Naumburg Cathedral

In January, I visited Naumburg Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site nestled in the small town of Naumburg in eastern Germany. The day was cold, biting, and gray - the kind of winter weather that makes you question why you left the house. But to my surprise, at least 20 other visitors braved the chill that day, a sign that Naumburg’s historic and artistic reputation continues to attract people even in the off-season. Naumburg Cathedral is often described — by guides, brochures, and some passionate admirers — as the most beautiful cathedral in Germany. While I agree that it’s striking and certainly unique, I personally think calling it the "most" might be a bit of a stretch. It’s beautiful, yes; but its charm lies more in its distinctiveness and historical character than in jaw-dropping grandeur.

The most defining feature of the cathedral is its double-choir layout, with both an east and a west choir, a rare architectural choice in cathedrals. This design is not unique to Naumburg alone, as a few other churches in Germany, like Bamberg and Speyer, also have dual choirs. However, Naumburg's execution is what makes it remarkable. The west choir, in particular, is unlike anything I’ve seen in other cathedrals. It was designed not for worship, but as a tribute to the cathedral’s founders, featuring the famous 12 donor statues carved by the mysterious Naumburg Master around 1250. These sculptures are astonishingly lifelike, emotional, and individualized especially the statue of Uta, often …

Naumburg Cathedral is clearly not the first cathedral on the list and it's a fair guess that it won't be the last, but I have to say it is one of the nicest ones - by which I mean that it is really well-preserved, with hardly any post-medieval alterations, and gives the look and feel of an authentic church from the Middle Ages. Its four towers can be seen from far away, and its interior is full of fine late Romance and early Gothic archiecture, especially the works by the so-called Naumburg Master. There is also a very nice cloister and a treasury. Located in Martin Luther's homeland, it is also notable for being the first Protestant cathedral and diocese in the world, and the first Protestant bishop anywhere was personally installed in the cathedral by Luther himself (it remained a diocese for only about 20 years, though). I reached Naumburg by train in a half-day trip from Leipzig.

We all know about the bumpy road the Naumburg Cathedral had to take to get placed on the List. I decided not to look back on that episode, not to even prepare for my visit, and just take it at face value. I visited it on ‘Holy Saturday’, the day before Easter. I drove all the way there, 620km from my home, just for my 698th tick!

Naumburg an der Saale lies in the former GDR. This may be the main reason why this cathedral wasn’t proposed earlier – the GDR did have a Tentative List but came late to the scene in nominating anything. It wasn’t until after the reunification in 1990 that Potsdam as the first former East German site was placed on the List. Naumburg itself still isn’t really on the beaten tourist track, although on the sunny Saturday when I was there both the town and the cathedral were well-visited by Germans.

The cathedral lies a bit outside of the historic town center. With its 4 towers and irregular shape it is already an attractive sight. Admission costs 6.50 EUR plus another 2 EUR to be allowed to take photos. This policy also is emblematic of what the former cathedral represents nowadays: more a museum than church. It is owned by a foundation and does not receive money from church taxes or public funds.

Of course, I thought “I have already seen so many cathedrals, what more can this one add”? Naumburg does …

I take Naumburg cathedral as the epitome of central-european church from first half and mid of13th century. The monumental building has two choirs, two rood screens, one crypta, four towers, adjacent cloister. The highlight is obviously the decorations of the west choir (12 statues of founders, rood screen, floral decoration, stained glass windows). I loved not only Ekkehard and Uta, but all the sculptures and stone carvings of the western choir from ca. 1250. The floral decoration is simply beautiful and naturalistic (see PHOTO) - the leaves seem to be in the wind - that is quite typical for this period of early gothic in central/eastern Europe and can be seen also in several churches in Czechia, but the origin of the floral decoration can be found obviously in France (Reims, Amiens, Paris). I could see other works of Naumburg`s master in Meissen cathedral. The Naumburg work is however the best one.

I visited Naumburg and several places around ca. 15 years ago, I could see also sites that were included in one of the trials to enter the list. Well, all the process was a little bit odd, but the result that only cathedral became WHS is positive.

Visited again in August 2019: I enjoyed my secon visit to the cathedral a lot and spent inside around two hours... I was also surpprised how pleasant and nicely reconstructed all the historical center of Naumburg is.

I visited this tentative WHS in November 2014. It's a fine cathedral like many others on the list already and this might make it to the list in 2015. We'll wait and see. The highlight of my trip were the works of the Naumburg master. The film displayed on the upper floor above the ticket booth is really worthwhile viewing to get a detailed overview of the Naumburg master's works and a comparison with other cathedrals and churches in Europe. The combined ticket costs 6 to 8.50 euros + 2 euros for photography which is quite expensive especially by German WHS standards.

Naumburg has been nominated for inclusion in the World Heritage List in 2015. Initially, only the Naumburg Cathedral was registered in the tentative list, but a few years ago the site was extended to a cultural landscape and renamed as: "The Naumburg Cathedral and the landscape of the rivers Saale and Unstrut an important dominion in the High Middle Ages". The high density of preserved monuments from the 10th to 13th century is considered to be the unique feature: a kind of model landscape of the Middle Ages with testimonies of religious and secular power. In a radius of 10 kilometres around the confluence of the Saale and Unstrut are castles and monasteries, remains of city fortifications, small parish churches, and a pleasant landscape with orchards, river meadows, and of course also vineyards.

I have visited the Naumburg Cathedral sometime in the 1990s and again in April 2014. The cathedral is a mixture of late Romanesque and early Gothic elements, the change of styles can be seen in the two rood screen, which divide the interior into a central nave and two choirs. Most impressive are the marvellous works by an unknown artist, called the Naumburg Master: the reliefs depicting the Passion of Christ and the Crucifixion sculpture on the rood screen of the western choir (photo), and especially the statues of the twelve founders in the west choir. The very individual drawing of the faces and gestures is amazing, each sculpture is characteristic and distinctive. Quite unusual for a …

Well, I just wonder why it is not on the list already! One of the most beautiful cathedrals ever seen, highly recommended, in fact, reserve some more time as also Naumburg Old Town is very interesting. For me for sure it will be on the list in the future. Visited just recently (August 2014), entrance ticket is quite expensive (6,5 Euro for an adult person) but the place is worth every single euro to spare ....