Strasbourg vs Mannheim

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Strasbourg (UK: , US: , French: [stʁazbuʁ, stʁasbuʁ] (listen); Bas Rhin Alsatian: Strossburi [ˈʃd̥ʁɔːsb̥uʁi] (listen), Haut Rhin Alsatian: Strossburig [ˈʃd̥ʁɔːsb̥uʁiɡ̊] (listen); German: Straßburg [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊʁk] (listen) Latin: Argentoratum) is the capital and largest city of the Grand Est region of France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located at the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin department. In 2017, the city proper had 280,966 inhabitants and both the Eurométropole de Strasbourg (Greater Strasbourg) and the Arrondissement of Strasbourg had 494,089 inhabitants. Strasbourg's metropolitan area had a population of 790,087 in 2017 (not counting the section across the border in Germany), making it the ninth-largest metro area in France and home to 13% of the Grand Est region's inhabitants. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 958,421 inhabitants.Strasbourg is one of the de facto four main capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels, Luxembourg and Frankfurt), as it is the seat of several European institutions, such as the European Parliament, the Eurocorps and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. An organization separate from the European Union, the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines most commonly known in French as "Pharmacopée Européenne", and its European Audiovisual Observatory) is also located in the city.

Together with Basel (Bank for International Settlements), Geneva (United Nations headquarters in Europe), The Hague (International Court of Justice) and New York City (United Nations world headquarters), Strasbourg is among the few cities in the world that is not a state capital that hosts international organisations of the first order. The city is the seat of many non-European international institutions such as the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human Rights. It is the second city in France in terms of international congress and symposia, after Paris. Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. Strasbourg is immersed in Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a cultural bridge between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second-largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture. It is also home to the largest Islamic place of worship in France, the Strasbourg Grand Mosque.Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail, and river transportation. The port of Strasbourg is the second-largest on the Rhine after Duisburg in Germany, and the second-largest river port in France after Paris.

Source: Wikipedia

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Mannheim (German pronunciation: [ˈmanhaɪm] (listen); Palatine German: Mannem or Monnem) is a Universitätsstadt (university town) in the southwestern part of Germany and the third-largest in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart and Karlsruhe with a 2019 population of approximately 310,700 inhabitants. The city is at the centre of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region and is Germany's eighth-largest metropolitan region. Mannheim is located at the confluence of the Rhine and the Neckar in the northwestern corner of Baden-Württemberg. The Rhine separates Mannheim from the city of Ludwigshafen, just to the west of it in Rhineland-Palatinate, and the border of Baden-Württemberg with Hesse is just to the north. Mannheim is downstream along the Neckar from the city of Heidelberg. Mannheim is unusual among German cities in that its streets and avenues are laid out in a grid pattern, leading to its nickname "die Quadratestadt" (the Square City). The eighteenth century Mannheim Palace, former home of the Prince-elector of the Palatinate, now houses the University of Mannheim.

The city is home to major corporations including Daimler, John Deere, Caterpillar, ABB, Fuchs Petrolub, IBM, Roche, Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, Phoenix Group, Pepperl+Fuchs, Siemens, and several other well-known companies. In addition, Mannheim's SAP Arena is not only the home of the German ice hockey record champions the Adler Mannheim, but also the well-known handball team, the Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Since 2014, Mannheim has been a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and holds the title of "UNESCO City of Music". Mannheim is a smart city; the city's electrical grid is installed with a power-line communication network.The city's tourism slogan is "Leben. Im Quadrat." (Life. In the Square.) The civic symbol of Mannheim is der Wasserturm (the Watertower), a Romanesque water tower completed in 1886 that rises to 60 metres (200 feet) above the highest point of the art nouveau area Friedrichsplatz. Mannheim is the starting and finishing point of the Bertha Benz Memorial Route.

Source: Wikipedia