Naumburg - Dom

Naumburg has a population of around 33,000 and is the center of the northernmost German wine-growing region Saale-Unstrut. The first written record of Naumburg dates from 1012. It was founded at the crossing of two trade-routes, Via Regia and the Regensburg Road. The successful foundation not long beforehand of a Propstei Church on the site of the later Naumburg Cathedral was mentioned in the Merseburg Bishops' Chronicles in 1021. Already in 1028 Pope John XIX gave his approval for the transfer of the bishopric from Zeitz to Naumburg. Until 1568, during the Reformation, Naumburg was the seat of the bishops

A late Romanesque new building was started around 1210. The new construction began in the nave. Of the old structure only the crypt survived. However, the construction of the new nave was soon abandoned. Instead, the construction of the new eastern parts of the cathedral began and the new building was then gradually continued to the west. It did not remain in this late-Romanesque form long for by the mid-13th century the early-Gothic west choir was added. It was likely finished by 1260. The western towers were raised by one floor shortly thereafter. In around 1330 the high-Gothic polygonal east choir was built. Additional floors were added to the western towers in the 14th and 15th centuries.


The twelve Naumburg donor figures are the most famous works in the Naumburg Cathedral. They are among the most important German sculptures of the Middle Ages. The "Naumburg Master" who created them worked here simultaneously as an architect and as a sculptor. The life-size figures wear clothing and weapons from the 13th century. The faces of the sculptures are very naturalistic. Each of them has its own unmistakable identity, which is why they differ not only in their clothing, weapons and jewelry but also in their gestures and facial expressions.

Margrave Ekkehard and and gis wife Uta, a count's daughter from Ballenstedt in the Harz Mountains
It is believed that the Naumburg Master was trained in northern France when High Gothic was already flourishing there in Noyon, Amiens and Reims. From around 1230 he worked on the cathedral in Mainz, where he created a rood screen, which has only been preserved in fragments. After that, he moved further east. The west choir of Naumburg Cathedral with the donor figures and the rood screen are considered his main work