The National Theatre Mannheim was founded in 1779 and is the oldest "Stage" in Germany. In 1782 the premier of Die R�uber, written by Friedrich Schiller, was shown.
Karl Drais built the first two-wheeled draisine in 1817.
� Karl Benz' first car appeared on the streets of Mannheim in 1886. At his workshop in Mannheim he produced a lightweight three-wheeled vehicle powered by a single cylinder petrol/gasoline-fueled engine, first shown in public around 1886. This powered tricycle subsequently came to be widely regarded as the first automobile/motor car powered by an internal-combustion engine. Karl's wife Bertha Benz undertook the world�s first road trip by automobile from Mannheim to Pforzheim in August 1888.
� The Lanz Bulldog, a popular tractor with a rugged, simple Diesel engine was introduced in 1921.
� Julius Hatry built the world's first rocket plane in 1929.
There are two nationally renowned football clubs in Mannheim, SV Waldhof Mannheim 07, who are currently playing in the 4th tier Regionalliga S�d, but who have played in the top tier, the Fu�ball-Bundesliga; and VfR Mannheim, winner of the German championship in 1949, now playing in the 5th tier Oberliga Baden-W�rttemberg.
The Adler Mannheim (formerly MERC, Mannheimer Eis- und Rollsport-Club) are an ice hockey team playing in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga, having won the championship a total of six times.
The city is home to the Mannheim Tornados, the oldest operational baseball and softball club in Germany. The Tornados play in the first division of the Baseball Bundesliga and have won the championship 11 times, more than any other club.
The Rhein-Neckar-Loewen (Rhine-Neckar-Lions) is a handball team (formerly SG Kronau-Oestringen) playing in the professional German Handball League.
The WWE visited Mannheim in
