Speyer

Speyer
Speyer: Maximilianstraße with the Speyer Cathedral in the background
Location of Speyer
Speyer
Speyer
Coordinates: 49°19′10″N 8°25′52″E / 49.31944°N 8.43111°E / 49.31944; 8.43111
CountryGermany
StateRhineland-Palatinate
DistrictUrban district
Subdivisions4 Stadtteile
Government
 • Lord mayorHansjörg Eger (CDU)
Area
 • Total42.58 km2 (16.44 sq mi)
Elevation
92 m (302 ft)
Population
 (2023-12-31)[1]
 • Total51,203
 • Density1,200/km2 (3,100/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
67346
Dialling codes06232
Vehicle registrationSP
Websitewww.speyer.de
Imperial City of Speyer
Reichsstadt Speyer
1294–1792
StatusFree Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
CapitalSpeyer
GovernmentRepublic
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Founded
ca 10 BC
• Gained Reichsfreiheit
1294
• Diet at Speyer confirms
    Edict of Worms
 
April 19, 1529
• Protestation at Speyer
April 20, 1529
• City razed
1688
• Annexed by France
1792
• Annexed to Bavaria
1816
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Bishopric of Speyer
French First Republic

Speyer (English formerly Spires) is a city in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate with about 50,000 inhabitants on the Rhine river. It lies 25 kilometres (15.5 miles) south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Around the year 500 the town gets the name Spira, named after the stream Speyerbach which flows into the Rhine river here.

The center of Speyer is dominated by the Speyer Cathedral. Here are the tombs of several of the Salian emperors: the bodies, however, are believed to have gone missing during one of the French invasions during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

References

  1. Bevölkerungsstand 31. Dezember 2023, Landkreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden; Fortschreibung des Zensus 2011 (in German), Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz, 2024

Other websites

Media related to Speyer at Wikimedia Commons