Naumburg

Naumburg is a town of about 30,000 people in the south of Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Saale in the Burgenlandkreis district. It lies roughly 45 minutes by regional train from Leipzig, which makes it a practical day trip from that city. The town is best known for its cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it also has a large market square and a compact old town that can be seen on foot in a few hours.

The setting is the Saale-Unstrut region, one of the northernmost wine-growing areas in Germany. Vineyards cover the surrounding slopes, and the two rivers meet a short distance from the town. Naumburg developed as a bishops' seat in the 11th century and grew as a trading and market town at the crossing of medieval trade routes.

The bishopric was moved to Naumburg from nearby Zeitz in 1028, and the town grew around the cathedral and a separate merchant settlement that later merged with it. Naumburg held regional trade fairs from the medieval period, and the size of its market square reflects that commercial role. The town passed to the Electorate of Saxony in the 16th century and later to Prussia. It was not heavily damaged in the Second World War, so much of the historic centre survives. The Saale-Unstrut vineyards around the town produce mainly white wines, and the region has been cultivated for wine since at least the 12th century.

The Cathedral

The Naumburg Cathedral, the Dom St. Peter und St. Paul, is the main reason most visitors come. It was built mainly in the 13th century and marks the transition from Romanesque to Gothic architecture in Germany. Its four towers are visible from across the town and from the surrounding hills. The building was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2018.

The cathedral is known above all for the west choir and its twelve life-sized statues of the cathedral's founders, carved around 1250 by an unnamed sculptor known only as the Naumburg Master. The best known of these is the figure of Uta von Ballenstedt, often described as one of the most striking sculptures of the European Middle Ages. The west choir screen, with its carved reliefs of the Passion, is part of the same commission.

The building has two choirs, one at each end, a feature of several German cathedrals of the period. The east choir is the older, Romanesque part; the west choir is early Gothic. The donor figures stand against the walls of the west choir, each one individually characterised rather than idealised, which is the quality most often noted about the Naumburg Master's work. The stained glass in the west choir is largely original. The cathedral also has cloisters, a treasury and associated museum rooms, and the towers can be climbed for views over the town.

The cathedral precinct sits at the western edge of the old town, slightly apart from the market area. The surrounding cathedral quarter has a number of older houses and quieter streets, and the towers form a consistent landmark on the skyline from most points in the town.

The Market Square

The Markt is the centre of the old town, a large paved square surrounded by gabled townhouses from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The Rathaus and the town church of St. Wenzel stand on or near the square. Markets are held here, and the square is the main gathering point in the town centre.

The town church of St. Wenzel, on the eastern side of the square, is a late-Gothic hall church with a tower that can be climbed. Inside are two paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder and an organ built by Zacharias Hildebrandt in the 1740s, which Johann Sebastian Bach and Gottfried Silbermann examined and approved when it was completed. The Rathaus dates in its present form from the 16th century and has a stepped gable typical of the region.

The houses around the square vary in width, height and colour, with stepped and curved gables and painted facades. Several have oriel windows and carved doorways. One of the more prominent buildings is the pharmacy on the north side, with a decorated oriel above its entrance. Shops and cafés occupy most of the ground floors.

Seen from above, the square is a broad open rectangle with rows of gabled roofs on each side, café terraces along the edges, and trees and market stalls set out across the paving. It is large in proportion to the town, a reflection of Naumburg's former importance as a market and trading centre.

Streets and Gates

The streets between the market square and the cathedral are lined with a mix of shops, houses and small businesses. Some are pedestrianised. The buildings are mostly two to four storeys, plastered and painted, with occasional archways leading into courtyards and side lanes.

Parts of the medieval town fortifications survive. The Marientor is the best-preserved of the former town gates, a double gate with a tower and an inner court, standing at the northern edge of the old town. It is one of the few remaining structures from the town's medieval defensive wall.

From higher vantage points the layout of the town is clear: rows of red-tiled roofs, the market square near the centre, and the cathedral towers to the west. The old town is compact, and the main sights are within a short walk of each other.

Practical Information

Naumburg is reached from Leipzig in about 45 minutes by regional trains, which run regularly through the day. The main station is on the northern side of the town, a short distance from the old town; a historic tram line, the Naumburger Straßenbahn, runs from near the station toward the cathedral. The town is also on the line between Leipzig and Erfurt.

The main sights — the cathedral, the market square, the town church of St. Wenzel and the Marientor — are all within the old town and can be covered on foot in a few hours. This makes Naumburg suitable as a half-day or full-day visit, and it combines well with the vineyards and wine villages of the Saale-Unstrut region for those with more time.

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