Speyer Cathedral
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Speyer Cathedral* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
 |
|
| State Party |  Germany |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii |
| Reference | 168 |
| Region† | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1981 (5th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
|
The Speyer Cathedral is a very large and imposing basilica of red sandstone in Speyer, Germany.Its official name is Mariendom (Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Steven), but more often called Kaiserdom zu Speyer (Imperial Cathedral of Speyer).[1] With the Abbey of Cluny in ruins, the Speyer Cathedral remains the largest Romanesque church. In 1981, the cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally important sites.[2]
Contents |
[edit] History
It was built at the instigation of emperor Conrad II in 1030–1061 choosing it as his last resting place. Later on, it also held the honour for serving as the burial site of 7 more German emperors, kings as well as some of their wives and a number of bishops. The graves of the emperors and kings were originally placed in the central aisle in front of the altar. In the course of the centuries knowledge of the exact location was lost. In a big excavation campaign in 1900 the graves were discovered and opened. Some of the contents, e. g. clothing, can be seen at the Historical Museum of the Palatinate near the cathedral. The restored coffins of the emperors and kings and some of their wives were relocated into a newly constructed crypt open to the public under the main altar in 1906.
The emperors and kings resting in the Speyer Cathedral are:
- Conrad II (died 1039) and his wife Gisela († 1043)
- Henry III (died 1056), Son of Conrad II.
- Henry IV (died 1106), Son of Henry III, and his wife Bertha (died 1087)
- Henry V (died 1125), Son of Henry IV.
- Beatrice I (died 1184), second wife of Frederick Barbarossa and their daughter Agnes
- King Philipp of Swabia († 1208), son of Frederick Barbarossa
- King Rudolph of Habsburg (died 1291)
- King Adolph of Nassau (died 1298)
- King Albert of Austria (died 1308), Son of Rudolph of Habsburg
Like other cathedrals built at the instigation of emperors around that time in Germany, e.g. Worms, Mainz, it acquired the name Kaiserdom (Imperial Cathedral).
[edit] Chequered history
The Speyer Cathedral has a chequered history, its disasters culminating in 1689, when the soldiers of Louis XIV burned it to the bare walls.[3] Restored in 1772–1784 and provided with a vestibule and façade, it was again desecrated by the French in 1794; but in 1846–1853 it was once more thoroughly restored and adorned in the interior with frescoes at the expense of King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
[edit] The building and its inclusions
The building has preserved its original style making it one of the noblest examples of pure and clear Romanesque architecture, which is now extinct. A distinctive feature is the colonnaded gallery that goes around the entire building, just below the roofline. The imposing triple-aisled vaulted basilica is the culmination of a design which was extremely influential in the subsequent development of Romanesque architecture during the 11th and 12th centuries. The cathedral’s hallmarks are the balanced distribution of its east and west ends and the symmetrical arrangement of four towers at the corners of the body of the structure formed by the nave and transept.
The large cathedral bowl (Domnapf) in front of the west facade formerly marked the boundary between the episcopal and municipal territories. Each new bishop on his election had to fill the bowl with wine, while the burghers emptied it to his health.
The sculpture of The Mount of Olives is located in the south garden, and used to be at the centre of the cloister joined to the southern wall of the cathedral. The Speyer sculptor, Gottfried Renn created the present group of figures in the 19th century, since the original sculpture from the 15th century was destroyed. The outline of the former cloister can be seen as pavement around the Mount of Olives.
[edit] Dimensions
- Total length: 134 m (from the steps at the entrance to the exterior wall of the east apse)
- Width of the nave: 37.62 m (from exterior wall to exterior wall)
- Height of the nave at the vertex of the vaults: 33 m
- Height of the eastern spires: 71.20 m
- Height of the western spires: 65.60 m
- Crypt Length: east-west 35 m; north-south 46 m Height: between 6.2 m and 6.5 m
[edit] References
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] Notes
- ^ speyer.de | Speyer Cathedral. Information from home page. Retrieved 5 December 2006. (English)
- ^ Welterbestätten Deutschland (UNESCO World Heritage Germany) Speyer Cathedral. Retrieved 5 December 2006. (English)
- ^ Dombauverein Speyer. Retrieved 5 December 2006. (English)
[edit] External links
- Dombauverein Speyer - Cathedral Building Association site (English)
- Speyer.de - description and tourism information (English)
- Official site - full of pictures and information (German)
