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.