Speyer Cathedral, Germany

Speyer Cathedral (Dom zu Speyer), officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen, is the largest surviving Romanesque church in the world. Emperor Conrad II began building it around 1030, and it was consecrated in 1061. For almost 300 years it was the burial place of the Salian emperors and later German kings, and its crypt is one of the most important medieval burial sites in Germany. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981.

Location

Speyer Cathedral stands in the historic centre of Speyer, in Rhineland-Palatinate in southwestern Germany, at the eastern end of Maximilianstraße, the city’s main street, close to the Rhine. Its red sandstone towers dominate the skyline. Address: Domplatz, 67346 Speyer, Germany. The cathedral is easy to reach:

• Train: Speyer Hauptbahnhof (Main Station), about 15–20 minutes on foot
• Bus: Several city bus lines stop near Domplatz
• Car: Public parking garages are available close to the old town
• Walking: The cathedral is centrally located and easy to reach from Speyer’s main square

Speyer has good transport connections to Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Karlsruhe.

What You Can See

Visitors to Speyer Cathedral can explore several remarkable features:

• The Romanesque Nave – one of the largest surviving Romanesque interiors in the world
• The Imperial Crypt – the vast Romanesque crypt, consecrated in 1041, and the tombs of four emperors and four kings
• The Westwork and Towers – monumental architectural elements typical of Romanesque design
• The Kaisersaal – a hall in the westwork showing the 19th-century frescoes by Johann Schraudolph that once decorated the nave
• The Cathedral Treasury – shown in the Historical Museum of the Palatinate across the square, with a separate ticket
• Panoramic Tower View – a viewing platform in the south-west tower, about 60 metres up, with views over Speyer and the Rhine plain

The cathedral’s massive scale and harmonious proportions make it a masterpiece of medieval engineering.

Opening Hours

From April to October the cathedral is open Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 19:00 and on Sundays from 11:30 to 17:30; from November to March it closes at 17:00. The crypt opens 30 minutes later and closes 30 minutes earlier. The Kaisersaal and tower are open only from April to October (last entry at 17:00). Services and weddings can limit visits at times.

Ticket Prices

• Cathedral interior: free of charge
• Imperial Crypt: €4.50, reduced €1.80, family €10
• Kaisersaal and tower: €7, reduced €3.40, family €17
• Combined ticket: €12.50, reduced €7, family €30
• Audio guide: €9