Speyer, Germany

Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities. Speyer is dominated by the Speyer Cathedral, a number of churches and the Altportal (old gate). In the cathedral, beneath the high altar, are the tombs of eight Holy Roman emperors and German kings.

Visit the Romanesque cathedral with its six imposing towers. It is one of the finest examples of this architectural style. The tombs of eight emperors and kings and three empresses are located in the west crypt. In front of the cathedral stands a stone vessel dating from 1490 which was filled with wine to be given to the people when a new bishop was elected. Worth seeing is also the Jewish Spa, a subterranean spa which belongs to the largest and most monumental of its kind in Germany.

Things to See & Do

* Kaiser und Mariendom - The romanesque imperial cathedral,
* Old town
* Judenbad - Oldest Mikvah north of the Alps
* Altpörtel - A 55 m high gate, part of the former fortification wall
* Historisches Museum der Pfalz - History museum

General Information

Cruise Season - March to Dec
Currency - Euro (€) (EUR)
Language - German
Land Area - 42.58 km2
Population - 50,000 approx
Electricity - 2 round pins European style
Time - GMT/UTC plus one hour
International Country Telephone Code - + 49

Port Location - The river port at Speyer is located on the Rhine river .

Travel Links - The main station has frequent connections to Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Karlsruhe, although it is not directly connected to the high-speed ICE train network. Speyer has two train stations: Speyer main station, and Speyer North-West station. There is a ticket office at the main station (closed on weekends and holidays).
Speyer has train connections to Germersheim and Karlsruhe (via Heidelberg) every 30 minutes and express trains to Karlsruhe and Mainz every 2 hours.