Speyer - Cathedral of St Mary and St Stephen

The six-towered Speyer Cathedral (Dom) of St Mary and St Stephen, the largest and most imposing cathedral of the High Romanesque period in Germany, was begun about 1030 by the Salian emperor Conrad II and consecrated in 1061. Between 1082 and 1125, in the reigns of Henry IV and V, a major rebuilding took place.

In the west porch are statues of the eight emperors and kings buried in the Cathedral.

Features of the interior are the raised Royal Choir, the crypt (consecrated 1039) and the imperial burial vault, with the remains of the imperial tombs, some of which were plundered by the French in 1689. Among them are the tombs of Conrad II (d. 1039), Henry III (d. 1056), Henry IV (d. 1106), Henry V (d. 1125) and Rudolph of Habsburg (d. 1291).

In front of the Cathedral can be seen the Domnapf, a huge sandstone basin (1490) which was filled at the induction of a new bishop.