The best city hikes and walks around Speyerer Forest

The administrative building comprises three floors, which initially housed meeting rooms, card index rooms, and filing facilities for both the insurance company and the arbitration court located there. Apartments for the board of directors and the caretaker were also built on the second floor. The entrance portal on Maximilianstrasse features the Palatia as a niche figure and bore the Bavarian coat of arms until World War II. The facade is adorned with ornamentation, with the central section of the building and the third floor set back. This design is typical of Viennese aristocratic palaces of the Neo-Baroque period. The allegorical figures on pedestals on the third floor represent youth and diligence, industry, agriculture and farming, and old age. These were crafted from French Savonnières stone by the sculptor Gustav Adolf Bernd. The mansard roof is topped with a gable and balcony facing the cathedral.

The new Beith Shalom Synagogue in Speyer was ceremonially opened on November 9, 2011, symbolizing the return of Jewish life to the city after the destruction of the old synagogue during the Nazi era. History and Significance The Beith Shalom Synagogue, meaning "House of Peace," was built 73 years after the destruction of the old synagogue during Kristallnacht. The foundation stone was laid on November 9, 2008, and the dedication took place on November 9, 2011, representing a symbolic act of reviving Jewish life in Speyer. https://www.speyer.de/de/familie-und-soziales/religion/synagoge-beith-shalom/

A monument where the Salian era merges with the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon. While old Barbarossa slept peacefully in the Küffhäuser Monument, in Speyer in November 1815, the commanding cry of "Ferryman, take us across!" roused the ferryman from his sleep shortly after the cathedral bells struck midnight. Eight shadowy figures imperiously demanded passage and promised rich rewards upon their return. Indeed, a few nights later, they crossed back to the north bank of the Rhine and each pressed a coin into the ferryman's hand. By daylight, the ferryman recognized from the images and inscriptions on the gold coins whom he had transported: the four emperors and four kings from the cathedral crypt had hastened to Leipzig to aid their realm in the Battle of Leipzig. The outcome is well known… The monument is particularly well-suited for a spooky nighttime walk in November.

Helmut Kohl had a close relationship with Speyer. Around the time of the reunification negotiations, he lured the entire political elite to his Palatinate province, treated them to Palatinate Saumagen (stuffed pig's stomach), showed them "his" Speyer Cathedral, and skillfully convinced them of Germany's harmlessness. Opinions about Kohl may certainly differ, but his lasting achievement lies in having seized the opportunity presented by history at the right moment and pushed through reunification. Unfortunately, his grave does little to reflect his significance. It lies rather inconspicuously in a small park near the train station. The unassuming wooden cross was recently replaced by a strangely oversized sandstone block that looks like an empty monument pedestal.

Former building of the main post office dating from 1901, now a modern shopping center

One can only hope that the remains of the cloister of the former Augustinian monastery will be preserved right next to it after the construction work is completed.

There is currently a construction site there and entry is prohibited, but you can take a look through the fence...

Courtyard at the registry office