Background The history of the town of Naumburg begins at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. Due to a lack of written documentation, details and exact dates are unknown. However, it is likely that Markgraf (Margrave)
Ekkehard I of Meissen and the most powerful man on the eastern border of the
Holy Roman Empire was the founder. He erected a residence on a roughly high rock above the right bank of the
Saale river, near the mouth of the
Unstrut. The location for this castle, which was called
neweburg that later became "Naumburg," was chosen for its advantageous proximity to the intersection of so many well-trafficked commercial highways on the historic eastern border of
East Francia (
Kingdom of Germany) with the lands of the
Polabian Slavs that were incorporated into the
Saxon Eastern March. Ekkehard was murdered in 1002 at
Pöhlde Abbey in the
Harz hills, but it was not possible to bury him at Naumburg yet, as neither castle nor the attached monastery was yet finished. Only once this was accomplished did his sons, the
Meissen margraves
Hermann and
Ekkehard II have his body and those of his ancestors moved to the
Georgenkloster at Naumburg. Ekkehard's sons founded a small parish church in the western part of the area around the castle. It was dedicated to the
Virgin Mary and was first mentioned in surviving texts of the
Merseburg bishopric chronicle in 1021. In 1028, after some encouragement from the two brothers they won approval from King
Conrad II and
Pope John XIX to move the episcopal see from
Zeitz to Naumburg on the grounds that the castle would provide more protection for the see than it could get at Zeitz.
Early-Romanesque stage Soon after the approval of the relocation of the episcopal see, in the Spring of 1029, just to the east of the existing parish church the construction of the early-Romanesque cathedral was begun. In 1044, during the reign of Bishop Hunold of Merseburg, the church was consecrated and the patron saints of Peter and Paul were designated, adopted from Zeitz Cathedral. This church stood in the same location where today's late Romanesque/Gothic edifice is located, but it was of smaller size. In c. 1160/70 a
crypt was added to the building, the only room of the first cathedral to survive in the current structure more or less unaltered.
Late-Romanesque/Gothic stage The rebuilding of the cathedral started around 1210. Of the old structure only the crypt survived and this lost its
apse, but was expanded to the east and west such that it now extends not just under the new
choir but also under the
crossing. This new cathedral was built under Bishop (1207–42). However, it did not remain in this late-Romanesque form long for by the mid-13th century the early-Gothic west choir was added, replacing the old parish church. 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, requiring the destruction of the Romanesque apse. Additional floors were added to the western towers in the 14th and 15th centuries. The
Dreikönigskapelle was consecrated in 1416. A fire damaged the cathedral in 1532, destroying the roofs. After that the eastern towers were raised. The fire also destroyed the three-aisled nave of the collegiate church dedicated to Mary next door to the cathedral, of which today only the choir remains. The collegiate church has its own cloister explaining the temporary presence of two of them, one to the cathedral's south and one to the north. The northern cloister is not extant but served to house the cathedrals clergy prior to the collegiate church's destruction.
Reformation In the course of the
Reformation, it became the see of the first German Protestant bishop,
Nicolaus von Amsdorf in 1542. Upon the death of his Catholic "antibishop",
Julius von Pflug in 1564, the Catholic Naumburg diocese was administrated by the
Electors of Saxony and finally dissolved in 1615.
Later construction The copper roofs and lanterns of the eastern towers were added in 1713/4 and 1725/8. Around mid-century the interior was turned into a Baroque church. This was undone by a "purification" in 1874/8 aimed at restoring the cathedral to a medieval, i.e. Romanesque/Gothic look, even at the price of replacing Baroque items with new Romanesque/Gothic Revival art. The southwestern tower was boosted by three pseudo-Gothic floors in the late 19th century. At the same time gables and roofs were added to both western towers. A pseudo-medieval building was erected in the former location of the collegiate church's nave, initially used as a gymn for the cathedral school. Finally, the gate house was built only in 1940. ==Description==