as the respective federal highways. Connection to Frankfurt International Airport takes 31 minutes by ICE train from Mannheim Hbf. In addition, domestic business air travel is served by Mannheim City Airport with an own local airline (Rhein-Neckar Air) and a second regional airport in Speyer. Travelling by rail also provides direct access to national major cities as well as European capitals. With around 240 long-distance departures daily at the central station, Mannheim is the second largest ICE terminal in Germany and connects the region to the European long-distance rail network. The Rhine-Neckar public transport system (VRN), with the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn as its backbone, provides infrastructure and connects to neighbouring regions. The Mannheim/Ludwigshafen harbor complex has the second-largest railway yard in Germany together with one of the largest inland ports in Europe and is a central hub for the European handling of goods. The Mannheim railway yard dispatches up to 5,300 freight cars daily. Education The region has a long history when it comes to the pursuit of scientific discovery as does Rhine-Neckar. In 1386, the University of Heidelberg was founded as Germany’s first university and remains one of the most prestigious universities in Germany. Around 94,000 students are enrolled at the region’s institutes of higher education, roughly one in ten of whom are international students. The 22 institutes of higher education in the Rhine-Neckar Region come together with a wide range of well-known research institutions such as the European Molecular Biology Laboratory or the German Cancer Research Center to form a creative environment for innovative technologies. In the conurbation of Mannheim/Heidelberg/Ludwigshafen, more than twice as many experts work in research than the German average. Cities and districts Baden-Württemberg Mannheim (324,787 inhabitants) Heidelberg (145,642 inhabitants) Rhein-Neckar-Kreis (531,723 inhabitants, including Sinsheim, Walldorf and Weinheim) Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis (151,043 inhabitants) Hesse Kreis Bergstraße (265,868 inhabitants, including Bensheim and Heppenheim) Rhineland-Palatinate Ludwigshafen (163,002 inhabitants) Frankenthal (Pfalz) (47,534 inhabitants) Landau in der Pfalz (41,687 inhabitants) Neustadt an der Weinstraße (53,898 inhabitants) Speyer (50,280 inhabitants) Worms (80,955 inhabitants) Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis (148,428 inhabitants) Landkreis Bad Dürkheim (134,869 inhabitants) Landkreis Germersheim (124,894 inhabitants) Landkreis Südliche Weinstraße (110,658 inhabitants) Culture and nature The Rhine-Neckar Region has more than 80 theatres, more than 200 museums and galleries. Three World Heritage Sites – Lorsch Abbey, frontiers of the Roman Empire, and the Speyer Cathedral – and more than 200 castles, cathedrals and palaces dot the history-steeped landscape, including world-famous historical sites such as Heidelberg