Place in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Speyer (German:
[ˈʃpaɪɐ]
ⓘ , older spelling Speier ;
Palatine German : Schbaija ;
French : Spire ), historically known in English as Spires , is a city in
Rhineland-Palatinate in
Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river
Rhine , Speyer lies 25 km (16 miles) south of
Ludwigshafen and
Mannheim , and 21 km (13 miles) south-west of
Heidelberg . Founded by the
Romans , it is one of Germany's oldest cities.
Speyer Cathedral , a number of other churches, and the Altpörtel ("old gate") dominate the Speyer landscape. 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 . One of the
ShUM-cities which formed the cultural center of Jewish life in Europe during the Middle Ages, Speyer and its
Jewish courtyard was inscribed on the UNESCO
World Heritage List in 2021.
[3]
History
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.
[4]
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 in a pogrom.
Between 1527 and 1689, Speyer is the seat of the
Imperial Chamber Court .
[5]
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.
In 1861, Albert Edward was introduced to Alexandra by Crown Princess Victoria.
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
[6] ).
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
Transportation
Speyer lies on the
Schifferstadt-Wörth railway and offers hourly connections to
Mannheim and
Karlsruhe .
Speyer Airfield (German: Flugplatz Speyer) (
ICAO : EDRY) is a
general aviation
airfield located 4 km south of the
central business district of the city of Speyer.
Mayors
Since 1923 the mayor was a Lord Mayor.
[8]
Philipp Lichtenberger (1855–1918) (1904–1911)
Ernst Hertrich (1911–1914) (first full-time mayor)
Otto Moericke (1880–1965) (1917–1919)
Karl Leiling (1919–1943)
Rudolf Trampler (1898–1974) (1943–1945)
Karl Leiling (1945–1946)
Hans Hettinger (1946)
Paul Schaefer (1946–1949)
Paulus Skopp (1905–1999) (1949–1969)
Christian Roßkopf (born 1930) (1969–1995)
Werner Schineller (born 1948) (1995–2010)
Hansjörg Eger (born 1964) (2011–2018)
Stefanie Seiler (born 1983) (since 2018)
Twin towns – sister cities
Speyer is
twinned with:
[9]
Spalding , United Kingdom, since 1956; discontinued 2021
Chartres , France, since 1959
Kursk , Russia, since 1989
Ravenna , Italy, since 1989
Gniezno , Poland, since 1992
Yavne , Israel, since 1998
Rusizi District , Rwanda, since 1982/2001
Ningde , China, since 2013
Chichester , United Kingdom, since 2023
Notable people
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
Georg von Speyer (1500–1540), conquistador
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
Margarete Freudenthal-Sallis (ca.1893-1984), German-Jewish sociologist of the changing role of women in home economics
George Waldbott (1898–1982), German-American physician
Born after 1900
George John Dasch (1903–1992), WWII spy who foiled terrorist attacks in the U.S. by Nazi Germany
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
Karl Hochreither (1933–2018), German organist and musicologist
Volker Straus (1936–2002) German
tonmeister
Jürgen Brecht (born 1940), fencer
Wolf Frobenius (1940–2011), musicologist
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
Notes
^
Wahl der Oberbürgermeister der kreisfreien Städte , Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 30 July 2021.
^
"Bevölkerungsstand 2022, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden" (PDF) (in German).
Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz . 2023.
^
"ShUM Sites of Speyer, Worms and Mainz" . UNESCO World Heritage Centre . United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 8 October 2022 .
^ Simon Schama, The History of the Jews, Vintage Books 2014 p.298
^
Chisholm, Hugh , ed. (1911).
"Spires" .
Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 694.
^
German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer
^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage.
"ShUM Sites of Speyer, Worms and Mainz" . UNESCO World Heritage Centre . Retrieved 2022-04-14 .
^
Der Kaiserdom zu Speyer – Startseite
^
"Städtepartnerschaften" . speyer.de (in German). Speyer. Retrieved 2019-11-28 .
Further reading
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Speyer .
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for
Speyer .
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