Discover Speyer

Speyer combines impressive architectural history with art, city views and unusual museum collections. The cathedral, the medieval Altpörtel and the Jewish Courtyard tell different stories of the city; an audio guide and the City Shuttle offer further ways to explore Speyer. When choosing your holiday apartment, you can therefore consider whether you want to focus your stay mainly on historic sites, art, technology or varied experiences in the city centre.

The cathedral and medieval city history

At 134 metres in total length, Speyer Cathedral is the largest Romanesque church in the world. Construction began in the 1020s under Conrad II, with the aim of building the largest church of its time. The cathedral was consecrated in 1061 after more than 30 years of construction. This history provides a timeframe for your visit, while the scale of the building itself makes a striking impression of the city.

If you would also like to see Speyer from above, you can climb the cathedral’s southwest tower: after a further 214 steps, visitors reach an observation platform 60 metres up. In good visibility, the view extends up to 50 kilometres. The 55-metre-high Altpörtel offers a different view of the city. It was once the western main gate in Speyer’s medieval fortifications; from there, you can see the Gedächtniskirche, the Rhine and the Technik Museum Speyer, among other sights.

The Jewish Courtyard is part of the history of Jewish Speyer. Since 2021, together with the SchUM Sites in Worms and Mainz, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mikveh there is the oldest facility of its kind north of the Alps. The SchPIRA Museum displays original surviving windows, architectural elements and coin finds from the medieval synagogue and ritual bath in the Jewish Courtyard. This allows you to include both the site and surviving evidence of its history in your exploration.

Art, exhibitions and technology

The work of artist couple Hans Purrmann (1880–1966) and Mathilde Vollmoeller-Purrmann (1876–1943) is the focus of the Purrmann House. The museum presents the largest public collection of works by the couple from the Classical Modern period. On display are around 100 paintings, watercolours and prints, as well as archival material and personal belongings. The various objects offer more than one way to engage with the art: alongside the pictures, the collection also includes personal and written records.

The Städtische Galerie Speyer is another venue for changing art themes, hosting at least six exhibitions each year. The “Cross and Crown” exhibition can be complemented by guided tours of the exhibition, the Imperial Cathedral or the city of Speyer. If you are travelling with varied interests, you can consider art, city history and architecture as separate themes or as different stops during your stay.

The Technik Museum Speyer offers a striking contrast to the historic buildings. Its large outdoor grounds display, among other things, a German Navy submarine, an Antonov—the largest propeller-driven aircraft ever built in series—and a Lufthansa jumbo jet. These exhibits give a visit to the museum its own technological focus. When planning your days, you can weigh up whether to set aside more time for art and history or for technology exhibitions.

Explore the city centre and plan your stay

An audio guide to Speyer leads visitors on a circular route of around three kilometres through the city centre. Along the way, they encounter six sights, as well as historic buildings and hidden places. The stated route length provides a practical reference for planning your day; the tour brings together different impressions of the city in a single format. In addition, many of the sights are close enough together to make Speyer easy to explore on foot.

During the day, the City Shuttle on bus route 561 connects the railway station with the central car park at the festival grounds. Running every ten minutes, it passes directly by the cathedral, along Maximilianstraße and underneath the Altpörtel. When choosing your accommodation, you can take this connection into account along with the city visits that matter to you, without having to make every journey in the same way.

You can also find other travel destinations here: Zweibrücken, Frankenthal, Worms, Mainz and Neustadt an der Weinstraße.

For the main travel overview: Rhineland-Palatinate.