From May 18 to 25, 2013, Mannheim will be a hive of activity. The international German Gymnastic Festival IDT („Internationales Deutsches Turnfest“) will attract a mass of sport enthusiasts throughout the local Rhine Neckar region. Mayor for Education and Sport Dr. Ulrike Freundlieb held discussions with both IDT organisation committee’s director Heinrich Clausen and Daniel Sautter, director of the Regional Sport Association, on this major event and its importance for Mannheim.

Mannheim is creating an ever wider international network. Contacts in Spain are currently being intensified. Lord Mayor Dr. Peter Kurz used a private visit to Barcelona as an opportunity to meet its Mayor for Culture, Innovation and Creativity, Jaume Ciurana i Llevadot and Carles Sala i Marzal, head of its cultural office (Barcelona Capital – Institut de Cultura).