Accompanying persons

 
    2.      Imperial Cathedral Speyer (UNESCO world heritage)

The Speyer Cathedral, officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption
and St Stephen, in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae (German: Dom zu Unserer
lieben Frau in Speyer) in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop
of Speyer and is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Bamberg. The cathedral, which is
dedicated to St. Mary, patron saint of Speyer ("Patrona Spirensis") and St. Stephen
is generally known as Kaiserdom zu Speyer (Imperial Cathedral of Speyer).
Pope Pius XI raised Speyer Cathedral to the rank of a minor basilica
of the Roman Catholic Church in 1925.
Begun in 1030 under Conrad II, with the east end and high vault of 1090-1103,
the imposing triple-aisled vaulted basilica of red sandstone is the "culmination
of a design which was extremely influential in the subsequent development
of Romanesque architecture during the 11th and 12th centuries". As the burial site
for Salian, Staufer and Habsburg emperors and kings the cathedral is regarded
as a symbol of imperial power. With the Abbey of Cluny in ruins, it remains
the largest Romanesque church. It is considered to be "a turning point in European
architecture", one of the most important architectural monuments of its time and
one of the finest Romanesque monuments.
In 1981, the cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally
important sites as "a major monument of Romanesque art in the German Empire".

    3.      Maulbronn Monestary (UNESCO world heritage)

Maulbronn Monastery (German: Kloster Maulbronn) is the best-preserved medieval
Cistercian monastery complex in Europe. It is situated on the outskirts of Maulbronn,
Baden-Württemberg, Germany and is separated from the town by fortifications.
Since 1993 the monastery is part of the Unesco World Heritage.
The monastery was founded in 1147 under the auspices of the first Cistercian pope,
Eugenius III. The main church, built in a style transitional from Romanesque to Gothic,
was consecrated in 1178 by Arnold, Bishop of Speyer. A number of other buildings -
infirmary, refectory, cellar, auditorium, porch, south cloister, hall, another refectory,
forge, inn, cooperage, mill, and chapel - followed in the course of the 13th century.
The west, east and north cloisters date back to the 14th century, as do most fortifications
and the fountain house.
After the Reformation broke out, Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg, seized the monastery
in 1504, later building his hunting lodge and stables there. The monastery was pillaged
repeatedly: first by the knights under Franz von Sickingen in 1519, then again during
the German Peasants' War six years later. In 1534, Duke Ulrich secularised the monastery,
but the Cistercians regained control - and Imperial recognition - under Charles
V's Augsburg Interim. In 1556, Christoph, Duke of Württemberg, built a Protestant
seminary, with Valentin Vannius becoming the first abbot two years later; Johannes Kepler
studied there 1586-89.
In 1630, the abbey was returned to the Cistercians by force of arms, with Christoph
Schaller von Sennheim becoming abbot. This restoration was short-lived, however,
as Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden forced the monks to leave again two years later,
with a Protestant abbot returning in 1633; the seminary reopened the following year,
however the Cistercians under Schaller also returned in 1634. Under the Peace
of Westphalia, in 1648, the confession of the monastery was settled in favour
of Protestantism; with abbot Buchinger withdrawing in process. A Protestant abbacy
was re-established in 1651, with the seminary reopening five years later. In 1692,
the seminarians were removed to safety when Ezéchiel du Mas, Comte de Mélac,
torched the school, which remained closed for a decade.
The abbey was secularised by Frederick I, King of Württemberg, in the course
of the German Mediatisation in 1807, forever removing its political quasi-independence;
the seminary merged with that of Bebenhausen the following year, now known
as the Evangelical Seminaries of Maulbronn and Blaubeuren.
The monastery, which features prominently in Hermann Hesse's novel Beneath the Wheel,
was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993. The justification for the inscription
was as follows: "The Maulbronn complex is the most complete survival of a Cistercian
monastic establishment in Europe, in particular because of the survival of its extensive
water-management system of reservoirs and channels". Hesse himself attended
the monastery before fleeing in 1891 after a suicide attempt, and a failed attempt to save
Hesse from his personal religious crisis by a well-known theologian and faith healer.

Reference: text sections are extracted from WIKIPEDIA, the free encyclopedia.