Retscher, Speyer

The Retscher is the ruin of a Gothic townhouse in the historic old town of Speyer. It is located right next to the Holy Trinity Church.

The firebombing of Speyer in 1689 left hardly any remains of secular buildings. From the bishop's palace next to the cathedral only a stump of a stair tower is left, from the council yard a Gothic archway remained, in the facade of the Heiliggeistkirche Gothic window arches of a residential house were uncovered during a renovation, in the Spitalgasse a Renaissance stair tower can still be found.

The only medieval secular building in the town preserved in significant remains is the ruin of the Retscher. It is a former patrician house of the 13th century, named after the builder Retschelinus. The late baptist window openings with profiled cloverleaf arches are remarkable.

On October 27, 1495, the Retscher came into the possession of the city of Speyer. The sellers were the cathedral chaplain Johann Kranich of Kirchheim, together with his brother Heinrich, his base Praexedis and Matthias von Rammung as the authorized representative of his brother-in-law Albrecht V. Göler of Ravensburg.

From 1628 to 1648 it was used as a prayer hall for the Lutheran congregation. After the Palatine War of Succession, the Holy Trinity Church was built next to the burnt-out ruin.

The name "Retscher Church" for the memorial church built in the 19th century refers to the tradition of the location - originally it was even to be built on this site - especially since at the time it was believed that the Imperial Diet of 1529, at which the Protestation in Speyer took place, had taken place in the Retscher.