SPEYER (Spires), a town and episcopal see of Germany, capital of the Bavarian palatinate, situated on the left bank of the Rhine, at the mouth of the Speyerbach, 16 m. S. of Mann heim by rail. Pop. (1933) 27,336. Speyer, known to the Romans as Augusta Nemetum or Nemetae, and to the Gauls as Novio magus, appears under the form of Spira, about the 7th cen tury. Captured by Julius Caesar in 47 B.C., it was repeatedly de stroyed by the barbarian hordes in the first few centuries of the Christian era. The town had become an episcopal seat in the 4th century ; but heathenism supervened, and the present bishopric dates from 610. In 83o Speyer became part of the Frankish em pire. The contentions between the bishops and the citizens were as severe as in any other city of Germany. The situation of the town opposite the mouths of several roads through the Rhine valley early fostered its trade; in 1294 it rose to be a free im perial city. It enjoyed great renown as the seat of the imperial supreme court from 1527 till 1689. Numerous imperial diets assembled here. From 1801 till 1814 it was the capital of a de
partment of France; but it was restored to Bavaria in 1814. A basilica of sandstone, the cathedral has a peculiar impor tance in the history of architecture as probably the earliest Romanesque basilica in which the nave as well as the side arcades was vaulted from the first. Built in 1030-1061 by Conrad II. and his successor, this church has had a chequered history, its disasters culminating in 1689, when the soldiers of Louis XIV.
burned it to the bare walls, and scattered the ashes of eight Ger man emperors. Restored in 1772-1784 and provided with a vestibule and façade, it was again desecrated by the French in 1794; but in 1846-1853 it was once more thoroughly restored and adorned in the interior with gorgeous frescoes. Speyer, al though rebuilt in 1697, has never recovered from the injuries inflicted by the French in 1689. Its manufactures include paper, tobacco and cigars, sugar, machines, lead, vinegar, beer and musi cal instruments.