Worms, Rheinland Pfalz

Worms was, like Speyer and Mainz, an imperial residence. Today it extends along the left bank of the Rhein, which irrigates the rich wine growing area of Rheinland Pfalz. The famous Weinstrasse is just west of Worms. The Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche) just north of Worms has given its name to the famous Liebfraumilch wine. 

In Celtic times Worms was known as Borbetomagus and during the Roman empire as Civitas Vangionum. In 437 it was the capital of the Burgundian kingdom, whose battles form the historical basis for the Nibelungenlied. In the Middle Ages Worms was the site for over 100 imperial diets and it was here that Martin Luther had to defend himself before the Imperial Diet in 1521. To commemmorate this event you will find a Lutherdenkmal just north of the St. Peter Dom. The cathedral is a Romanesque structure with two apses quartered by four round staircase towers. Outside, the west chancel, completed in about 1230, is one of the best examples of Romanesque architecture in Germany. It includes two dwarf galleries superimposed in the Rheinland manner.