Ludwigshafen am Rhein [key] or Ludwigshafen, city (1994 pop. 168,130), Rhineland Palatinate, W Germany, a port on the left bank of the Rhine River. It is connected by bridge with Mannheim, on the opposite shore of the Rhine. The city is a major transshipment point and is a leading center of the German chemical industry. Machinery and motor vehicles are also produced there. Founded as a small fortress in the 17th cent., Ludwigshafen was named and developed by King Louis I of Bavaria in the mid-19th cent. It was badly damaged in World War II and was the scene (1948) of a disastrous explosion of several chemical plants. The city has since been rebuilt.
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