Speyer

A walk along the Maximilianstraße

I would say that today's sightseeing in Speyer was not as tiring at the one at Weinheim, because I did not have to climb up and down hills, which also meant that I did not see any castles in Speyer. In fact there is not much to see in Speyer since some of the attractions like the Judenhof is only open in April. As a result I completed the walk around the main city area in Speyer rather quickly, in about 3 hours.

The main place, and also the most beautiful place along the Maximilianstraße (Maximilian Street), where it is lined with two rows of colourful houses, and with the Kaiserdom zu Speyer (Imperial Cathedral of Speyer) - built before 1100 facing the Altpörtel (old gate) - built slightly before 1200.

Kaiserdom zu Speyer

Altpörtel

Kaiserdom zu Speyer

This Cathedral was added in 1981 to the UNESCO World heritage list of culturally important sites. In fact the orignial purpose of this Cathedral was built by an emperor before his death, and subsequently became a honourable burial place for German emperors as well as honourable bishops. I found this Cathedral to be very different from others that I have stepped into, because of the colours of the bricks. The interior was not dark at all, it looked sandy with a tint of red. Reminds me of a pyramid actually.

Domplatz

Basement of the Cathedral - resembles an Egyption tomb acutally.

Gedächtniskirche der Protestation (The Memorial Church of the Protestation)

Not far away from the Maximilianstraße sits the Gedächtniskirche der Protestation. It was built between 1893 and 1904 in memory of a the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Speyer in 1529. This church was built during the time when Germany experienced Kulturkampf, and that the relations between the Protestants and Catholics were at a nadir. As a result, this church was intended to be a church for the Protestants.

The design of the church looked rather gothic from outside. Unfortunately, half of the church was undergoing improvement works. (In fact most of the churches I visited these days in various cities are all undergoing improvement works.)

Just after pushing the heavy doors to enter the church, you could see a very thick tome in which visitors could write what they want. Of course I left my personal message behind.

Church Organ

Technik-Museum Speyer

The first thing that came to my mind when I was entered the museum foyer is that this is like the Science Centre. As a result I did not want to pay to enter. However it is very popular with kids because of the many aeroplanes on display, and for a fee, they could also take a ride in the plane around the city.

Eingang means entrance

It seems to me that the urinals at such scientific places are also quite different. The last time when I was in Bremen university science centre, I saw a green mesh with a pin-head size soccer-ball in every urinal. Today I was reminded of it again.

Dinner with the Singaporeans

We met at Ian's place at 8pm today, and there were like 10 of us. Malcom remarked that we have already beat the Malaysians in terms of gathering numbers. We had pineapple rice, chicken wings, chicken curry as well as dumplings for dinner, followed by make-do Lou Hei using carrots and tuna, and agar-agar with coconut milk for desert. It was a great dinner and Ian can really cook I must say, and of course he was very happy to host us.

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