Onion River Exploration Project: Speyer to Rudesheim

Speyer Cathedral

Day 8 (4/24/25)

On a tour such as this, often events start to fuse together and it isn’t until you start looking back at pictures that you start to remember the details. Speyer was one of these instances. After I started going through the pictures I couldn’t believe we packed so much in one day. Speyer Cathedral was one of the only fully Romanesque churches we visited. It is one of the largest and most significant of the churches of the Romanesque style. Unlike the Gothic Cathedrals it is very stoic and plain on the outside with its shear massiveness lending to its awe inspiring quality. Unfortunately it is under renovation so the approach is somewhat obscured. On the approach you pass a grouping of sculptures which commemorate the royal couple who financed much of the construction. As you come around to the front of the Cathedral it opens up into a large cobblestone courtyard. During medieval times they believe that the Romanesque church should represent the ideal Christian plain on the outside and glowing from within. You enter from the west, the dark end, and go into the light. Although not as light filled as the Gothic with all their stained glass windows, Romanesque interiors are covered with paintings and carving and have their own glow. Much of the art both in and out of the cathedral is aimed at instructing an uneducated populace and scaring them into church. Speyer Cathedral is along a pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. In front of a smaller Lutheran church down the street from the Cathedral there is a statue of Jakob Spilger honoring al who made the journey. As you walk the cobblestone walkway keep your eyes open for the brass stumble stones which honor the Jews who lived in that location and lost their lives during WWII. Our guide was very passionate about our tour through the Jewish section of the city.

After our tour we headed back to our bout which was now docked at Worms, Germany. The gate bridge was the highlight of the city and looked like something out of Harry Potter. Then it was down the river on a very picturesque stretch of the Rhine to Rudesheim and a taste of their signature brandy. It would have been hard to pack anymore into one day.