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Published: April 11th 2011
Speyer is one of those towns that I've already been to numerous times, without ever really taking a closer look at or an interest in it. The reason for this is probably that it's just too close, too quaint, it doesn't really offer anything out of the ordinary to me. It's only one of many smaller towns somewhere along the German Wine Road that we used to pass on the way to a castle or a forest to pick chestnuts on those weekend outings with my parents that I'd grown to dread as puberty set in. We probably stopped there every now and then for ice cream or Schnitzel mit Pommes. Sooner or later, the inevitable family row started, souring the trip for everybody involved.
The people in that region speak a dialect that wouldn't be entirely different from ours, were it not for the singsong they deliver their speech in, as opposed to our blunt, matter-of-fact intonation, only sparingly sprinkled with inflections. A very negligible difference, when you look at it, but to me they always sounded like country bumpkins that you couldn't possibly take seriously.
This time, I am determined to see Speyer with touristy eyes. The
town hasn't made it on the international tourist itinerary yet, despite having a turbulent 2000-year history, which one can easily trace walking around the picturesque central area and visiting the informative museums. Most visitors are regional ones from the South and Southwest of Germany, but the town also gets its fair share of day-trippers from the nearby French regions of Alsace and Lorraine. Tourists from overseas don't know about Speyer, so they go to Heidelberg instead, for Mark Twain liked it so much, before making their way to München to experience the common German stereotypes, which are really Bavarian ones.
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Speyer was founded around 10 BC by Roman soldiers as a starting point for conquering the right side of the Rhine river. In the beginning, it was known as both Noviomagum and Nemetum, depending on who you asked, and after changing hands and being destroyed and rebuilt several times in the course of the next few hundreds of years, it became medieval Spira.
It was there that Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich/Henry IV commenced his infamous Walk to Canossa in 1077 to beg Pope Gregory VII's forgiveness and reinstatement into the church, after his
previous excommunication.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Speyer hosted one of the most important Jewish communities north of the Alps. During the following centuries, the Jews would all too often serve as convenient scapegoats, being blamed for everything from the Black Plague to ritual murder, usury and poisoning the wells by their righteous Christian neighbours. Pogroms, destruction of the synagogue, looting and confiscation of Jewish property, torture and burning at the stake were the results of these denunciations. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Jews had all but disappeared from Speyer.
In the 17th century, a small community established itself once again, and managed to survive until the Third Reich, when many fled the country from the Nazi terror. In 1940, the few remaining Jews were deported to concentration camps in France, where most of them were murdered.
Speyer came out of World War II relatively unscathed, only the train station was destroyed by Allied bombs, and the bridge over the Rhine was blown up by the retreating German Army.
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First thing we do in Speyer is climb the stairs to the top of the Main City Gate, from where
we get some great views over the whole of the town. The Gate, 'Altpörtel' in German, was constructed between 1230 and 1250, and is one of the prettiest landmarks there. The most important sight, though, is the Cathedral or Dom zu Speyer. Built in the 11th century, partly destroyed in 1689, host of the tombs of eight German emperors and kings, it was finally added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1981.
The main street Maximilianstraße connects the Altpörtel with the Dom. As it is a beautifully sunny and warm Saturday, the pedestrian precinct is teeming with people strolling and lolling about, taking pictures, sitting outside the numerous cafés and ice cream shops, indulging in idleness and epicureanism.
The Cathedral is quite a sight to behold, especially the main door with its ornate carvings and bizarre sculptures. The interior is a lot less lavish than I expected, more sandstone and plaster than marble and gold, which gives the church a more humble and less intimidating character.
After checking out the produce at a local farmer's market, we go to a nice little beer garden for a light lunch. The food is great, their homebrew
excellent, and the atmosphere nice and relaxed. Even the stereotypical German football jocks next to us are less obnoxious than expected. Their ultra-highspeed dialect conversation is hard to follow for me, and completely unintelligible for J. At least they have a more wholesome range of topics than the average, think trading apple pie recipes with their grandmothers instead of last night's gangbang in the local disco's restroom. After wolfing down enormous schnitzels and quaffing a couple of brewskis, they depart for the stadium in Kaiserslautern to see today's game.
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The last thing we visit is the historical Jewish ritual bath, or mikveh, which is located in the medieval Jewish Court, next to the ruins of the synagogue. Established around 1120, it is the oldest bath of its kind in Germany, and remarkably well preserved.
The small adjacent museum exhibits some old gravestones and sculptures, and informs us that the Jewish surnames of Spira, Shapiro and Shapira derive from the medieval name for Speyer, which means that people with those surnames are descendants of the Jews who lived in Speyer during the Middle Ages.
In the end, I find that revisiting seemingly familiar
places as a tourist can give you a fresh, new perspective and surprising insights into local history and culture. Definitely an undertaking that's worthy of a little time and effort.
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Alec & Cindy Sharp
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