year.

In the spring, the city holds an annual Time Warp festival dedicated to the innovations of modern technology. Mannheim is the birthplace of many famous inventors who glorified these places in the late middle ages. Today, one of the city's museums tells tourists about their achievements. Every year, representatives of the techno industry from all over the world visit the city as participants of the festival. Despite the serious focus of the festival, it always attracts thousands of curious tourists. At the ongoing exhibitions, they can see samples of the latest robotics, as well as try out some innovative technical inventions in action. For the first time the festival was held in 1994, the venue was the building of the old factory, which was in disrepair for several years. Now it is a well-known exhibition venue in the region.