The cathedral is generally known as Kaiserdom zu Speyer.

Begun in 1030 under Conrad II, the imposing triple-aisled vaulted basilica of red sandstone built in the Romanesque architecture during the 11th and 12th centuries". As the burial site for Salian, Staufer and Habsburg emperors and kings.

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"