Main roads and byways

Until 1684, Mannheim had street names like any other city. When the unusual numbering system was introduced, the inhabitants of Mannheim still stuck to the old street names. This first numbering was different from today’s: For example, today’s square P 1 was square XXXI, today’s square E 1 was square XXXII. The Friedrichsburg, which extended from the castle to the Mannheim Planken, was an exception to this numbering. When this area was incorporated into the city in the 18^th century, the numbering also changed. The division into squares remained even after the destruction by the French in 1689 and the reconstruction. After the re-survey in the 1730s, the squares were designated with letters for the first time. In 1798, the city was rezoned and the blocks of flats were designated with the letters of the alphabet (initially from A to Z; today from A to U). The current counting of squares with letters and numbers was introduced in 1811.

Street names with numbers

Students of computer science in their first semester would probably roll up their sleeves and start programming when faced with the task of separating a house number from a street. Unfortunately, the task is somewhat more tricky than it seems at first glance. Besides all sorts of house number additions and house number ranges, there are streets that contain digits themselves. Here are some examples:

• »Straße des 17. Juni“ in Berlin
• »III Querstr. in Weissach
• Straße 133 in Berlin (then e.g. Straße 133 25, 13055 Berlin)
• 91 Street in Oldenburg
• An den 6 Bäumchen in Siegburg
• Posten 19 Weg in Hattersheim

With »TOLERANT Post« you can also process such addresses with confidence.

Large recipient addresses

Streets and post boxes are generally known. However, there is a third type of address in Germany: the large recipient address. With these addresses, postcodes are assigned directly to organisations and there are no other delivery features apart from the city. In addition to postcode and city, the name of the organisation is also relevant for checking large recipient addresses. »TOLERANT Post« of course knows the large recipients and can check and standardise them for you.

Funny street and city names

Our programmes can do a lot, but not everything. For example, we are still working on determining which are the funniest place and street names in Germany based on user laughter volume and duration. At the top of the list:

• »Beamtenlaufbahn« as a street name – in Norderstedt and Kiel
• »Faulebutter« is a street in Lennestedt in Sauerland
• »Sommerloch« is the name of a small town near Bad Kreuznach
• »Billigheim« is the name of a place near Heilbronn
• The »Nordpol« is in Ovelgönne near Wilhelmshaven
• »Sorge« and »Elend« are two small places in the Harz Mountains
• »Grab« is a village in the Swabian Forest
• »Killer« is a village in the Swabian Mountains