[1] Schönau lies between the A 6 in the north, the marshalling yard of the Mannheim–Frankfurt railway line in the east and Frankenthaler Straße in the southwest.

In the west lies Sandhofen, in the north Blumenau, in the east the Käfertaler Wald (forest), in the southeast Gartenstadt and in the south Waldhof.

East of the Riedbahn is the Käfertaler Wald, the largest forest in Mannheim and a popular local recreation area.

The following educational institutions should be mentioned: Johanna-Geissmar-Gymnasium (named after the pediatrician; Gymnasium with the largest accessible area during school breaks in Mannheim),[7] Schönauschule, Hans-Christian-Andersen-Ganztagesgrundschule and Kerschensteinerschule.

[8] According to German weekly news magazine Stern, "Die einzigen, die hier noch richtig Karriere machen, sind Drogendealer und Gangsterrapper" ("The only ones who still make a real career here are drug dealers and gangster rappers").