Editing Mannheim (section)

===World War II===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1971-053-59, Mannheim, US-Truppen im Straßenkampf.jpg|thumb|US troops in street fighting in Mannheim, 1945]]

During [[World War II]], [[Bombing of Mannheim in World War II|air raids on Mannheim]] completely destroyed the city centre. Mannheim was heavily damaged during [[strategic bombing|aerial bombing]] by the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) and the [[United States Army Air Forces]] (USAAF). Allied bombing raids razed the city centre of Mannheim at night-time [[area bombing]], killing thousands of civilians. In the meantime, 2,262 of Mannheim's Jews were sent to [[Nazi concentration camps]]. Some sources state that the first deliberate [[strategic bombing]] of the war occurred at Mannheim during a [[Royal Air Force]] night raid on 16 December 1940.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8J2-kzMxbKYC&q=%22Germany+and+the+Second+World+War%22+%22deliberate+terror%22+Mannheim&pg=PA507 |title=Germany and the Second World War |date= 15 November 2001|access-date=7 April 2011|isbn=978-0-19-822888-2|last1=Boog |first1=Horst |last2=Rahn |first2=Werner |last3=Stumpf |first3=Reinhard |last4=Wegner |first4=Bernd |publisher=OUP Oxford }}</ref> Today around one third of the city consists of buildings from before 1950.<ref>https://zensus2011.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Publikationen/Aufsaetze_Archiv/2015_12_NI_GWZ_endgueltig.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4 {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>

In late March 1945, the Allied ground advance into Germany reached Mannheim, which was potentially well-defended by German forces. However, the German forces abandoned the city and the [[44th Infantry Division (United States)|U.S. 44th Infantry Division]] entered unopposed on 29 March 1945.<ref>Stanton, Shelby, ''World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946'' (Revised Edition, 2006), Stackpole Books.</ref> There was later a large American military occupation presence in the Mannheim area with up to 10 barracks. The first one shut down in 2007 and the last was closed in 2013 (see ''United States military installations'' below).