Speyer

Speyer
Speyer Cathedral
Speyer
Coordinates	49°19′10″N 8°25′52″E
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Urban district
Town subdivisions	4 Stadtteile
Lord Mayor	Werner Schineller (CDU)
Basic statistics
Area	42.58 km2 (16.44 sq mi)
Elevation	92-113 m
Population	50,648  (31 December 2006)
- Density	1,189 /km2 (3,081 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	SP
Postal code	67346
Area code	06232
Website	www.speyer.de

Imperial City of Speyer Reichsstadt Speyer
Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
← 1294–1792 →
Capital	Speyer
Government	Republic
Historical era	Middle 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

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 km (15.5 mi) 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 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.

Other websites

• speyer.de the city website (partly in English)
• museum.speyer.de Historical Museum of the Palatinate (in English)
• dom-speyer.de website of Speyer Cathedral (in German)
• Model Map of Medieval Speyer
• Technical (Transport) Museum