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Speyer
Speyer: Maximilianstraße with cathedral in the background
Coat of arms
Location of Speyer
Speyer Show map of Germany Speyer Show map of Rhineland-Palatinate
Coordinates: 49°19′10″N 8°25′52″E / 49.31944°N 8.43111°E / 49.31944; 8.43111Coordinates: 49°19′10″N 8°25′52″E / 49.31944°N 8.43111°E / 49.31944; 8.43111
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Urban district
Subdivisions	4 Stadtteile
Government
• Lord Mayor	Stefanie Seiler (SPD)
Area [1]
• Total	42.71 km2 (16.49 sq mi)
Elevation	92 m (302 ft)
Population (2017-12-31)[2]
• Total	50,931
• Density	1,200/km2 (3,100/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	67346
Dialling codes	06232
Vehicle registration	SP
Website	www.speyer.de

Speyer (German pronunciation: [ˈʃpaɪ̯ɐ], older spelling Speier, known as Spire in French and formerly as Spires in English) is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km (16 miles) south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities.
Speyer is dominated by the Speyer Cathedral, a number of churches and the Altpörtel (old gate). In the cathedral, beneath the high altar, are the tombs of eight Holy Roman Emperors and German kings.

The city is famous for the 1529 Protestation at Speyer.

History

Free Imperial City of Speyer Reichsstadt Speyer
1294–1792
Status	Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
Capital	Speyer
Common languages	Palatine German
Government	Republic
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Founded	ca 10 BC
• Gained Reichsfreiheit	1294
• Speyer Diet confirms Edict of Worms	19 April 1529
• Protestation at Speyer	20 April 1529
• Town razed by France	1688
• Annexed by France	1792
• Annexed to Bavaria	1816 1792
• Rhenish Palatinate merged into Rheinland-Pfalz	10 August 1946
Preceded by Succeeded by Bishopric of Speyer Mont-Tonnerre

Main street in Speyer with the Speyer Cathedral in the background

The first known names were Noviomagus and Civitas Nemetum, after the Teutonic tribe, Nemetes, settled in the area. The name Spira is first recorded in the 7th century, taken from villa Spira, a Frankish settlement situated outside of Civitas Nemetum.

Timeline

• In 10 BC, the first Roman military camp is established (situated between the town hall and the episcopal palace).


• In AD 150, the town appears as Noviomagus on the world map of the Greek geographer Ptolemy.


• In 346, a bishop for the town is mentioned for the first time.


• 4th century, Civitas Nemetum appears on the Peutinger Map.


• 5th century, Civitas Nemetum is destroyed.


• 7th century, the town is re-established, and named Spira after a nearby Frankish settlement.


• In 1030, emperor Conrad II starts the construction of Speyer Cathedral, today one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Also in the 11th century, the first city wall is built.


• In 1076, emperor Henry IV embarks from Speyer, his favourite town, for Canossa.


• In 1084, establishment of the first Jewish community in Speyer.


• In 1096, as Count Emicho's Crusader army rages across the Rhineland slaughtering Jewish communities, Speyer's Bishop John, with the local leader Yekutiel ben Moses, manages to secure the community's members inside the episcopal palace and later leads them to even stronger fortifications outside the town. It was ruled that anyone harming a Jew would have his hands chopped off.^[3]
  


• In 1294, the bishop loses most of his previous rights, and from now on Speyer is a Free Imperial Town of the Holy Roman Empire.


• In 1349, the Jewish community of Speyer is wiped out.


• Between 1527 and 1689, Speyer is the seat of the Imperial Chamber Court.^[4]
  


• In 1526, at the Diet of Speyer (1526) interim toleration of Lutheran teaching and worship is decreed.


• In 1529, at the Diet of Speyer (1529) the Lutheran states of the empire protest against the anti-Reformation resolutions (19 April 1529 Protestation at Speyer, hence the term Protestantism).


• In 1635, Marshal of France Urbain de Maillé-Brézé, together with Jacques Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force, conquers Heidelberg and Speyer at the head of the Army of Germany.


• In 1689, the town is heavily damaged by French troops.


• Between 1792 and 1814, Speyer is under French jurisdiction after the Battle of Speyer.


• In 1816, Speyer becomes the seat of administration of the Palatinate and of the government of the Rhine District of Bavaria (later called the Bavarian Palatinate), and remains so until the end of World War II.


• Between 1883 and 1904, the Memorial Church is built in remembrance of the Protestation of 1529.


• In 1947, the State Academy of Administrative Science is founded (later renamed German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer^[5]).


• In 1990, Speyer celebrates its 2000th anniversary.

Main sights

View of the river Rhine from the top of the Speyer Cathedral

View of Speyer from its cathedral

• Cathedral


• 
  Altpörtel – old town gate


• 
  Gedächtniskirche – memorial church


• 
  Dreifaltigkeitskirche – trinity church


• 
  Jewish courtyard – remnants of medieval synagogue and intact mikve
  


• 
  Technikmuseum Speyer – transportation museum


• Historical Museum of the Palatinate

Transportation

Speyer lies on the Schifferstadt-Wörth railway and offers hourly connections to Mannheim and Karlsruhe.

Mayors

Since 1923 the mayor was a Lord Mayor.^[6]

Twin towns – sister cities

Speyer is twinned with:^[7]

• 
  Spalding, United Kingdom, since 1956


• 
  Chartres, France, since 1959


• 
  Kursk, Russia, since 1989


• 
  Ravenna, Italy, since 1989


• 
  Gniezno, Poland, since 1992^[8]
  


• 
  Yavne, Israel, since 1998


• 
  Rusizi, Rwanda, since 1982/2001


• 
  Ningde, China, since October 2013 together with:


• 
  Worms, Germany, since October 2014^[9]
  

Notable natives

Born before 1900

Carl Jakob Adolf Christian Gerhardt

Wilhelm Meyer around 1895

Anselm Feuerbach Self-portrait 1873

Hermann Detzner, 1921

• 
  Samuel of Speyer (after 1096-death unknown), Exeget of Torah and Midrash


• 
  Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg (1140-1217), scribe and philosopher


• 
  Julian of Speyer (before 1225- ~ 1250), medieval choir master, composer and poet from the Order of the Franciscans


• 
  Gabriel Biel (~ 1415-1495), scholastic philosopher


• 
  Dietrich Gresemund (1477-1512), author


• 
  Egon VIII of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg (1588-1635), Reichsgraf of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg


• 
  Johann Joachim Becher (1635-1682), German physician, alchemist, precursor of chemistry, scholar and adventurer


• 
  Moritz Georg Weidmann (1658-1693), publisher and bookseller


• 
  Adolf von Dalberg (1678-1737), Prince of Fulda


• 
  Simha of Speyer (13th century) German rabbi and tosafist. He was one of the leading signatories of the Takkanot Shum.


• 
  Philipp Hieronymus Brinckmann (1709-1760), landscape and historical painters as well as copper cutters


• 
  Johann Martin Bernatz (1802-1878), landscape painter


• 
  Anselm Feuerbach (1829–1880), German painter


• 
  Carl Jakob Adolf Christian Gerhardt (1832–1902), German physician


• 
  Henry Villard (1835–1900), German-American journalist


• 
  Hermann von Stengel (1837-1919), Bavarian Administrative Officer


• 
  Wilhelm Meyer (philologist) (1845-1917), classical philologist, mediavist and librarian


• 
  Karl Heinrich Emil Becker (1879-1940), general of the artillery, ballist and defense scientist


• 
  Hans Purrmann (1880-1966), painter, graphic artist, art writer and collector


• 
  Hermann Detzner (1882-1970), leader of the German Schutztruppe in German New Guinea
  


• 
  Karl-Adolf Hollidt (1891-1985), Army officer (Generaloberst) and war criminal


• 
  George Waldbott (1898–1982), German-American physician

Born after 1900

• 
  Jakob Brendel (1907-1964), wrestler


• 
  Karl Haas (1913–2005), German-American music educator and radio presenter


• 
  Helmut Bantz (1921-2004), gymnast


• Alfred Cahn (1922-2016), German musician and composer


• Edgar E. Stern (born 1926), clinical social worker and author of The Peppermint Train: Journey to a German-Jewish Childhood
  


• 
  Gabriel Kney (born 1929), Canadian organ builder


• 
  Volker Straus (1936-2002) German tonmeister
  


• 
  Jürgen Brecht (born 1940), fencer


• 
  Gerhard Vollmer (born 1943), physicist and philosopher


• 
  Jürgen Creutzmann (born 1945), politician (FDP)


• 
  Hans-Joachim Lang (born 1951), journalist, Germanist, historian and honorary professor


• 
  Axel Schimpf (born 1952), Vice Admiral of the German Navy


• 
  Eberhard Bosslet (born 1953), artist


• 
  Kay Friedmann (born 1963), footballer


• 
  Markus Kranz (born 1969), football player


• 
  Christoph Bechmann (born 1971), German field-hockey player


• 
  Anke Vondung (born 1972), opera singer


• 
  Ralf Schmitt (born 1977), football player


• 
  Simone Weiler (born 1978), swimmer


• 
  Jochen Kühner (born 1980), rower


• 
  Martin Kühner (born 1980), rower


• 
  Matthias Langkamp (born 1984), football player


• 
  Christian Reif (born 1984), long jumper


• 
  David McCray (born 1986), basketball player


• 
  Florian Krebs (born 1988), football player


• 
  Sebastian Langkamp (born 1988), footballer


• 
  Lars Stindl (born 1988), German footballer


• 
  Elias Harris (born 1989), German international basketball player


• 
  Jonas Marz (born 1989), footballer


• 
  Gianluca Korte (born 1990), footballer


• 
  Raffael Korte (born 1990), footballer

See also

• Technikmuseum Speyer


• German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer


• Speyer line


• History of the Jews in Speyer

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Speyer.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Speyer.

• 
  speyer.de the town website (partly in English)


• 
  museum.speyer.de Historical Museum of the Palatinate (in English)
  


• 
  dom-speyer.de website of Speyer Cathedral (in German)
  


• Model Map of Medieval Speyer


• Speyer, its cathedral and the library of its chapter


• Technical (Transport) Museum


• www.speyer.de: living history in past times


• www.speyer-tour.de: Guided tours through Speyer


• City overview and photos