CATHEDRAL AT SPEYER

WIENER, Jacques: Germany, 1863, Bronze, 59 mm
Obv: View of exterior    DER KAISER-DOM ZU SPEYER ERBAUT 1030-1061
Exergue: NACH MANNICHFACHEN ZERSTOERUNGEN UND UMAENDERUNGEN ERNEUERT 1854-1858.
Rev: View of interior
Exergue: LUDWIG I KOENIG VON BAYERN LIESS DIE CHOERE MIT GEMAELDEN AUSSCHMUCKEN 1845-1850. DURCH JOH: SCHRAUDOLPH. MAXIMILIAN II KOENIG VON BAYERN. DIE SCHIFFE DURCH DENSELBEN UND MIT ORNAMENT DURCH J. SCHWARZMANN 1851-1853.
Signed: JACOB WIENER F. / JACOB WIENER F.
Ref: Van Hoydonck 199;  Reinecke 32; Ross M236; Weiss BW272

The Cathedral at Speyer (or Spires) (officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St. Stephen), the capital of the Bavarian palatinate, is one of the best examples of Romanesque architecture in Germany. It is a basilica of sandstone in which the nave as well as the side arcades was vaulted in its original design. Built in 1030-1061 by Conrad II and his successor, the church, like many others, has been destroyed and rebuilt over several centuries. In 1689 the soldiers of Louis XIV burned it to the bare walls and scattered the ashes of eight German emperors who had been buried there. It was restored in 1772-1784 and provided with a vestibule and facade but was again desecrated by the French in 1794. In 1846-1853 it was once more throughly restored and decorated in the interior with gorgeous frescoes.
Speyer was known to the Romans as Augusta Nementum and to the Gauls as Noviomagus. It was captured by Julius Caesar in 47 B.C. and was repeatedly destroyed by the barbarian hordes in the first few centuries of the Christian era. Although rebuilt in 1697, the city never recovered from the damage caused by the French in 1689.

Image of cathedral

Mount of Olives

HOME PAGE