Place:Speyer, Bayern, Germany

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source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Speyer (older spelling Speier, known as Spire in French and formerly as Spires in English) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer lies south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, and south-west of Heidelberg. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities. Speyer Cathedral, a number of other churches, and the Altpörtel (old gate) dominate the Speyer landscape. In the cathedral, beneath the high altar, are the tombs of eight Holy Roman Emperors and German kings.

The city is famous for the 1529 Protestation at Speyer. One of the ShUM-cities, Speyer and its Jewish courtyard is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The first known names were Noviomagus and Civitas Nemetum, after the Teutonic tribe, Nemetes, settled in the area. The name Spira is first recorded in the 7th century, taken from villa Spira, a Frankish settlement situated outside of Civitas Nemetum.

Timeline

• In 10 BC, the first Roman military camp is established (situated between the town hall and the episcopal palace).
• In AD 150, the town appears as Noviomagus on the world map of the Greek geographer Ptolemy.
• In 346, a bishop for the town is mentioned for the first time.
• 4th century, Civitas Nemetum appears on the Peutinger Map.
• 5th century, Civitas Nemetum is destroyed.
• 7th century, the town is re-established, and named Spira after a nearby Frankish settlement.
• In 1030, emperor Conrad II starts the construction of Speyer Cathedral, today one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Also in the 11th century, the first city wall is built.
• In 1076, emperor Henry IV embarks from Speyer, his favourite town, for Canossa.
• In 1084, establishment of the first Jewish community in Speyer.
• In 1096, as Count Emicho's Crusader army rages across the Rhineland slaughtering Jewish communities, Speyer's Bishop John, with the local leader Yekutiel ben Moses, manages to secure the community's members inside the episcopal palace and later leads them to even stronger fortifications outside the town. It was ruled that anyone harming a Jew would have his hands chopped off.
• In 1294, the bishop loses most of his previous rights, and from now on Speyer is a Free Imperial Town of the Holy Roman Empire.
• In 1349, the Jewish community of Speyer is wiped out.
• Between 1527 and 1689, Speyer is the seat of the Imperial Chamber Court.
• In 1526, at the Diet of Speyer (1526) interim toleration of Lutheran teaching and worship is decreed.
• In 1529, at the Diet of Speyer (1529) the Lutheran states of the empire protest against the anti-Reformation resolutions (19 April 1529 Protestation at Speyer, hence the term Protestantism).
• In 1635, Marshal of France Urbain de Maillé-Brézé, together with Jacques Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force, conquers Heidelberg and Speyer at the head of the Army of Germany.
• In 1689, the town is heavily damaged by French troops.
• Between 1792 and 1814, Speyer is under French jurisdiction after the Battle of Speyer.
• In 1816, Speyer becomes the seat of administration of the Palatinate and of the government of the Rhine District of Bavaria (later called the Bavarian Palatinate), and remains so until the end of World War II.
• Between 1883 and 1904, the Memorial Church is built in remembrance of the Protestation of 1529.
• In 1947, the State Academy of Administrative Science is founded (later renamed German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer).
• In 1990, Speyer celebrates its 2000th anniversary.

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