Speyer

Speyer

Speyer: Maximilianstraße with cathedral in the background

Coat of arms
Speyer
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
Government
 • Lord Mayor Hansjörg Eger (CDU)
Area
 • Total 42.58 km2 (16.44 sq mi)
Elevation 92 m (302 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
 • Total 50,284
 • 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. The first known names were Noviomagus and Civitas Nemetum, after the Teutonic tribe, Nemetes, settled in the area. Around AD 500 the name Spira first appeared in written documents and, as well as the French, this is still reflected in the names Spira and Espira used in Italian and Spanish. The city's name may be the origin of the Ashkenazi Jewish name, Shapiro, and its variants.

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

Imperial Town of Speyer
Reichsstadt Speyer
Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
1294–1792
Capital Speyer
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

Timeline

Main sights

Mayors

Since 1923 the mayor was a Lord Mayor.[2]

  • 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) (since 2011)

Twin towns – sister cities

Speyer is twinned with:[3]

Notable natives

Born before 1900

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

Born after 1900

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Gemeinden in Deutschland mit Bevölkerung am 31. Dezember 2015" (PDF). Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). 2016.
  2. ↑ Der Kaiserdom zu Speyer – Startseite
  3. ↑ "Städtepartnerschaften" (official web site) (in German). Stadt Speyer. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  4. ↑ "International collaboration". gmiezno.eu. Gniezno. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Ningde (China)" (official web site) (in German). Stadt Speyer. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
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