| |
The Speyer Cathedral, officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen, in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae (German: Dom zu Unserer lieben Frau in Speyer) in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Speyer and is within the Archdiocese of Bamberg. The cathedral, which is dedicated to St. Mary, patron saint of Speyer ("Patrona Spirensis") and St. Stephen is generally known as Kaiserdom zu Speyer (Imperial Cathedral of Speyer).
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Speyer Cathedral' Start a new discussion about 'Speyer Cathedral' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
The Speyer Cathedral, officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen, in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae (German: Dom zu Unserer lieben Frau in Speyer) in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Speyer and is within the Archdiocese of Bamberg. The cathedral, which is dedicated to St. Mary, patron saint of Speyer ("Patrona Spirensis") and St. Stephen is generally known as Kaiserdom zu Speyer (Imperial Cathedral of Speyer). Pope Pius XI raised Speyer Cathedral to the rank of a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church in 1925.
Begun in 1030 under Conrad II, the imposing triple-aisled vaulted basilica of red sandstone is the "culmination of a design which was extremely influential in the subsequent development of Romanesque architecture during the 11th and 12th centuries". As the burial site for Salian, Staufer and Habsburg emperors and kings the cathedral is regarded as a symbol of imperial power. With the Abbey of Cluny in ruins, it remains the largest Romanesque church. In 1981, the cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally important sites as "a major monument of Romanesque art in the German Empire".
History
Middle ages
In 1024, Conrad II, commissioned the construction of the Christian Western world’s largest church which was also supposed to be his last resting place. Construction begun 1030 on the site of a former basilica which stood on an elevated plateau right by the Rhine but safe from high water. The red sandstone for the building came from the mountains of the Palatine Forest and is thought to have been shipped down the channelled Speyerbach, a stream running from the mountains into the Rhine at Speyer. Neither Conrad II, nor his son Henry III, were to see the cathedral completed. Conrad II died in 1039 and was buried in the cathedral while it was still under construction; Henry III was laid next to him in 1056. The graves were placed in the central aisle in front of the altar.
Nearly completed, the cathedral was consecrated in 1061. This phase of construction is called Speyer I consisting of a Westwerk, a nave with two aisles and an adjoining transept. The choir was flanked by two towers. The original apse was round inside but rectangular on the outside. The nave was covered with a flat wooden ceiling but the aisles were vaulted, making the cathedral the second largest vaulted building north of the Alps (after Aachen Cathedral). It is considered to be the most stunning outcome of early Salian architecture and the "culmination of a design which was extremely influential in the subsequent development of Romanesque architecture during the 11th and 12th centuries".
Around 1090, Conrad’s grandson, Emperor Henry IV, conducted an ambitious reconstruction in order to enlarge the cathedral. He had the eastern sections demolished and the foundations enforced to a depth of up to eight metres. Only the lower floors and the crypt of Speyer I basically remained intact.
The nave was elevated by five metres and the flat wooden ceiling replaced with groin vaults, at the time making it the largest of its kind in the empire. In the course of these modifications the dwarf gallery which runs all around the structure below the roofline was created. This feature soon became part of the Romanesque architectural vocabulary and was adopted at Worms and Mainz cathedrals and on the facades of many churches in Italy.(See detail in gallery below)
“The cathedral re-emerged in a more sculptural style typical of the prime of the Romanesque period.” "The transept, the square of the choir, the apse, the central tower and the flanking towers were combined in a manner and size surpassing anything done before. All surfaces and edges rise without stages. The major elements within the combination remain independant.... Speyer became a model for many other church buildings but was unsurpassed in its magnificence."
The expanded cathedral, Speyer II, was completed in 1106, the year of Henry’s IV death. With a length of 444 Roman feet (134 metres) and a width of 111 Roman feet (43 metres) it was one of the largest buildings of its time. The purpose of the building, already a strong motive for Conrad, was the emperor's "claim to a representative imperial roman architecture" in light of the continuing struggle with Pope Gregory VII. Thus, the Speyer Cathedral is also seen as a symbol of the Investiture Controversy.
In the following centuries the cathedral remained relatively unchanged. During the Gothic period a north porch was added, the north aisle extended with a chapel, and a large Flamboyant window was inserted in the westwerk.
The last ruler was put to rest in the cathedral in 1308, completing a list of eight emperors and kings:
(Note: all 8 of these rulers were Kings of Germany. However, in order to receive the title of Holy Roman Emperor, they had be crowned by the Pope. When relations between the Pope and German King were good, they were crowned "Imperator Romanum" or Holy Roman Emperor. When relations were strained, the Popes refused to crown the King as Emperor. So essentially these were all eight Holy Roman Emperors, but four of them were "uncrowned".)
In addition to these rulers the cathedral is the resting place of several of the ruler’s wives and many of Speyer’s bishops.
Modern era
Although repeatedly occupied and ransacked, town and cathedral survived the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) rather unscathed.
During the Nine Years' War (Palatinate War of Succession 1688–97), the people of Speyer brought furniture and possessions into the cathedral, stacking everything several metres high hoping to save them from the French troops of Louis XIV marauding the town. But on 31 May 1689 the soldiers broke in, pillaged the imperial graves and set everything alight. On that day almost the whole town of Speyer was burned down. In the heat of the fire the western part of the nave collapsed and the late Gothic elements were destroyed.
In the great fire the Prince-Bishops of Speyer lost their residence and it was considered to build a new one in the style of a Baroque château in place of the cathedral. But because of the hostility of the people of Speyer towards the bishop it was decided to build a palace in Bruchsal.
For almost a century only the eastern part of the cathedral was secured and used for services. Under the direction of Franz Ignaz. M. Neumann, the son of renown Baroque architect Balthasar Neumann, the building was restored from 1772 to 1748. A Romanesque nave was put back in place, but the Westwerk rebuilt in the Baroque style on its preserved lower section. The funds were not sufficient to rebuild the whole cathedral in the style of the time.
In 1792 Speyer was again occupied, this time by French revolutionary troops, and once more the cathedral was pillaged. During the Napoleonic Wars (1803 to 1815) the cathedral was used as a stable and storage facility for fodder and materiel. In 1806 the French had in mind to tear the building down and use it as a quarry, which was only prevented by the bishop of Mainz, Joseph Ludwig Colmar.
In the Congress of Vienna (1815), Speyer and the Palatinate passed to Bavaria. At the behest of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Johann von Schraudolph decorated the interior walls of the cathedral with Nazarene style frescoes (1846-1853). 1854 to 1858, Ludwig’s successor, King Maximilian II, had the Baroque Westwerk replaced by a Neo-Romanesque one, resembling with the two tall towers and the octagonal dome resembling those that were lost, thus restoring the cathedral’s overall Romanesque appearance. In designing the façade of the Westwerk, Heinrich Hübsch, an architect of early Historicism, created a Neo Romanesque design which drew on features of the original westwerk and those of several other Romanesque buildings, scaling the windows differently and introducing a gable on the facade, a row of statues over the main portal and polychrome stonework in sandstone yellow and rust.
These restorations coincided with the development of Romanticism and German nationalism, during which many buildings were restored in the Romanesque and Gothic style of the Holy Roman Empire. The Speyer cathedral was elevated to the level of a national monument.
The interior decorations and the new Westwerk were considered a major feat in the 19th. century. Ludwig I was of the opinion that nothing greater had been created than these paintings. Yet, by the turn of the century the mood had changed. In 1916, Georg Dehio, a German art historian, was convinced that among all the misfortunes to befall the Speyer cathedral, the alterations of the 19th. century were not the smallest.
The graves of the emperors and kings were originally placed in the central aisle in front of the altar. In the course of the centuries knowledge of the exact location was lost. In a big excavation campaign in 1900 the graves were discovered and opened and the identity of the rulers was established. Some of the contents, e. g. clothing, can be seen at the Historical Museum of the Palatinate near the cathedral. The restored coffins were relocated into a newly constructed crypt open to the public under the main altar in 1906.
The restoration of the cathedral, beginning in 1957 “was directed towards both securing the structure and recreating the original atmosphere of the interior”. Some of the plaster and 19th century paintings from the walls was removed. Only the cycle of 24 scenes from the life of the Virgin between the windows of the nave have been preserved.
Gables which had been removed from the transept and choir during the Baroque era were replaced using etchings and examples in related buildings. Changes in the crossing were also undone, but enforcements from the Baroque were left in place for structural reasons.
Presently the cathedral is undergoing fundamental restorations which will last approximately until 2015 and cost around 26 million Euros. Also, the frescos by Schraudolph, which were removed in the 1950s are being restored and are to be displayed in the “Kaisersaal” of the cathedral.
Image:Speyrer Dom 1061.png|1061
Image:Speyrer Dom 1135.png|1106
Image:Speyrer Dom 1754.png|1689
Image:Speyrer Dom 1756.png|circa 1700
Image:Speyrer Dom 1854.png|1778
Image:Speyrer Dom 1967.png|1858
File:Speyer-koelner-zeichnung.jpeg|view in 1606, showing the original westwerk
File:Speyrer Dom Barockfassade 1830.jpg|view in 1830, showing the Baroque westwerk
World Heritage Site
In April 1981, the Speyer Cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally important sites. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) justified the inclusion:
"The cathedral of Speyer, with those of Worms and Mayence (Mainz), is a major monument of Romanesque art in the German Empire. It is, by virtue of its proportions, the largest and the most important; by virtue of the history to which it is linked – the Salic emperors made it their place of burial."
ICOMOS also cites the building as important in demonstrating the evolution in attitudes towards restoration since the 17th century, both in Germany and the world.
Architecture
Speyer Cathedral has maintained the overall form and dimensions of the 11th century structure and, despite substantial losses to the original fabric and successive restorations, presents as a complete and unified Romanesque building. The design broadly follows the plan that was established at St. Michael's Church in Hildesheim and set the standard that was to be generally adopted in the Rhineland. This comprised a high vaulted nave with aisles, with a domed crossing towards at the east which terminated in an apsidal chancel. The horizontal orientation already points to the development of the Gothic architecture.
The original western end terminated, as it does now, in an elaborate structure known as a "Westwerk". At Speyer Cathedral, there appears to have always been western portals. This is not always the case as some German Romanesque churches, such as Worms Cathedral have an apse at both ends. Externally, the silhouette of the building is balanced by two pairs of tall towers which frame the nave at the western end and the chancel to the east, and form a sculptural mass with the dome at each end, creating an "equilibrium between the eastern and western blocks".
The exterior appearance of the cathedral is unified by the regularity of the size of its openings. Speyer has the earliest example in Germany of colonnaded dwarf gallery that goes around the entire building, just below the roofline. The same type of gallery also adorns the eastern and western domes. The openings in the gallery match the size of the paired windows in the towers. The domes are both octagonal, the roof of the eastern one being slightly ovoid. The towers are surmounted by "Rhenish helm" spires. The nave, towers and domes are all roofed with copper, which has weathered to pale green, in contrast to the pinkish red of the building stone, and the polychrome of the westwerk.
Internally, the nave is of two open stages with simple semi-circular Romanesque openings. The arcade has piers of a simple form, each with a wide attached shaft, the alternate shafts carrying a stone arch of the high vault. The square bays thus formed are groin vaulted and plastered. Although most of the plasterwork of the 19th century has been removed from wall surfaces, the wide expanse of masonry between the arcade and the clerestory contains a series of colouful murals depicting the Life of the Virgin.
Dimensions
- Total length: 134 m (from the steps at the entrance to the exterior wall of the east apse)
- External width of the nave (with aisles): 37.62 m (from exterior wall to exterior wall)
- Internal width of the nave: 14 m
- Height of the nave at the vertex of the vaults: 33 m
- Height of the eastern spires: 71.20 m
- Height of the western spires: 65.60 m
- Crypt Length: east-west 35 m; north-south 46 m Height: between 6.2 m and 6.5 m
Features
Crypt
The Crypt was consecrated in 1041. It is the largest Romanesque columned hall in Europe, with an area of 850 m² and a height of approx. 7 m. Forty-two groin-vaults are supported on columns with simple cube block capitals. The sandstone blocks alternate in colour between yellow and rust, a typical design of the Salian and Staufer era, and providing the context of the colour-scheme of the 19th century facade. (see detail below)
Afra Chapel
Henry IV died on the day of St. Afra, an early Christian martyr. At the time he was still banned by the pope, thus it was not possible to bury him in the cathedral before the ban was lifted. Until then he was put to rest in the adjoining Afra Chapel which hadn’t been consecrated yet. It was only five years later that Pope Paschalis II revoked the ban and Henry IV was moved to a place beside his father, Henry III, on 7 August, 1111.
Cathrine’s Chapel
The Cathrine’s Chapel was named after St. Catherine of Alexandria. A daughter of Henry III died on her remembrance day, which is 25 November.
Surroundings
Originally, the cathedral was adjoined by a cloister to the south with a sculpture of the The Mount of Olives in its centre, and many other buildings to the north, east and south (chapter house, rectory, archives, bishops residence, St. Nikolaus Chapel, town fortifications etc.). Most of the buildings disappeared after the French Revolution. The outline of the former cloister can be seen as pavement.
The sculpture of The Mount of Olives was destroyed in the great fire of 1689 and left in ruins after the rubble of the cloister was removed in 1820 in order to create some open space. Later it was fitted with a roof to prevent further deterioration. The sculptures were supplemented by the Speyer sculptor, Gottfried Renn. Inside the mount is a chapel dedicated to the Archangel Michael.
In the square at the western end of the cathedral is a large bowl known as Domnapf It formerly marked the boundary between the episcopal and municipal territories. Each new bishop on his election had to fill the bowl with wine, while the burghers emptied it to his health.
Heidentürmchen (Heath Tower)
The Heidentürmchen is a remainder of the medieval town fortifications, a tower an a section of the wall, only a little to the east of the cathedral. It used to stand right by the Rhine. The marshy area used to be called “heath”.
Hall of Antiques (Antikenhalle)
The Hall was built to the north of the cathedral to house the Roman findings in the cathedral erea. It was erected in the Neo-Classical style and turned out to be too small for the intended purpose. Later some canons captured in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870/71 were displayed. Today it’s a Memorial for the fallen of the two world wars.
Image:SpeyererDom Zwerggalerie.jpg|Dwarf gallery
File:Speyrer Dom Krypta Kapitell.jpg|Polychrome arches in the crypt
File:Oelberg Speyer 01.JPG|The Mount of Olives
File:Domnapf Speyer.jpg|Domnapf
External links
- - Cathedral Building Association site
- - description and tourism information
- - full of pictures and information
|
