Naumburg Cathedral

In the west choir of Naumburg cathedral stand twelve life-size stone figures of the cathedral's founders, carved around 1250 by an anonymous sculptor known only as the Naumburg Master. The people shown had been dead for around two hundred years, so the sculptor had no likenesses to work from and invented them, giving each an individual face, posture and expression; the figure of Uta von Ballenstedt, drawing her collar across her face, is among the best-known medieval sculptures in Europe. The same workshop carved a rood screen with narrative reliefs of unusual emotional force. UNESCO listed the cathedral in 2018 after two earlier attempts failed.

History

Naumburg probably began with a castle built by Margrave Ekkehard I of Meissen on a rock above the Saale around the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries, and in 1028 his sons won approval from King Conrad II and Pope John XIX to move the bishop's seat here from Zeitz. The first cathedral, begun in spring 1029 and consecrated in 1044, kept only its crypt of around 1160-1170 when rebuilding started around 1210 under Bishop Engelhard; by the mid-13th century the early Gothic west choir, with the donor statues of the twelve founders and the rood screen by the Naumburg Master, had been added, probably finished by 1260. The cathedral became Protestant at the Reformation, is still a Protestant parish church, and in 2018 was recognised as a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Naumburg Cathedral).

What you'll find

• The twelve founders - invented portraits of people dead two centuries earlier.
• The Uta figure - the most reproduced of the group.
• The rood screen - narrative reliefs by the same anonymous workshop.
• The two choirs - an unusual plan with choirs at both ends.

When to go

Year-round; the cathedral closes during services and keeps shorter winter hours. It is quiet compared with better-known German cathedrals.

Things to know

The figures are in the west choir, which can close for services or concerts. The town is small. The UNESCO listing has increased coach traffic.

Nearby

The Saale-Unstrut vineyards lie north; Leipzig is east.

Key facts