Its history can be dated back to the establishment of one of its predecessor institutions – the Kurpfälzische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Palatine Academy of Sciences) in Mannheim Palace, which was founded by Elector Carl Theodor in 1763.

It conducted teaching and research in business administration, economics, pedagogy, psychology, law, languages and the humanities.

Otto Selz, a German philosopher and psychologist with a Jewish background, who had been a professor at the Handelshochschule since 1923 and its rector in 1929/30, was discharged on 6 April 1933 – following the Badischen Judenerlass administered by NSDAP politician Robert Heinrich Wagner, a waiver designed to ban Jewish academics from German universities.

In 1943, Selz was executed in Auschwitz concentration camp;[7] only 3 of the 14 Jewish docents at Mannheim's Handelshochschule survived the Holocaust.

With the transfer of all institutes, inventory and staff to Heidelberg University the merging process was completed, the "Jews released" and the Handelshochschule closed.

[8] From December 1940 until the end of World War II, Mannheim was heavily bombed and saw more than 150 air raids.

[10] In 1944, the Mannheim Palace was almost entirely destroyed, leaving only one room undamaged out of over 500; only its external walls survived.

It depicts the Mannheim Palace on top and the square-based outlay of Mannheim's downtown below; surrounded by In Omnibus Veritas, the university's official motto in a shortened version, which is based on a line in the constitution of Carl Theodor's Palatine Academy of Sciences: In Omnibus Veritas Suprema Lex Esto, translated as "Truth in everything should be the supreme law".

[12] In 2008, the rectorate passed a reform to strengthen the core disciplines of the University of Mannheim, that is the economic and social sciences.

[18] In 2007, a palace museum was opened in the central part of the building displaying the reconstructed historical halls and rooms of Elector Carl Theodor, who resided there from 1742 until 1777.

[19] In 2017, the university opened a new research and teaching building on square B6[20] and the Study and Conference Center of the Mannheim Business School behind the palace's West Wing.

The main task of the rectorate as executive body is to implement the strategic aims concluded by the University Council (Universitätsrat).

[26] Excluded from this rule are non-EU citizens who since 2017 have had to pay a tuition fee of 1,500 Euro per semester according to state law.

[35] The Times Higher Education 2023 rankings for Business and Economics placed the institution 41st globally and 2nd nationally.

][38][39][40] In 2008, the Business School was the first German institution to receive the "Triple Crown", that is accreditations by the world's three largest business school accreditation associations AMBA (UK), AACSB International (USA) und EQUIS (Belgium).

[52] Founded in 2016, Q-Summit is the biggest German innovation and entrepreneurship conference solely organized by students.

The science events include live experiments and academic speeches regarding specific subjects, while the arts events include art exhibitions, workshops, dance acts, museum guides as well as guides through the old, non-public areas within the Mannheim Palace.

During the event the Schneckenhof is decorated in Norwegian themes and offers traditional beverages and food from Norway.

[63] Another famous party is the "BWLer Fete" hosted by the Fachschaft BWL (Student Council of Business Administration) once each academic term.

"[65] Alumni and faculty of the University of Mannheim include many founders and businessmen as well as a large number of economists, philosophers, jurisprudents and social scientists.

In business, Mannheim alumni and faculty notably include; Stefan Lippe, CEO of Swiss Re; Claus E. Heinrich, board member of SAP;[66] Henning Kagermann, former CEO of SAP; Claus Wellenreuther, co-founder of SAP; Jens Weidmann, economist and President of the Deutsche Bundesbank; Hans-Peter Wild, CEO of Rudolf Wild & Co.;[67] Bruno Sälzer, CEO of Hugo Boss, CEO of Escada, Gitanas Nausėda, economist and President of Lithuania; Alumni and faculty in the field of economics include; the President of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research Hans-Werner Sinn,[68] the President of the ZEW Clemens Fuest,[69] the President of the RWI Essen Christoph M. Schmidt,[70] economists Axel Dreher,[71] Isabel Schnabel[72] and Horst Siebert,[73] as well as the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Roman Inderst[74] and Knut Borchardt.

Alumni and faculty in the field of computer science include; the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Joachim Weickert[75] , as well as Hans Meuer, chairman of the International Supercomputing Conference.