Merger of the Heidelberg and Mannheim University Hospitals Launched
Science Minister Olschowski: A medical flagship model that will raise teaching, research and care to a new level of quality
A medical flagship model that will raise teaching, research and care to a new level of quality and will be widely noted internationally: With these words, Petra Olschowski, Baden-Württemberg’s science minister, expressed appreciation of the merger that the two university hospitals in Heidelberg and Mannheim have now set in motion. On 12 January 2026, the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg University Hospital, the City of Mannheim and University Hospital Mannheim marked the incipient merger at a ceremony on the Heidelberg Medical Campus. Prior to that, representatives of the participating institutions had symbolically signed and sealed the contracts settling the merger of the two hospitals during a joint train journey from Mannheim to Heidelberg.
At the beginning of the year, Heidelberg University Hospital (a public-law institution) took over the majority of the company shares of University Hospital Mannheim (a limited liability company) from the City of Mannheim. The merger gives rise to a maximum-care university institution that stands out Germany-wide and will become one of the largest university hospitals in Europe. Together with Heidelberg University and its two Medical Faculties in Heidelberg and Mannheim, as well as the Health + Life Science Alliance Heidelberg Mannheim, the hospital merger will give a further boost to the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region as an outstanding health and medicine location. As of 1 January 2026, Prof. Dr Hanns-Peter Knaebel has been directing the merger as chair of the now six-person Executive Board of Heidelberg University Hospital. Prof. Knaebel will steer the strategic course of the two hospitals and drive forward their integration.
“It is our goal – together with the University of Excellence Heidelberg and the non-university research institutions in Heidelberg and Mannheim – to create an innovation location for medicine and life sciences that is one-of-a-kind in the world,” underlined Prof. Knaebel. Minister Olschowski recalled the “arduous years of negotiations” that had preceded the realization of the hospital merger. She was proud of what had been achieved, she said, extending her thanks to all those involved at the two university hospitals, Heidelberg University and the City of Mannheim, and especially to the employees as well, who represent “the preeminent strength of the two locations” in Heidelberg and Mannheim. Furthermore, she added: “Together the merger will train the urgently needed doctors of the future to the highest standards and enable collaborative work towards earlier and better detection of common diseases like cancer and cardiovascular conditions, and so enable more effective treatment. We will all benefit from that.”
The university hospitals in Heidelberg and Mannheim comprise 90 specialist clinics with around 2,800 beds. They care for over 100,000 patients per year in-house and just under 1.5 million people receive out-patient treatment. In the merger the specialist medical departments will complement one another, thus broadening the range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and enhancing the quality of patient care. Teaching and research will also benefit from this profile sharpening. The amalgamation of the two Medical Faculties of Heidelberg University is planned for 2027. They aim to make scientific findings accessible to hospital practice faster than in the past through cooperation between university-based and non-university research institutions, as well as with industry.
Prof. Dr Frauke Melchior, Rector of Heidelberg University, stated: “As a University of Excellence with medical faculties, we ensure first-rate training for up-and-coming physicians, generate groundbreaking results in patient-oriented research, and contribute through translation and transfer to successful treatments and added value in the health sector. Our international outreach is fueled by systematically fostered cooperation between the faculties, between our university and its two university hospitals and our strong non-university partners. Founding the hospital merger and the subsequent amalgamation of the Heidelberg and Mannheim Medical Faculties constitutes a milestone on our path towards becoming one of the best locations in Europe.”
The ceremony following the symbolic signing of the contracts sealing the merger between the two university hospitals took placein the lecture theater of the Head Clinic. Around 400 guests from the worlds of politics and healthcare, along with sponsors and staff from the two university hospitals, were invited to the event.
