No. 13 Speyer

 My friend Achim and  I spent the good part of a day visiting Speyer, a  beautiful city on the Rhine river, known for its Romanesque Cathedral as well as the resting place for  former chancellor Helmut Kohl. 

Work began on the cathedral in 1030 at the direction of Conrad II, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and some of the original building still exists. It is constructed out of red sandstone and is the largest remaining Romanesque  church in the world.  The nave measures  439 ft by 124 ft, and the crypt contains the remains of numerous emperors and kings. Unlike many other  catholic cathedrals, it is quite plain inside. 

After touring the cathedral, we walked to the burial plot of Helmut Kohl, who was the chancellor of West Germany from 1982 to 1990, and  of the reunified Germany from 1990 to 1998. He was very close to US President Ronald Regan  and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, and many attribute Kohl’s  relationship with both in insuring that German unification could proceed after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In spite of his place in German history, he is buried in a rather simple plot with a simple sign, not even a German flag flying, which I am told is quite common for chancellors in  Germany. 

Afterwards, we went to a local restaurant, where we had Chancellors Kohl’s favorite dish, saumagen. The name means “ sows stomach”,  as pig stomach is traditionally used for the casing. Inside is pork, potatoes, onions and various spices. After cooking  in water for several hours, it is cut into slices and pan fried. Saumagen is traditionally served with sauerkraut and I find  it quite delicious.

It was quite remarkable day, visiting a cathedral whose construction began nearly  a 1000 years  ago and having a very traditional lunch from the region

Interesting note: the term “Romanesque” refers  to a style of architecture, popular in Europe from 900-1200.






Comments

  1. BJMMarch 24, 2025 at 3:16 AM

    Keep it coming. Feels like we are on the trip with you. Thanks, BJM

    ReplyDelete

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