Historical Data at a Glance

1720-1760	Construction of the baroque palace Schloss Mannheim
1763	Foundation of the Kurpfälzische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Academy of Sciences of the Electoral Palatinate) by Prince Elector Carl Theodor; the academy enjoys an excellent reputation even far beyond the borders of the Palatinate. The so-called “Theodoro-Palatina” focusses on the subject areas of history and natural sciences.
1778	Foundation of a commercial college for merchants’ sons that later becomes the Großherzogliche Handelsakademie (Grand-Ducal Trade Academy)
Around 1800	The impact of the French Revolutionary Wars (1795) and the Napoleonic Wars (1803) spells the end for the Theodoro-Palatina.
1817	Closing down of the Großherzogliche Handelsakademie
1907	Foundation of the Städtische Handelshochschule Mannheim (Commercial College of the City of Mannheim) that was closed in 1933
1943-1945	Vast destruction of the palace building during the Second World War.
1946	Re-opening of the commercial college as Staatliche Wirtschaftshochschule (State College of Business and Economics). In the year of its foundation, 545 students enroll.
1955	The Wirtschaftshochschule moved to the east wing of the reconstructed palace building.
1963	Expansion of the Wirtschaftshochschule: In the following years, new chairs and programs are created. The number of students amounts to 1,715.
1967	The Wirtschaftshochschule is renamed Universität Mannheim (University of Mannheim). The number of students rises to 3,150.
1969	Adoption of the Constitution of the University of Mannheim with eight schools
1979	Adoption of the new Constitution with the President’s Office (President, two Vice Presidents, Executive Vice President) as the university’s management
1995	The number of students surpasses the 10,000 mark. Foundation of the alumni network ABSOLVENTUM MANNHEIM
1999	Mannheim is the first university in Baden-Württemberg with a constitution that reflects its autonomy.
2000	AACSB Accreditation of the Business School; the AACSB is the world’s leading association of collegiate business schools New organizational structure with six schools Launch of the joint fundraising initiative “Renaissance of the Baroque Palace”
2002	Best German university according to the Stern / CHE university rankings. The University of Mannheim’s degree programs in Business Administration, Economics, Sociology, Political Science, and Business Informatics achieve top positions.
2004	Fusion of the two hitherto independent Schools of Law and Economics to the School of Law and Economics
2006	The University of Mannheim was the first public higher education institution in Germany to align its academic calendar with the international academic year The initiative “Renaissance of the Baroque Palace” culminated in the reconstruction of the mansard roof of the Schloss funded by a donation of the Hasso Plattner Foundation. Since 2000, the renovation of the university has required investments amounting to EUR 53 million that were financed by donations and funding provided by the Land of Baden-Württemberg
2007	Celebration of the university's centenary and approval of the Chair of Business Ethics on this occasion. CHE, the most important German university ranking, confirms the University of Mannheim among the top German higher education institutions. The German Excellence Initiative approved the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences (GESS)
2008	The schools adopted a shared reform agenda. Mannheim becomes a university with a clear-cut profile: a unique blend of renowned Economic and Social Sciences that are linked to excellent Humanities, Law, Mathematics, and Informatics in a number of interdisciplinary programs and research projects.
2010	Professionalized management thanks to the introduction of full-time deans
2011	Launch of the fundraising campaign “Renaissance 2.0” for the renovation of the Aula and the Katakomben For the tenth time in succession, graduates from the Business School ranked first in a survey among HR managers of all sectors carried out by the Wirtschaftswoche magazine.
2012	International students chose the campus of the University of Mannheim as the most beautiful campus in Germany and the second loveliest campus worldwide.
2013	Reintroduction of the Student Body Representative Committee
2017	Structural development of the university: Inauguration of the new building for research and teaching in B6 and of the new study and conference center of the Mannheim Business School located in the former coal cellar of the Schloss in the Ehrenhof West.