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Speyer

Coordinates: 49°19′10″N 8°25′52″E / 49.31944°N 8.43111°E / 49.31944; 8.43111
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For other uses, see Speyer (disambiguation).

Speyer
Schbaija (Palatine German)
Town
Speyer medieval centre
Medieval centre
Gedaechtniskirche
Gedächtniskirche
Old Gate (Speyer)
Old Gate
Speyer Cathedral
Speyer Cathedral
Old town skyline
Old town skyline
Flag of Speyer
Flag
Coat of arms of Speyer
Coat of arms
Location of Speyer
Map
Speyer is located in Germany
Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is located in Rhineland-Palatinate
Speyer
Speyer
Coordinates: 49°19′10″N 8°25′52″E / 49.31944°N 8.43111°E / 49.31944; 8.43111
CountryGermany
StateRhineland-Palatinate
DistrictUrban district
Subdivisions4 Stadtteile
Government
 • Lord mayor (2018–26) Stefanie Seiler[1] (SPD)
Area
 • Total42.58 km2 (16.44 sq mi)
Elevation
92 m (302 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[2]
 • Total51,368
 • Density1,200/km2 (3,100/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
67346
Dialling codes06232
Vehicle registrationSP
Websitespeyer.de

Speyer (German: [ˈʃpaɪɐ] ⓘ, older spelling Speier; Palatine German: Schbaija; French: Spire), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Federal Republic of 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 ancient Romans as an fortified town on the northeast frontiers of their Roman Empire, 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 Medieval / Middle Ages, Speyer and its Jewish courtyard was inscribed on the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage List in 2021.[3]

History

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Main article: History of Speyer
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

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  • In 10 BC, the first Roman military camp is established (situated between the town hall and the episcopal palace), guarding the northeast frontier of the Roman Empire against Germanic barbarian tribes across the river to the east in Germania
  • In AD 150, the town appears as Noviomagus on the world map of the Greek geographer Ptolemy.
  • In 346, a Western Christian / Roman Catholic 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 of the Holy Roman Empire 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 on their journey in the First Crusade (also known as the People's Crusade) to the Muslim-occupied Holy Land, rages across the Rhineland slaughtering innocent Jewish communities in the Rhineland massacres. 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 Roman Catholic 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 persecution pogrom.
  • Between 1527 and 1689, Speyer is the seat of the Imperial Chamber Court.[5]
  • During the 16th century Protestant Reformation era in 1526, at the first Diet of Speyer (1526) interim toleration of Lutheran teaching and worship is decreed by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
  • In 1529, at the second Diet of Speyer (1529) the Evangelical Lutheran states and supporting princes / electors of the Holy Roman Empire protest against the anti-Reformation resolutions (19 April 1529 Protestation at Speyer, hence the beginnings of the use of the descriptive term "Protestantism" / "Protestants").
  • 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 invading Royal French troops.
  • Between 1792 and 1814, Speyer during the long period of the French Revolutionary Wars and subsequent Napoleonic Wars is under French occupation and jurisdiction under the First French Republic and following First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte (Emperor Napoleon I), continuing earlier during the 18th century, by Royal French troops of the Kingdom of France, after the Battle of Speyerbach, a century before in 1703 during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714).
  • In 1816, (following the fall of Napoleon), Speyer becomes the seat of administration of the Palatinate and of the government of the Rhine District of the Kingdom of Bavaria (later called the Bavarian Palatinate), and remains so for 129 years until the end of World War II in 1945.
  • 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 at the Diet of Speyer
  • In 1947, during post-World War II western Allied Powers-occupied Germany, the State Academy of Administrative Science is founded (later renamed German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer[6]).
  • In 1990, Speyer celebrates its 2000th anniversary, on the eve of a reunified Federal Republic of Germany, following the ebbing close of the Cold War.

Main sights

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

Transportation

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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

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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

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See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Speyer is twinned with:[9]


Notable people

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Born before 1900

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Carl Jakob Adolf Christian Gerhardt
Wilhelm Meyer around 1895
Anselm Feuerbach Self-portrait 1873
Hermann Detzner, 1921

Born after 1900 (20th century)

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Wahl der Oberbürgermeister der kreisfreien Städte, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 30 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Bevölkerungsstand 2022, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 2023.
  3. ^ "ShUM Sites of Speyer, Worms and Mainz". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  4. ^ Simon Schama, The History of the Jews, Vintage Books 2014 p.298
  5. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Spires" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 694.
  6. ^ German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer
  7. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "ShUM Sites of Speyer, Worms and Mainz". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  8. ^ Der Kaiserdom zu Speyer – Startseite
  9. ^ "Städtepartnerschaften". speyer.de (in German). Speyer. Retrieved 28 November 2019.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Speyer.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Speyer.
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