The red sandstone for the building came from the mountains of the Palatine Forest and is thought to have been shipped down the channelled Speyerbach, a stream running from the mountains into the Rhine at Speyer.
Skupaj s Santiago de Compostela (začeta 1075), Clunyjem (Cluny III., začeta 1085) in Stolnico v Durhamu (začeta 1093), je bil najbolj ambiciozen projekt časa.