Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [418]
Post office (Wormser Strasse 4) Situated a block north of Maximilianstrasse 61.
Tourist office ( 142 392; www.speyer.de; Maximilianstrasse 13; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri year-round, 10am-3pm Sat, 10am-2pm Sun & holidays Apr-Oct, 10am-noon Sat Nov-Mar) Next to the historic Rathaus, 200m west of the Dom.
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Sights
KAISERDOM
In 1030 Emperor Konrad II of the Salian dynasty laid the cornerstone of the Romanesque Kaiserdom ( 9am-7pm Mon-Sat, 9am-5pm Sun Apr-Oct, 9am or 10am-5pm daily Nov-Mar), whose square red towers and green copper dome float above Speyer’s rooftops. A Unesco World Heritage Site since 1981, its interior is startling for its awesome dimensions (it’s an astonishing 134m long) and austere, dignified symmetry; walk up the side aisles to the elevated altar area to get a true sense of its vastness.
Another set of steps, to the right of the altar, leads down to the darkly festive crypt (adult/under 17yr €2/free; 9am-5pm, may open 10am or 11am in winter), whose candy-striped Romanesque arches – like those on the west front – recall Moorish architecture (ask for an English-language brochure). Stuffed into a side room, up some stairs, are the sandstone sarcophagi of eight emperors and kings, along with some of their queens.
The most scenic way to approach the Dom is from Maximilianstrasse. Behind the Dom, the large Domgarten (cathedral park) stretches towards the Rhine.
MAXIMILIANSTRASSE
Roman troops and medieval emperors once paraded down ‘Via Triumphalis’. Now known as Maximilianstrasse, Speyer’s pedestrian-only shopping precinct links the Dom with the 55m-high, 13th-century Altpörtel (adult/child €1/0.50; 10am-noon & 2-4pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun Apr-Oct), the city’s western gate and the only remaining part of the town wall. The clock (1761) has separate dials for minutes and hours. The views from up top are breathtaking.
A favourite with window-shoppers and strollers alike, Maximilianstrasse is lined with baroque buildings, among which the Rathaus (at No 13), with its red-orange facade and lavish rococo 1st floor (open for concerts and events), and the Alte Münze (Old Mint; at No 90) are worth a look.
A block south of the Rathaus is the Judenhof (Jews’ Courtyard; 291 971; Kleine Pfaffengasse 21; adult/student/family €2/1/5; 10am-5pm daily Apr-Oct, closed Nov-Mar), where the excavated remains of a Romanesque-style synagogue (consecrated in 1104 and used until 1450), its 13th-century women’s section and a Mikwe (ritual bath) from the early 1100s – the oldest, largest and best preserved north of the Alps – hint at the glories of the city’s storied medieval Jewish community. Signs are in German, English and French. A curious fact to note is that everyone with the surname of Shapira (or Shapiro) is descended from Jews who lived in Speyer during the Middle Ages.
HISTORISCHES MUSEUM DER PFALZ
One of the highlights of the superb Historisches Museum der Pfalz (Historical Museum of the Palatinate; 620 222; http://museum.speyer.de; Domplatz; adult/student & senior €4/3, incl special exhibitions €12/10; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun), which prizes quality over quantity, is the Goldener Hut von Schifferstadt, an ornate, perfectly preserved gilded hat, shaped like a giant thimble, that dates back to the Bronze Age (ie the 14th century BC). The Wine Museum features a bottle containing an unappetising jellied substance from the 3rd century AD, purported to be the world’s oldest wine. Two floors below is the Domschatz (cathedral treasury), whose prized exhibit is Emperor Konrad II’s surprisingly simple bronze crown.
TECHNIK MUSEUM
At this amazing museum ( 670 80; www.technik-museum.de; Am Technik Museum 1; adult/under 6yr/6-14yr €13/free/11; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 7pm Sat, Sun & holidays), 1km south of the Dom (on the other side of the A61 highway), you can climb aboard a Boeing 747-230 with navigational charts for the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong in the cockpit (how in the world did they get the aircraft