Speyer Cathedral - History and Architecture - Modern Era

Modern Era

Although repeatedly occupied and ransacked, town and cathedral survived the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) with little damage. 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 a plan was considered to build a new one in the style of a Baroque château in place of the cathedral. 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. The Romanesque nave was reconstructed, but the Westwerk rebuilt in the Baroque style on its remaining 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 other material. 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. After Napoleon's victories over the Prussian and Russian armies in the Battles of Grossgörschen and Lützen in 1813, around 4,000 wounded soldiers came to Speyer. After the battle of Leipzig there were even more and the cathedral was needed as an army hospital.

As a result of the Congress of Vienna (1815), Speyer and the Palatinate passed to Bavaria. At the behest of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Johann von Schraudolph and Joseph Schwarzmann 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, with the two tall towers and the octagonal dome resembling those that were lost, thus restoring the cathedral's overall Romanesque appearance. The roofs were lowered and covered with copper. Only the Gothic sacristy kept its slate roof. Eduard Rottmanner was organist at the church from 1839-1843.

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 start of the 20th 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. Also, the Baroque style curved roof on the eastern dome remained.