Speyer

Imperial City of Speyer
*Reichsstadt Speyer*
Imperial City of Speyer Reichsstadt Speyer
1294–1792
Status	Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
Capital	Speyer
Government	Republic
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Founded	ca 10 BC
• Gained Reichsfreiheit	1294
• Diet at Speyer confirms ; Edict of Worms	; April 19, 1529
• Protestation at Speyer	April 20, 1529
• City razed	1688
• Annexed by France	1792
• Annexed to Bavaria	1816
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Bishopric of Speyer
French First Republic

Speyer
Speyer
Town
	Speyer: Maximilianstraße with the Speyer Cathedral in the background
	Coat of arms
	Location of Speyer
	Speyer Speyer
	Coordinates: 49°19′10″N 8°25′52″E / 49.31944°N 8.43111°E
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Urban district
Subdivisions	4 Stadtteile
Government
• Lord mayor	Hansjörg Eger (CDU)
Area
• Total	42.58 km2 (16.44 sq mi)
Elevation	92 m (302 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	51,368
• Density	1,200/km2 (3,100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	67346
Dialling codes	06232
Vehicle registration	SP
Website	www.speyer.de

Speyer (English formerly Spires) is a city in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate with about 50,000 inhabitants on the Rhine river. It lies 25 kilometres (15.5 miles) south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Around the year 500 the town gets the name Spira, named after the stream Speyerbach which flows into the Rhine river here.

The center of Speyer is dominated by the Speyer Cathedral. Here are the tombs of several of the Salian emperors: the bodies, however, are believed to have gone missing during one of the French invasions during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.