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Home Page > Travelogues > Germany > Rheinland-Pfalz > Speyer
As I reflect back on my trip to the city of Speyer in
the southern corner of Rheinland-Pfalz, I couldn't help but compare it to the
town of Worms just a half-hour to its north. The
two are eerily s
But the biggest difference between two is that Worms has maintained its embrace of history (especially because of the celebrated chapter of its history courtesy Martin Luther), while Speyer looks like it has just finished construction. So while Worms has an old look (made older by the crappy weather on the day I visited it), Speyer looks fresh and new as the sunny day I went. Unquestionnably, the focus of any visit to Speyer will be on the
Cathedral, shown in the first photo. The Cathedral is massive and
beautiful both inside and out -- although the interior decor is much less
elaborate than you might expect. Having The Speyer Cathedral isn't the only building that has a fresh
look to it. All the buildings lined along Maximilianstrasse, the main
street emanating from it, look brand new. The maypole, shown in the second
photo, is bright and sharp. Some of the nearby attractions are also
recently refurbished, such as the massive Historiches Museum right outside the
Cathedral, and the Stadthaus, which is left of the Cathedral in the first
shot. Finally, Speyer's other churches may not be nearly as glamorous as the Cathedral, but they've also been given a fresh paint job. The Heiliggeistkirche (Holy Ghost Church), next to the Maypole, is a very pretty little chapel. The town is built away from the Rhein, much like Worms (and
probably for the same floody reason), so for the most part the waterfront is
ceded to industry. One exception is the Domgarten, the city's main park
that extends from the Cathedral to the Rhein. This park is very large and
has a couple items of interest. One is the section of the old city wall
directly back of the Cathedral. The other is the But all about Speyer is not only old buildings given fresh looks. Speyer hosts a large Technik Museum that is a partner of a larger Technik museum a half-hour away in Sinsheim. Shown in the fourth photo, this Technik museum specializes in military hardware and aircraft. Included are Russian cargo planes, American and German automobiles, and a German U-boat. Like Sinsheim, visitors are able to climb the interior of most of these aircraft. The Museum also sports two IMAX theaters. Speyer is a beautiful town. Absolutely one of the brightest, most impressive towns in southwest Germany behind the likes of Heidelberg. It's managed to maintain its old-style charm under its fresh coat of paint, and offer plenty for its visitors to see and do. ... Just like Worms. Trip taken 14 October 2002 -- Page last updated 01 September 2006 -- (C) 2002 Tom Galvin Useful Links:
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imilar.
suffered
terribly from war damage, the interior has been completely redone, with brand
new sculptures for the Stations of the Cross, and new frescoes lining the high
walls. The crypt is very, very big, and some portions of it are even used
as meeting rooms! (No, there are no caskets in those rooms. Trust
me.)
the
Altpörtal at the end of Maximilianstrasse (third photo), has been given a new
look -- allowing it to appear to age gracefully.
Protestant
Landeskirchenrat, which is a monument to the Protestant movement, reminiscent of
the Luther Monument (Lutherdenkmal) in ... you guessed it, Worms.
