Speyer Cathedral

Under no circumstances should you pass through Speyer without taking a look at the cathedral! It is the largest surviving Romanesque church in the world. It has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1981. In addition to the actual visit to the cathedral, a visit to the crypt is always recommended. Also worth seeing: the cathedral bowl outside the church. This is often filled with wine for celebrations.

Speyer is a city on the Upper Rhine. As a Roman foundation, then called Noviomagus or Civitas Nemetum (capital of the tribe of the Nemeter), it is one of the oldest cities in Germany and was as Spira to 600 center of Speyergau. In the Middle Ages Speyer was one of the most important cities of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation as a free imperial city. Between 1816 and 1945, the seat of the Bavarian administration of the Palatinate, Speyer today belongs to the state of Rhineland-Palatinate as an independent city and has 50,284 inhabitants (as of 2015).

Speyer is well known for its imperial and royal domes. It is the world's largest surviving Romanesque church and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981.

Speyer Cathedral looks back on almost 1,000 years of history. In 1025, the Salian king Konrad II personally laid the foundation stone with the aim of building the largest church in the West. He himself did not live to see the completion of the construction work. Only 40 years later, when his grandson Heinrich IV was already king, was the cathedral inaugurated. In the following centuries, the cathedral was expanded and enlarged again and again.

In the Palatinate War of Succession, French troops finally occupied Speyer. They had orders to burn down the city - except for the cathedral. However, the church building could not be completely protected from the flames and the cathedral was badly damaged. Restoration work only began in the 18th century. The original Romanesque building was supplemented with Baroque elements, which were dismantled during subsequent works in the 19th century and replaced by neo-Romanesque extensions. It has only been since the 1960s that attempts have been made to fully restore the original Romanesque form.

A visit to the cathedral is also worthwhile for non-religious people, because it also gives you a glimpse into the history of Speyer and the building history of the churches of the West.