and the patron saint of the workers, Joseph. In terms of the architectural style of St Joseph as opposed to the Gedächtniskirche it was said to be: "Catholic variety compared to Protestant austerity". The Mainz cathedral builder Ludwig Becker developed the plan, including influence from Art Nouveau, late Gothic, Baroque and the Renaissance. The Josephskirche was meant to be in stark contrast to the Speyer cathedral and the Gedächtniskirche. As a particular provocation against the Protestants, the bottom half of the right middle window above the high altar is a proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility, as this was the motive for the building of the Gedächtniskirche. Emperor William II One of the firm supporters of the building was the Prussian imperial family. The five large windows of the choir are also known as the "imperial choir", because they were donated by Emperor William II and his wife Auguste Viktoria. William II preferred the Romanesque style of building, because of the French origins of Gothic. Karl Barth In the 1950s there were plans to completely replace the church windows, which no longer fitted in with the prevailing taste. Critics included Swiss theologian Karl Barth who, after a visit to the church, stated that "in the war, there was one bomb too few that fell in Speyer". Situation today The Gedächtniskirche is now the main church of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate, whose main administrative centre is situated very close to the Speyer cathedral. To celebrate its centenary in 2004, a huge investment was made to renovate the Gedächtniskirche. This led to some displeasure among the followers of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate, as the remaining parishes had to restrict their building work due to budgetary problems. References External links City of Speyer website Churches in Speyer Speyer Speyer