The link with Speyer started in 1956 mainly as an educational link, but has significantly grown with a wide range of exchange visits having taken place. Speyer is a beautiful old town, with a population of over 50,000, built on the banks of the river Rhine only a few miles from Heidleberg and Mannheim. The town, rich in Imperial history, is dominated by its majestic 9th century Cathedral started by Konrad II. Such was the importance of Speyer that for nearly 300 years it remained the burial place for the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire. The Cathedral contains the tombs of eight emperors and kings, three empresses and a princess. Today, Speyer is a place of high culture, the home of many institutions for study and education. Speyer's inhabitants are proud of the fact that, along with the Pfalz Historical Museum, the Office of Official Records and the Pfalz District Library, they have the only post graduate college (Administrative Science) in Germany and have earned prestige as an important cultural centre from their position as seat of the two church heirarchies in the Pfalz. With its progressive attitude combined with traditional thinking, Speyer is also a modern, competitive urban centre of the Rhine-Neckar region.