A car driven into a crowd in the German city of Mannheim on Monday killed one person and injured several, police said, adding that one person had been arrested.

"We can now confirm that a car was driven into a pedestrian zone and that one person was killed," said police spokesman Stefan Wilhelm, adding that several people were injured.

"We can confirm that one suspect was arrested," he said, adding that "the investigation is continuing".

Wilhelm said residents had been urged "to avoid the inner city area" after the emergency sparked a large-scale police operation.

Police with heavy weapons cordoned off the area and police helicopters were seen in the air.

A reporter for news channel NTV reported that "at least one person is lying covered under a tarpaulin".

Germany has in recent months suffered a spate of violent attacks.

Last month a man drove a car into a trade union demonstration in the southern city of Munich, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother.

In December a car-ramming attack targeted a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing six people and wounding hundreds.

Mannheim itself was the scene of a stabbing attack at an anti-Islam rally last May in which a policeman was killed and five others were wounded. (AFP)