Speyer Cathedral
Speyer Cathedral, a basilica with four towers and two domes, was founded by Conrad II in 1030 and remodelled at the end of the 11th century. It is one of the most important Romanesque monuments from the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The cathedral was the burial place of the German emperors for almost 300 years.
Speyer Cathedral, a basilica with four towers and two domes, was founded by Conrad II in 1030 and remodelled at the end of the 11th century. It is one of the most important Romanesque monuments from the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The cathedral was the burial place of the German emperors for almost 300 years.
Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesis
Speyer Cathedral in the southwest of Germany, a basilica with four towers and two domes, was founded as a flat-ceiling basilica by Konrad II in 1030, probably soon after his imperial coronation. It was rebuilt by Henry IV, following his reconciliation with the Pope in 1077, as the first and largest consistently vaulted church building in Europe. The Cathedral was the burial place of the German emperors for almost 300 years.
Speyer Cathedral is historically, artistically and architecturally one of the most significant examples of Romanesque architecture in Europe. It is, by virtue of its proportions, the largest, and, by virtue of the history to which it is linked, the most important.
The Cathedral is an expression and self-portrayal of the abundance of imperial power during the Salian period (1024 - 1125) and was built in conscious competition to the Abbey of Cluny as the building representative of the papal opposition.
The Cathedral incorporates the general layout of St Michael of Hildesheim and brings to perfection a type of plan that was adopted generally throughout the Rhineland. This plan is characterized by the equilibrium of the eastern and western blocks and by the symmetrical and singular placement of the towers which frame the mass formed by the nave and the transept. Under Henry IV renovations and extensions were undertaken. Speyer Cathedral is the first known structure to be built with a gallery that encircles the whole building. The system of arcades added during these renovations was also a first in architectural history.
In its size and the richness of its sculptures, some created by Italian sculptors, it stands out among all contemporary and later Romanesque churches in Germany, and it had a profound influence on the pattern of their ground plans and vaulting. Today – after the destruction of the Abbey of Cluny – Speyer Cathedral is the biggest Romanesque church in the world. Likewise its crypt, consecrated in 1041, is the biggest hall of the Romanesque era. No less than eight medieval emperors and kings of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from Konrad II to Albrecht of Habsburg in 1309 were laid to rest in its vault. In 1689 the Cathedral was seriously damaged by fire. The reconstruction of the west bays of the nave from 1772 to 1778, as an almost archaeologically exact copy of the original structure, can be regarded as one of the first great achievements of monument preservation in Europe. The westwork, rebuilt from 1854 to 1858 by Heinrich Hübsch on the old foundations, is by contrast, a testimony to Romanticism’s interpretation of the Middle Ages, and as such an independent achievement of the 19th century. Commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I., the interior was painted in late Nazarene style by the school of Johannes Schraudolph and Josef Schwarzmann from 1846 to 1853.
Criterion (ii): The Speyer Cathedral has exerted a considerable influence not only on the development of Romanesque architecture in the 11th and 12th centuries, but as well on the evolution of the principles of restoration in Germany, in Europe and in the world from the 18th century to the present.
Integrity
Apart from the seven western bays of the nave and the westwork, the mediaeval structure is original. After a serious fire in 1689 the seven western bays of the nave had to be newly erected (1772-1778) and are an exact copy of the original structure. The westwork, replacing the mediaeval structure and the addition of the late 18th century, is an addition of the period of 1854 to 1858. In the course of the comprehensive restoration campaign between 1957 and 1972 the original Romanesque interior was reconstructed by deleting the alterations and additions of the Baroque period and the 19th century.
Authenticity
In terms of form and design, use and function Speyer Cathedral still expresses truthfully the essence of one of the most important Romanesque churches in Europe. The restoration history and methods document the evolution of the principles of restoration.
Protection and management requirements
The property is legally protected under regional and national legislation and managed under the responsibility of the Cathedral Chapter by the Cathedral Construction Administration (Dombauamt). They act in concertation with the historic monument conservation authorities and a scientific committee.
The Cathedral is permanently maintained by the Cathedral Construction Administration. The management system consists of a set of maintenance and conservation measures respecting the liturgical function.
Long Description
Speyer Cathedral exerted a considerable influence not only on the development of Romanesque architecture in the 11th and 12th centuries, but also on the evolution of the principles of restoration in Germany, in Europe, and in the world from the 18th century to the present.
The cathedral, along with those of Worms and Mainz, is a major monument of Romanesque art. It is, by virtue of its proportions, the largest, and, by virtue of the history to which it is linked (the Salic emperors made it their place of burial), the most important.
The cathedral, dedicated to St Mary and St Stephen, was founded by Conrad II and was built essentially between 1030 and 1106. It incorporates the general layout of St Michael of Hildesheim and brings to perfection a type of plan that was adopted generally in the Rhineland. This plan is characterized by the equilibrium of the eastern and western blocks and by the symmetrical and singular placement of the towers which frame the mass formed by the nave and the transept. Under Henry IV renovations and extensions were undertaken.
Speyer Cathedral is the first known structure to be built with a gallery that encircles the whole building. The system of arcades added during these renovations was also a first in architectural history.
In 1689 the cathedral was seriously damaged by fire. Following this disaster, the architect I. M. Neumann attempted its reconstruction in the Romanesque style, in the 18th century, although not without inventing a Baroque Westwerk (1772-78). The Bavarian King Ludwig I commissioned the painting of the interior. From 1846 to 1853 painters of the school of Johannes Schraudolph and Josef Schwarzmann completed the work in late Nazarene style.
This addition was replaced in 1854-58 by a western block, a pastiche of the Romanesque style in keeping with current ideas. During the same period, the entire interior was enhanced by heavy neo-Romanesque decorative paintings and large historical panels, attributed to Schraudolph and his atelier.
Starting in 1957, the removal of the paintings and the layers of painted plaster was undertaken in order to restore the 11th-century form of the cathedral. The crypt is of special interest as it has retained its original condition to the present day. It houses the graves of no less than eight medieval German emperors and kings, buried there between 1039 and 1309. It also includes the grave of Emperor Konrad II, who had to be buried elsewhere for the first two years after he died because the crypt was not yet finished at the time of his death.
A huge stone font, with a capacity of 1,560 litres, stands on the square in front of the main portal of the cathedral. This font once symbolized the borderline between the diocese and the city.
Speyer Cathedral is one of the most important Romanesque monuments from the time of the Holy Roman Empire and the imposing triple-aisled vaulted basilica is the culmination of a design that was to be very influential in the subsequent development of Romanesque architecture during the 11th and 12th centuries.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
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