We continued sailing down the Rhine and, while most were still asleep, we arrived in the town of Speyer at 06:00.
Speyer, a city of which I had never heard but one I came to love. The word speyer is German for spire and there are quite a few in this city. It is on the German side of the Rhine, 21kms (13 miles SW of Heidelberg). Once it was a major Celtic centre which changed hands between the Romans and the Huns a few times. Speyer has a beautiful Cathedral which is now Roman Catholic (RC), as it was originally, but for a few years it was Protestant. This is not where Martin Luther wrote his 95 theses and, according to legend, nailed them to the door of the All Saints’ Church. That was in Wittenburg but Speyer is known as the birthplace of the Reform movement. Besides the Christians, Speyer was also an important centre for Ashkenazic Jewish spiritual and intellectual life. Each of these topics will be discussed further in the blog.
In the second paragraph, the Huns are mentioned but who were they? The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. Their best-known leader is probably Atilla the Hun, known for taking his elephants over the Alps.
Those of us in the easy-walking group were taken into town by coach but all others walked as it was not far from the dock. We all went to the Cathedral first as there was a service at 10:00, giving us limited time to go inside and have a look around. The service was a First Communion for some children, and it was lovely to see the girls in their pretty white dresses and the boys wearing bow ties.
Speyer Cathedral is a basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen, with four towers and two domes, founded by Conrad II in 1030 and remodelled at the end of the 11th century. It is one of the most important Romanesque monuments from the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The four towers represent both the four seasons and to show that the Holy Roman Empire extended in all four directions. It was Conrad’s desire to make it the biggest building in the world and, for a while, it was larger than St Peter’s at the Vatican. It is still the largest in Germany.
On entering the Cathedral, two things immediately caught the eye. First, the upper sections of all the walls were covered in beautifully painted Biblical scenes. Second, it was interesting to see that the cross above the Sanctuary was not a Crucifix but an empty cross, more commonly found in Protestant churches. All items specifically RC were removed when it was a Protestant Church and so the empty cross may have been left when it once again became RC.
This Cathedral has a very large Krypta (Crypt) beneath the Chancel and, for 300 years, it was the burial place of seven Emperors and three Empresses. It is quite dimple in design but strikingly beautiful. Unfortunately, we could only see photos of it, but they showed its beauty in every way.
In the grounds there was a large sculpture protected by concrete structures shaped like a gazebo. It is of Christ praying on the Mount of Olives. The outside walls of the Cathedral were built from local yellow and red sandstone. Even after there had been a fire, the different colours were clear and can still be seen. The sculpture of the Mount of Olives was destroyed when there was a huge fire in 1689 and, after being restored, has a Chapel under the Mount.
In front of the entrance to the Cathedral is a very large bowl, a Domnapf (lit.: ‘cathedral bowl’) which holds 400 gallons of wine. It 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 citizens emptied it to his health.
At the East or Sanctuary outside end of the Cathedral there was an ancient Roman aqueduct known as the Heidentürmchen. This facility, which still exists, is part of the area of the cathedral. The pagan tower was built around 1281 and was part of the city fortifications in the Middle Ages. There were a total of 68 gates and wall towers in Speyer but The Heidentürmchen is the only wall tower in Speyer that has been preserved in its original height. The platform is about 13.40 m above the terrain of the cathedral garden. The Heidentürmchen is built mainly of bricks.
The Aqueduct or The Heidentürmchen
On the wall behind the Sanctuary there is a relief on a column about which there are 2 opinions on meaning. It has snakes, two lions held by the neck by two men and two smaller figures ride on them. The first opinion is that the riders are Kaiser Heinrich II and Kunigunde, the other figures Emperor Konrad II. and King Henry III. The lions as a symbol of evil are defeated by the laying of the foundation stone. The figures depicted look east to the point where the sun rose on the day of the laying of the foundation stone, 12 or 13 July 1030.
Regarding the Reformation, Speyer gave Protestantism its name. After Martin Luther had written his theses in which he challenged abuses in the RC Church, the 1521 Diet of Wurms, a formal meeting of church electors, declared him a heretic, banned his teachings and criminalised any actions recommended by him, declaring them punishable by death. This was named the Edict of Wurms. The name Protestantism came about when at the Diet of Speyer in 1529, 6 princes and the representatives of 14 Free Imperial Cities signed a letter of protestation. The Edict had actually proven difficult to enforce and the Emperor was embroiled in political struggles so lost interest in religious struggles. When Speyer pressured with their letter of protestation he relented. Today there are pilgrimages, known as Caminos de Santiago, which pass through Speyer and continue to city of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, along what is known as the St James’ Way or Way of St James. Legend holds that St James‘s remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain, where he was buried.
The three cities of Mainz, Wurms and Speyer, were important centres of the Jewish Ashkenazic spiritual and intellectual life. An Ashkenazic is a Jewish person of central or eastern European descent, traditionally speaking Yiddish. About 80 percent of Jewish people today are Ashkenazim. In 1084, Rüdiger Huzmann, Bishop of Speyer invited Jews to settle in Speyer as a business venture to raise funds to build the Cathedral. Christians were not permitted lend or borrow money at the time. In return, the Bishop offered protections which was unheard of in Europe at the time. Although there were terrible pogroms there were times when the Jews thrived. In WW2, all the Jews were killed but from 1996 many Jews came to Speyer, leaving Eastern European countries after Communist region following the fall of Communism. The cornerstone of the new Synagogue was laid in 2008. There are still the remains of the Synagogue from 1104 and the ruins of the oldest mikva, a 33-foot deep ritual bath, from circa 1126.
While walking around the city during some free time to explore I saw the Memorial Church of Thanksgiving and Protestation or Gedächtniskirche de Protestation. Nearby was the statue of a Pilgrim going on the Camino pilgrimage. Within 150m of each other there were the RC Cathedral, the Protestant Church and the Jewish Synagogue.
It was also very interesting to wander around the central square and see the various buildings, including the Protestant Church of Thanksgiving and statues.
Once we had all left the boat for our tour of Speyer, the boat left for the town of Worms or Wurms to where we were transported by coach. Some passengers had been on a winelands tour near Worms and also met the boat there. As soon as everyone was on board we left for Rudesheim.
