Every design for Speyer

At the Altpörtel, the old city gate that still rises above the centre, Speyer's students, shoppers and day-trippers cross paths all day long. This is a university town on the left bank of the Rhine, between Ludwigshafen and Karlsruhe, with the Speyerbach flowing into the river right at its edge.

What makes it unique is how much history sits in plain view. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities. The Dom zu Speyer, the largest Romanesque church still standing anywhere, holds the tombs of eight emperors and kings beneath its high altar, and the Judenhof recalls Speyer's place among the ShUM cities at the heart of medieval Jewish life; both are World Heritage Sites. Then there is the Technik Museum Speyer, where aircraft such as a Transall stand far from any airfield.

If Speyer is where you grew up, studied or simply first saw the cathedral against the sky, take its streets with you: from the Altpörtel to the Dom, the walk you know by heart.