Naumburg (Saale) is a city in southern Saxony-Anhalt. It has a well-preserved and worth seeing old town with numerous medieval, renaissance and baroque buildings. The main attraction is the late Romanesque Naumburg Cathedral with its remarkable donor figures, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018. The relatively small city is rich in sights and has retained its leisurelyness despite tourist development. Thomas Mann set a literary monument to her in his novel Doctor Faustus under the name Kaisersaschern.
The landmark of the city of Naumburg is the late Romanesque-early
Gothic Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul. He is in the episcopal suburb.
Construction began before 1213 on this three-nave, two-choir basilica
with four towers and a cloister.
According to recent research,
the early Gothic west choir was built around 1240. In the first half of
the 14th century, the east choir was enlarged in the High Gothic style.
The Romanesque crypt under the east choir was created around 1170 and
was part of a previous building. The two east towers consist of
octagonal upper floors and have baroque hoods. The pulpit dates from
1466. The southwest tower was only completed in 1884. The two west
towers next to the west choir are designed in close accordance with the
towers of the Cathedral of Laon and Bamberg Cathedral. On the west side
of the cloister there is a cloister building, on the east side the late
Gothic Epiphany Chapel from 1416. South of the cloister and thus on the
south side of the cathedral is the parish church of St. Mary, not far
west of the complex is the Aegidienkuria. Between 1960 and 1968 the
cathedral was completely restored.
The twelve donor figures in
the west choir, which were created after 1250, are world famous. All
figures are life-size and carved in limestone. The most famous figures
are Uta and Ekkehard on the north side of the west choir and Regelindis
and Herrmann opposite on the south side.
Naumburg Cathedral has
been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018.
The exhibitions of the Stadtmuseum Naumburg are located at five
locations in the city center and in the district of Großjena.
City Museum "Hohe Lilie"
The Stadtmuseum Hohe Lilie, which was
awarded the museum prize of the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung, is
housed in a building complex, the oldest part of which is a Romanesque
stone structure (erected around 1250), which is usually referred to as
the bower in historical sources. After the severe city fire of 1517, the
tower and two extensions dating back to the 15th century were redesigned
in the years 1526-1532 in the style of the time. Two magnificent figural
consoles adorn the windows of the so-called state room on the upper
floor. A building extension from the Baroque period and a modern access
wing complete the museum building.
Nietzsche House
The
Nietzsche House is dedicated to the life and work of Friedrich
Nietzsche, who spent most of his childhood and youth in Naumburg and in
the nearby state school in Pforta. After Nietzsche's health collapsed in
Turin in 1889, he was cared for by his mother in her home (1890-1897).
Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth set up the first Nietzsche archive here
before first opening it in Naumburg and then moving it to Weimar.
Between 2008 and 2010, the Nietzsche Documentation Center Naumburg was
built on a piece of land adjacent to the Nietzsche House. It houses a
collection on the international reception of Nietzsche.
Pharmacy
Museum
The Löwenapotheke am Markt is connected to a pharmacy museum
of eight rooms on three floors; it is publicly accessible after
registration. It is run by the owner of the pharmacy, Andreas Hünerbein.
Some exhibits are around 200 years old. The first room for the museum
was created in 1935.
Wenceslas Tower
Because the tower of the
town church of St. Wenceslas, the so-called Wenzelsturm, was not only
the bell tower of the town church, but also represented the most
important watchtower in the town, it fell under the jurisdiction of the
town magistrate from the late Middle Ages, in whose service the “house
men” called it towers stood. In the belfry, erected in 1521, an
important triple bell is integrated, which was cast by Martin Hilliger
in Freiberg in 1518. Today, the 72 meter high Wenzelsturm with its
viewing platform in the 53 m high Türmerstube serves as a popular
viewing tower.
Marientor
The Marientor (Frauentor, Porta
Beatae Virginis Mariae) takes its name from the nearby Maria Magdalenen
church. It is the last surviving gate of what used to be five gates of
the town (the others were called Salztor (Porta Salis), Jacobstor (Porta
Jacobaea), Othmarstor (Porta Otmari), Vieh- or Wenzelstor (Porta
Pecorum), Herrentor (Porta Dominica)) without a tower (City gate between
Steinweg and Herrenstraße)). The tower and gatehouse date from the late
14th century while the barbican was added in the mid-15th century. The
Marientor, whose rooms have alternately served as prison cells and poor
houses over the centuries, has belonged to the City Museum since 2001.
Inside there is an extensive exhibition on the historic fortifications.
Max Klinger House
The Max-Klinger-Haus is located just outside
the city, near the confluence of the Saale and Unstrut in the district
of Großjena. It is the country house of the Leipzig painter, graphic
artist and sculptor Max Klinger (1857-1920), which during the summer
season (April-October) presents an extensive exhibition on the artist's
life and work. The museum also includes the etching house (houses a
printing workshop) and Max Klinger's grave.
In addition to the cathedral, the late-Gothic town church of St. Wenzel with its high clock tower is a dominant feature of the Naumburg town silhouette. The Hildebrandt organ is in the church; it was accepted by Johann Sebastian Bach and Gottfried Silbermann. After being damaged in World War II, it was recently restored.
The Renaissance town hall of the city of Naumburg is located on the west side of the market square. This was built between 1517 and 1528 and is still the seat of the city administration today.
Around the old town there are remains of the medieval city fortifications, consisting of a city moat and city wall. A tower erected in the 15th century, which was later converted into a water feature, has been preserved. At the former separation of the council and cathedral city, the former city fortifications were built over by an avenue, today's Lindenring. Of the former five city gates, however, only one has survived, the Marientor. In the last five hundred years the other gates, including the Viehtor, the Salztor, the Jakobtor and the Herrentor, have been demolished. At the Salztor, the Salztorhäuschen, built in the style of classicism by Friedrich Erdmann Schmid, are a reminder of the location of the former city gate. Not far from here are the Catholic Saint Peter and Paul Church, which was consecrated in 1962, and the Othmar Church, which was first mentioned in a document in 1259 and was given its current appearance between 1691 and 1699.
In the side streets of the old town there are characteristic town
houses with Renaissance gables.
The branch office of the Federal
Language Office on Kösener Straße is a monument of the recent past. The
office is housed in the former imperial cadet institute, a spacious
brick complex consisting of the central main building and two side wings
in neo-Gothic style. The imperial crown as a former hotel, assembly
hall, theater and cinema is still awaiting revival.
Also of
importance as a monument and visible from afar is the Naumburg Higher
Regional Court, a representative neo-baroque building, built on the site
of the former castle of the Margraves of Meissen between 1914 and 1917.
Southwest of the Almrich district there is a Bismarck tower on the
Burgscheidel. This 14 m high viewing tower was built in 1902 from quarry
limestone and was soon supplemented by a tourist restaurant. After it
was renamed Burgscheidelturm in 1945, it was renamed Bismarckturm after
reunification in 1991. In 1992, the tower was renovated, which now
received a bridal suite, the so-called Bismarck suite, as an addition to
the neighboring hotel.
In 1879, the Dutch mill, visible from
afar, was built. It largely dominates the townscape on the southern bank
of the Saale.
Memorial at the city park. Formerly in the Park of Victims of
Fascism. Designed in 1963 by the artists Gerhard Lichtenfeld and Martin
Wetzel for the periods of the Weimar Republic, the National Socialist
period and the post-war reconstruction period. The block from the Nazi
era bore the names of eleven victims of the Nazi dictatorship. As part
of the redesign of the city park, the concrete blocks were removed and
the bronze plaques attached to the outer wall of the park.
Memorial
at the Salztor for the victims of fascism, with a relief of the KPD
chairman Ernst Thälmann
Memorial stone in the Richard Locker Stadium
for the communist strength athlete Richard Locker, who was pressed into
the 999th Penal Battalion during World War II and lost his life in the
process
Graves in the grove of honor in the municipal cemetery on
Weißenfelser Straße for 23 Polish women, twelve Polish men and two
Soviet men who were known by name and who were deported to Germany
during the Second World War and became victims of forced labor
War
memorial for those who died in the wars of unification on Kramerplatz
War memorial for the members of the Magdeburg Jäger Battalion No. 4 who
died in World War I on the corner of Bergstraße and Spechsart.
Stadtbaurat Friedrich Hoßfeld designed the monument, which was
ceremoniously unveiled and inaugurated on July 1, 1923
Naumburg organizes sports days every year, where international walking competitions take place. The World Championships and several World Cups in walking have already been held in Naumburg. Naumburg itself has several large, successful sports clubs. In football, these are mainly the Naumburger SV 05 (Verbandsliga) and the Naumburger Ballspiel-Club 1920 e. V. (National League). The new merger has existed under the name SC Naumburg since 2017. In handball, Naumburg is represented by HC Burgenland in the Mitteldeutsche Oberliga and in volleyball, Blau-Weiss Naumburg (Landesliga) is successful. Another sporting highlight in Naumburg are the annual skater nights (night skating), in which people skate through the city and the surrounding area on inline skates. Naumburg has a stadium (Richard Locker Stadium) with a grass pitch and a hard pitch as well as several grass sports fields (Krumme Hufe, Hallescher Anger, Birkenwaldchen, Moritzwiesen). There are other grass sports fields in the districts. Furthermore, Naumburg has a tennis court and two multi-purpose halls for sporting events, one of which is on the former site of the Naumburg Cathedral Gymnasium and one in the Euroville youth and sports hotel.
Naumburg Hussite Cherry Festival
Every year on the last weekend in
June, at the time of the sweet cherry harvest, the city of Naumburg
celebrates the Hussite cherry festival. It includes a fairground, called
the Vogelwiese, with 15 marquees managed by associations, the Hussite
camp with medieval market activity, music and show fights, a large
festival procession, the wine village and countless attractions in
various places in the city.
The festival has a long tradition. As
early as the 16th century, council bills included expenses for a school
festival. Since the 17th century, the festival has been associated with
a legendary siege of Naumburg by the Hussites in 1432. A teacher and
children - dressed in white penitential shirts - went to the gates of
the besieged city to ask the Hussite general Andreas Prokop for mercy.
He heard the request and even gave the children cherries. Today, this
legend forms the core of the folk festival, which has been commemorating
the events with a scenic presentation for several years.
Another
highlight is the Peter-Pauls-Messe on Sunday. Naumburg once competed
with Leipzig as a trade fair city. As in the past, traditional craftsmen
present their skills and goods at this fair in Naumburg.
Naumburg
pigeon market
Every year in January and February, the traditional
pigeon market takes place on every second weekend on Saturday, to which
pigeon breeders and traders travel from all over Germany and sometimes
from neighboring countries.
Wine festivals
Naumburg is located
in the northernmost wine-growing region in Germany - Saale-Unstrut.
There are numerous winegrowers in and around the city. Several wine
festivals take place every year.
Naumburg Wine Week (last weekend
in February) – with wine fair and young wine tasting
Saale Wine Mile
(Pentecost)
Wein- & Hoffest Winzerhof Gussek Naumburg (mid-June) –
surrounded by vines, with graphics and works of art
Naumburg Wine
Festival (last weekend in August)
Naumburg Street Theater Days (every two years in May)
Naumburg
Flower Market (May 1st)
Naumburg Vineyard Race
"Jazz & Dixieland
in the flower ground" (every year on Ascension Day and on the Whitsun
weekend)
Hildebrandt Days (September, October) St. Wenceslas Church
Regular events in Bad Kösen can be found in the corresponding article.
Tram festival of the Naumburger Tram GmbH (the 3rd Saturday of
September)
By plane
The nearest commercial airport is Leipzig Halle Airport
(IATA: LEJ), which can be reached in about an hour and a half by train
(change at Leipzig Hbf. or Halle Hbf.). Frankfurt International Airport
(IATA: FRA) is approximately four hours away by train.
By train
Local trains and individual long-distance trains stop at the main
station, about two kilometers west of the city center. When traveling
from the direction of Frankfurt, you have to change trains in Erfurt.
The nearest long-distance stops with a dense offer are now Leipzig,
Halle and Erfurt, to which there are direct regular Nv connections.
A rather insignificant railway line for the journey is the
Unstrutbahn from Wangen or Nebra. The trains end at Naumburg Ost station
and also stop at the main station. Naumburg Ost train station is about
one and a half kilometers east of the center.
On the street
Naumburg has its own junction symbol: AS 21 on the A9. From there, the
B180 leads over 14km to Naumburg.
By bus
Long-distance buses
do not go to Naumburg (as of January 2017).
By bicycle
The
Saale cycle path runs along the Saale. Turnoffs to the train station and
the cathedral are signposted.
The Unstrut cycle path runs on the
other bank of the Saale and ends at the Henne Bridge. It can also be
reached via the "Amblossomgrund" ferry.
Naumburg is in the tariff area of the Mitteldeutscher Verkehrsverbund
(MDV), zone 255. Association tickets valid in this zone are also valid
in city buses, as is the Saxony-Anhalt (Saxony/Thuringia) ticket. A line
overview is available here (pdf file). There are three city bus routes
in Naumburg. Those who only travel in the old town will be faster on
foot (also from the parking lots).
The Naumburg tram (photo) runs
halfway around the city center from the main station every 30 minutes
(single journey €2.20, concession €1.20; also sold in the car,
association tickets and Germany tickets are accepted). Historic vehicles
that were built in Gotha between the 1950s and 1970s are used. If you're
lucky, you can also take the Lindner railcar (17), built in 1928.
The connection between the actual Naumburg and the district of
Großjena in theblossom, a meadow landscape bordered by vineyards at the
confluence of the Saale and Unstrut, is established from March to
October by a non-motorized passenger ferry, which is only driven by the
flow energy of the water (bicycles can be taken along).
Naumburg is located in southern Saxony-Anhalt near the Thuringian
border, 39 km south of Halle and 30 km north of Jena. Located
south-west of the edge of the Leipzig lowland bay, the city, at an
altitude of 130 m above sea level, is part of the low mountain
range. The city is surrounded by the hilly Saale-Unstrut
wine-growing region and is located in the Saale-Unstrut-Triasland
Nature Park. The climate in Naumburg is exceptionally mild, which
makes viticulture on the surrounding valley slopes possible in the
first place.
The maximum east-west extent of the core city is
around 6.5 km, the maximum north-south extent around 5.5 km.
Immediately north of the core city of Naumburg, the Unstrut, coming
from northern Thuringia, flows into the Saxon Saale, coming from the
direction of the Fichtelgebirge. Other bodies of water are the
Wethau in the east and south-east of Naumburg and smaller streams.
Naumburg is divided into a core city with approx. 25,000 inhabitants
and the incorporated surrounding villages.
The old town developed
from two medieval town centers. In the process, two separate areas of
sovereignty were formed: in the south-east the council and civic town,
in the north-west due to its prehistory as a bishopric, the episcopal
town. Today an avenue (Lindenring) runs between the two.
The
suburbs from the time of industrialization adjoin the old town. Due to
Naumburg's history as a former Prussian city of civil servants, garrison
and lawyers, comparatively few suburbs have been developed as
working-class districts (e.g. north of the old town). Instead,
preference was given to building villas (e.g. in the Bürgergarten
district in the south and in the eastern suburbs).
From the time
of the GDR there are also only smaller new housing estates. These
include parts of the Naumburg Garden City in the north, the Friendship
of Nations in the south-east not far from the New Cemetery and parts of
the Flemminger Weg settlement.
After reunification, more
single-family houses were built in the core city again, e.g. B. in the
Naumburg Garden City and in the Flemminger Weg settlement.
In terms of regional geology, Naumburg lies in the Saale-Unstrut Triassic region. This is characterized by a layer stack of the Triassic sedimentary rocks of Buntsandstein, Muschelkalk and Keupers. After these were lifted in recent geological history, the rivers Saale, Unstrut and Weichau eroded valleys approx. 50 to 100 meters deep, in which floodplain sediments such as floodplain loam and river gravel are found today. Since the valleys did not deepen evenly and the flow of water from the rivers was not constant over time, there are river terraces with river gravel around 30 m above the current valley floor in Naumburg. Today, most of Naumburg's core city is located on such a terrace. At the edges of the valleys there are still countless rocks made of the red and white sandstones and mudstones of the Buntsandstein and of the grey-blue limestones and mudstones of the shell limestone. In the flower ground near Großjena there is the stone album, a sandstone wall hewn in the baroque style.
The following table shows the climate data from the Naumburg/Saale-Kreipitzsch weather station for the period 2018-2023. Annual precipitation is 479 millimeters. Naumburg is located in the central German dry area.
Neighboring communities are Freyburg (Unstrut) in the north, Goseck in the north-east, the communities of Schönburg, Wethau and Mertendorf in the Wethautal community in the east, Molauer Land in the south, the communities of Dornburg-Camburg in the Thuringian Saale-Holzland district and Großheringen in the Thuringian district of Weimarer Land in the south-west and the municipalities of Lanitz-Hassel-Tal and Balgstädt in the An der Finne association of municipalities in the west.
Like large parts of Central Europe, the landscape around Naumburg has been inhabited by changing cultures from the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age for around seven and a half thousand years (see Prehistory and Early History of Central Europe). However, no written evidence has survived from this prehistory and early history, only archaeological finds. Named after today's Naumburg is z. B. the Bronze Age depot of Naumburg and the culture of the Naumburg Group from the Iron Age from about 300 BC. to 60 BC The Eulau family graves were recovered in 2005 on the Saale high terrace near Eulau. These represent the oldest known archaeological find of a human nuclear family and date from the 3rd millennium BC. Today, the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archeology in Halle (Saale) is responsible for the administration of these finds.
At the time of the migration of peoples, Germanic and Slavic tribes settled in the Naumburg area from the 4th century AD. The Saale later formed the approximate border in the region between the German-speaking areas in the north-west and the Slavic-speaking areas in the south-east. From the 9th century, most of the villages around Naumburg that exist today were founded. Mainly to the east of the Saale, the once Slavic settlements can be recognized by their place names, which have survived to this day (e.g. Scheiplitz, Gröbitz, Neidschütz, Zeitz). In the course of the High Middle Ages, German settlers spread across the Saale to Eastern Europe and displaced or assimilated the earlier Slavic inhabitants.
Naumburg was first mentioned in a document in 1012, when the new castle of the Ekkehardiner, the Margraves of Meissen, was built at the crossroads of two trade routes. In 1021, the Merseburg bishop's chronicle reports that a provost was founded shortly beforehand on the site of what later became Naumburg Cathedral. By operating the Ekkehardiner 1028 Pope John XIX. his consent to the relocation of the bishopric from Zeitz to Naumburg. Until the Reformation was implemented in the city in 1568, Naumburg was the episcopal seat of the bishops of the diocese of Naumburg-Zeitz, with the bishops again mostly residing and living in Zeitz from the 13th century. The last bishop was Julius von Pflug, who died in Zeitz and is also buried there. The cathedral school was founded in 1030. Naumburg has been called a city since 1144.
The diocese of Naumburg-Zeitz enfeoffed its property to the region's
monasteries. In and around Naumburg, these were in particular the Pforta
monastery as well as the Moritz monastery and the local monastery. The
monasteries administered so-called Vorwerke, Meierhöfe and various
villages in the urban area of Naumburg.
In the early Middle Ages
there were more villages around Naumburg than today. Some of these have
been abandoned due to the economic activities of the monasteries, and
some have had to be abandoned due to climatic changes and the associated
drying up of water sources (see deserted area).
The following
villages around Naumburg have survived from the early Middle Ages. The
Slavic village of Reussen, named after a lynx grove, was located on the
Reussenplatz site. In today's Steinkreuzweg commercial area there was
the village of Wichowe, whose name can still be found today in the newer
settlement of Weichau and the Weichaugrund. The village of Roda, also
known as the Rödchen, was located on the plateau south of the town
center on the south-east corner of the Buchholz. Today's district of
Flemmingen has grown over the years over the ruins of the neighboring
old Slavic village of Tribun. In the Mordthal near Bad Kösen were the
small villages of Scolowe and Kazenrode, the latter is probably named
after Kazo, the short form of the Naumburg bishop Kadeloh. There were
also two villages on the Saale in the west called Cösen and Lochwitz,
which had to be abandoned due to the economic activities of the Pfortas
monastery and from whose ruins the spa town of Bad Kösen later grew.
Pforta Monastery was founded in its early days next to the Pforta
farming settlement, which also no longer exists.
In the course of
the construction of the Bad Kösen bypass, the deserted village of
Neschwitz was discovered in 2018. Most recently there was an unknown
deserted settlement on the site of today's Bürgergartenviertel, the name
of which has not been handed down.
In the late Middle Ages, Naumburg was an important trading center on the Via Regia, especially because of the Naumburg fairs, first mentioned in 1278. The rise of Leipzig to become a trade fair city after 1500 and the Thirty Years' War brought Naumburg's economic boom to a standstill. The territory of the bishopric, which was secularized in the mid-16th century, passed to the Electors of Saxony, who had it administered by their own monastery government in Naumburg and later provided the administrators. In 1544 the office of Naumburg was formed from the abbey's property on the Saale. After the fraternal main comparison among the four sons of Johann Georg I. in 1657, the Naumburg monastery area belonged to the Sekundogenitur Sachsen-Zeitz, which fell to the youngest son Moritz. Before the Moritzburg was built in Zeitz, the Naumburg city palace served as the residence of this branch line. This episode came to an end in 1718 with the death of the last Protestant representative of the Sachsen-Zeitz line. The Naumburg monastery area finally fell back to the Dresden electoral line; It was thus completely integrated into Albertine Saxony, but remained the seat of its own administrative authorities until 1815 (e.g. the consistory of the Naumburg-Zeitz monastery).
Jews lived in the episcopal city of Naumburg until the end of the late Middle Ages. They lived on Jüdengasse, the city's central Jewish street, which still survives today. 1494 received the episcopal cities of Naumburg and Zeitz from Bishop Johann III. von Schönberg promised “to say goodbye to the resident Jews after the expiry of their escorts and prescriptions, to expel them from all areas and not to admit any Jews in the future either.” The councils of these cities had complained about the usury interest allegedly taken by the Jews and their ruthless collection . In 1494 all Jews were expelled from Naumburg and in 1517 from Zeitz. To compensate for the lost Jewish money, Naumburg had to pay 60 and Zeitz 40 Rhenish guilders to the episcopal chamber each year, redeemable with 1200 or 800 Rhenish guilders, corresponding to the required sum for 20 years. Today, a bronze commemorative plaque at the market-side entrance on Jüdengasse commemorates the former residents and their expulsion.
The history of Naumburg is closely linked to Martin Luther and the
Reformation. Luther first preached in 1521 on his way to the Diet of
Worms in Naumburg. On January 18, 1542, Luther, together with Philipp
Melanchthon, Spalatin and Nikolaus von Amsdorf, took up quarters at
Markt 3 with the widow of the town clerk Ambrosius Dörffer. Today a
plaque commemorates it. One of the most difficult council meetings in
the city's history took place that evening, in which an agreement was
reached with the elector on the appointment of Nikolaus von Amsdorf as
bishop. On January 20, 1542, Luther consecrated him in the east choir of
Naumburg Cathedral as the first evangelical bishop. With this, Luther
not only set a milestone in Naumburg's church history, but also for the
strengthening of Protestantism. The time of the evangelical bishop is
also referred to as the "Naumburg bishop experiment". The west wing of
the so-called Naumburg palace on the market square and later the
bishop's palace in Zeitz became Nikolaus von Amsdorf's office and
residence.
However, the most influential personality of
Naumburg's Reformation is Nikolaus Medler. In 1536 he took up the
position of superintendent in the town church of Sankt Wenceslas and was
given supervision of 32 churches. A year later he wrote a church and
school order that was based on the Wittenberg order and was expressly
approved by Luther. In 1568 the Reformation finally prevailed in
Naumburg.
On May 2, 1604, a Christina Kirchner from Michelsgasse who had been
accused of witchcraft by Nicol von Zwicken's wife was beheaded.
From 1621 to 1622 Naumburg had a tipper mint in which interim coins were
struck under the mint masters Georg Oppermann, Kurt Marquart, Sebastian
Haertel and Friedrich Ulm. These were Kipper coins ranging from the
Kipper 12 Kreuzer piece to the so-called Kippertaler of 60 groschen.
From 1656 to 1718 Naumburg belonged to the Duchy of Saxony-Zeitz.
Therefore, from 1652, Elector Johann Georg I of Saxony built the
Residenzhaus am Markt (today's district court). On October 3, 1653, his
son Moritz was able to move into the new house, from where he ruled the
duchy until July 1, 1663, before he moved to the newly built Moritzburg
in Zeitz. His art-loving son Moritz Wilhelm von Sachsen-Zeitz built the
opera house in front of the Salztor in 1701, which burned down in 1716.
After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Naumburg fell to Prussia and
was incorporated into the administrative district of Merseburg in the
newly formed province of Saxony. As part of the district division of the
administrative district of Merseburg, an urban district of Naumburg was
set up on October 1, 1816, which included the city of Naumburg and a
number of surrounding villages. On January 1, 1818, the urban district
of Naumburg was expanded to include numerous villages in the Weißenfels
district and was converted into a normal district with Naumburg as the
district town.
The Higher Regional Court of Naumburg (1816-1849)
was founded with assignment to the province of Saxony, which was
responsible for the administrative districts of Merseburg and Erfurt.
From 1849 the Prussian court of appeal in Naumburg, which was also
located here, and the subordinate district court were responsible
instead. With the Reich Justice Laws in 1879, the institution of the
court of appeal was again replaced by a higher regional court (see
Naumburg Higher Regional Court). This was now also responsible for parts
of the province of Hanover and parts of the Thuringian states.
In
1846 the city was connected to the Thuringian Railway from Halle to
Erfurt, in 1889 to Artern and finally in 1900 to Teuchern. On September
15, 1892, the Naumburg tramway went into operation. In the early years,
it was still powered by steam. On January 2, 1907, she was converted to
electric operation. In 1914 the city of Naumburg became independent of a
district.
Although industrialization developed only weakly, a
workers' association was formed as early as 1848. When the Kapp putsch
was suppressed in 1920, five workers were killed. In 1927 the "Devoli"
(German People's Theater) was founded, with its headquarters in the
former garrison hospital on the Spechsart. The film and recording
studios are also located there. In the 1930s, as part of the rearmament
of the Wehrmacht, three new barracks were built in Naumburg, one on
Schönburger Strasse and two on Flemminger Weg (then
Adolf-Hitler-Strasse). On August 20, 1935, the 53rd Infantry Regiment
paraded on the old market square for the first time. This regiment was
used in the invasion of Poland.
On April 9th and 11th, 1945,
American planes bombed the city. Parts of the military installations in
the east of the city as well as areas of the old town and adjacent areas
were destroyed or badly damaged. More than 400 people died and around
700 houses were damaged. On April 12, Mayor Bruno Radwitz handed the
city over to US troops, and just under three months later – on July 2 –
Red Army troops moved into Naumburg. Due to the influx of refugees and
displaced persons, up to 60,000 people stayed in the city.
After the city was occupied by Red Army units in 1945, an area around
the Higher Regional Court was cordoned off and declared a restricted
military area. It was from the staffs of the 57th Garde-Mot. Rifle
Division and the 170th Garde-Mot. Rifle Regiment of the Soviet Armed
Forces. In the garrison town of Naumburg, the barracks from the 19th
century as well as from the National Socialist era were used to house
the soldiers. The officers lived in parts of the Bürgergarten villa
district as well as newly built housing estates. Parts of the
surroundings of Naumburg, e.g. B. the Buchholz, were used by the Soviet
armed forces for training purposes, but were mostly accessible to the
population. The Soviet supply facilities ("Russian magazines") could
also be used by the residents.
In 1950, Naumburg lost its status
as an independent city and became part of the district of Weißenfels. In
the GDR, Naumburg was the location of mechanical engineering,
pharmaceutical, metal and shoe industries.
In the 1980s, as in
large parts of East Germany, new housing estates were built to alleviate
the nationwide housing shortage. Comparatively few settlements were
built in Naumburg. These include the Friendship of Nations, the Am
Holländer settlement (today Flemminger Weg), parts of the Naumburg
Garden City and a settlement on the Moritzwiesen.
In the course
of the fall of the Wall in 1989 in Naumburg there were numerous
demonstrations and gatherings in the town's churches.
After reunification in 1990, the city, which had previously belonged
to the Halle district, became part of the newly formed state of
Saxony-Anhalt. The area around the Higher Regional Court became
accessible to the local population again after the GSSD left. The
properties used by the Soviet armed forces were put to civilian use.
In 1994 the districts of Naumburg, Nebra and Zeitz were merged to
form the Burgenland district. The county seat remained Naumburg. In
2007, the Burgenland district and the district of Weißenfels were merged
into the new Burgenland district. Since then, Naumburg has been the
administrative center of this district, which also includes the
neighboring towns of Weißenfels, Zeitz and Nebra.
On January 1, 2010, the last towns to be incorporated were Bad Kösen, Crölpa-Löbschütz, Janisroda and Prießnitz.
The population of Naumburg increased sharply up to the Second World War and reached a high of 41,379 in 1946 due to the influx of war refugees. During the division of Germany, the population steadily decreased and reached 32,582 inhabitants in 1990. After reunification, this trend continued and the number dropped to below 30,000 around 2005. The number of inhabitants was increased again to 34,294 by incorporation of the northern and southwestern surrounding communities. Since then it has continued to fall, but much more slowly than before. The development of Naumburg's population was thus similar to that of neighboring cities in southern Saxony-Anhalt. However, the percentage shrinkage after reunification was not as strong as e.g. B. in Weißenfels or Zeitz.
The Naumburg municipal council consists of 40 honorary members and
the mayor. The elections for the current municipal council took place on
May 26, 2019. The distribution of seats was as follows (compared to the
2014 election in brackets):
CDU: 15 seats (− 6)
LEFT: 4 seats (+/−
0, later −1). Marno Scherling left the parliamentary group and later
formed the parliamentary group "Free Voters / Scherling" with city
councilor Günther Weisse
SPD: 4 seats (−1)
United Citizen List
(VBL): 2 seats (+4, going forward −2). Claudia Höfler-Loff left the
parliamentary group and later joined the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
parliamentary group. Roswitha Leich also left the parliamentary group
and later joined the Alliance for Bad Kösen/FDP parliamentary group.
GREEN: 3 seats (+ 1). Later in the election period, Claudia Höfler-Loff
(previously United Citizens' List) joined the parliamentary group. The
parliamentary group has had 4 seats since then.
When Silvio Lorke
left, the parliamentary group of the National Democratic Party of
Germany (NPD), which had one seat more than in 2014, was dissolved.
There was no successor. Ellen Wangelin is a non-attached member of the
municipal council.
Alliance for Bad Kösen (BBK) / FDP: 5 seats (+ 2
FDP). In the further course of the electoral period, Roswitha Leich
(previously United Citizens' List) joined the parliamentary group, which
has had 6 seats since then.
The faction of the Free Voters
Burgenlandkreis (FW-BLK) with 2 seats (+ 1) has dissolved. City
councilors Günther Weisse and Karsten Bucksch belonged to the municipal
council as non-attached members. Later, Marno Scherling (previously Die
Linke faction) and Günther Weisse joined together to form the "Freie
Wahler / Scherling" faction. Thomas Scholl replaced Karsten Bucksch, who
had resigned, but remained non-attached.
Lord Mayor
In the
local elections on April 22, 2007, the previous deputy and mayor since
February 1, 2007, Bernward Küper (CDU) was elected mayor. In the
election on May 25, 2014, he was confirmed in office with 53.95% of the
votes in the first ballot. In the 2021 mayoral election, after Küper
left office on June 30, 2021, his previous deputy Armin Müller (CDU) was
elected as his successor. He was sworn in on June 23, 2021 and appointed
to office on July 1, 2021.
The coat of arms of the city shows a red key crossed diagonally in
silver, the locking plate square, and a fallen red sword. The sword is
above the key.
Naumburg's coat of arms emerged from the episcopal
seal, which also consisted of a key and sword, the attributes of the
apostles Peter and Paul, the patron saints of Naumburg Cathedral.
Originally, the hilts of the sword and key were down, the blade and
beard pointing up. When Naumburg became independent in the 13th century,
the town council retained the episcopal coat of arms, only rotated 90°.
Since then, the handles point to the right (heraldic left).
Until
1993 the key in the coat of arms was above the sword, this was exchanged
in the course of the 1994 redesign.
According to the city's main statute, Naumburg's flag is a two-tone red and white flag. These run horizontally in the transverse form of the flag and vertically in the longitudinal form, each in a ratio of 1:1.
On May 30, 1988, a town twinning with Aachen was agreed.
The
partnership of Les Ulis near the French capital Paris with the city of
Naumburg (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt was sealed on April 19, 2019 by the
mayors of the two cities in Les Ulis.
Naumburg is also a member
of the Association of Towns with a Hussite History and Tradition and the
New Hanseatic League.
Naumburg has several smaller and larger designated commercial areas.
The commercial areas Franz-Julius-Höltz-Strasse and Steinkreuzweg are
located in the inner city. The Schönburg commercial area is located just
beyond the city limits on federal highway 180. There is also another
commercial area in the Flemmingen district.
Resident
manufacturing companies are e.g. B. the glass painting Wilhelm Franke
and the machine manufacturer Gehring Naumburg GmbH & Co. KG. In the
district of Bad Kösen, the Kösener Spielzeug Manufaktur has been
producing since 1912.
The attractiveness of the city and the
districts of Bad Kösen and Großjena (cathedral, old town, castles,
Max-Klinger-Haus, viticulture, Saale and Unstrut for hiking, cycling and
water hiking) for various target groups is supported by an extensive
range of accommodation, restaurants and cultural offerings flanked. The
regional association Saale-Unstrut-Tourism e. V. is based in Naumburg.
As an old city for lawyers and civil servants, Naumburg is still the
seat of the following legal institutions and other authorities.
Legal Institutions
Seat of the Naumburg Higher Regional Court (since
1816)
Seat of the Attorney General of Saxony-Anhalt
Seat of the
District Court of Naumburg with the Agricultural Court and external
chamber for the execution of sentences of the Regional Court of Halle
Branch of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Halle (Saale)
Other
authorities
Branch of the Federal Language Office
Federal Armed
Forces Technical School
Seat of the district administration of the
Burgenland district
Seat of the mobile communications infrastructure
company of the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport.
Until December 31, 2008, the city was also the seat of a labor court.
The prison in Naumburg, most recently a branch of the JVA Volkstedt, was
closed on September 30, 2012.
On April 1, 2020, the SRH Group
took over the sponsorship of the insolvent Klinikum Burgenlandkreis
GmbH.
There were two high schools in Naumburg, the Domgymnasium and the
Lepsiusgymnasium. After the merger of the two grammar schools and the
withdrawal from the Seminarstraße school location in 2007, the grammar
school now exists as a cathedral grammar school in the buildings of the
former Lepsius grammar school. Since the incorporation of Bad Kösen,
there has been a second grammar school in the town with the state school
Pforta.
Naumburg also has four elementary schools, the Georgen
School, the Albert Schweitzer Elementary School, the Salztor School and
the Uta School. The Max-Klinger elementary school is located in
Kleinjena and the Bergschule in Bad Kösen. There are also two secondary
schools, the Alexander von Humboldt School and the Albert Schweitzer
Secondary School. The secondary schools Jan Hus School and Yuri Gagarin
School were closed due to a lack of students. The building of the Jan
Hus School now houses the Freie Schule im Burgenland, an independent
secondary school. Since 2007, the St. Martin Cathedral School, a
reform-pedagogical Protestant elementary school with a musical and
language profile, has been located directly next to the cathedral. In
the district of Bad Kösen there is another secondary school, the
Borlachschule.
There are three vocational schools in Naumburg,
one state and two private. In addition to the vocational schools in the
Seilergasse, the CELOOK and the Medical Vocational Academy (MBA) take
over parts of the initial training and further education. There is also
a branch of the German Employee Academy on the market. Between 1948 and
1993 there was a church college in Naumburg, the catechetical seminary,
where theology, philosophy, religious education and at times canon law
were taught. At the same time there was a church high school
(Proseminar). Here, students who were denied the Abitur at state schools
during the SED rule could catch up on a church Abitur in three years.
Naumburg was the location of a Royal Prussian cadet institute and
thus part of the Prussian cadet corps. During the Third Reich, the
building complex on Kösener Straße was a national political educational
institution. From 1956 to 1960, the NVA used the historic area as a
cadet school. During this time, among others, the writer Thomas Brasch
was a student there. The last cadet students were led there in 1961 to
the Abitur. The NVA continued to use the school as a preparatory faculty
to prepare for university studies at the Friedrich Engels Military
Academy and as an institute for language training. The former cadet
school has been a branch of the Federal Language Office since 1990 and a
Bundeswehr technical school since 1992. In the vernacular, this area,
which is now a listed building, is still known today as Die Kadette.
Road traffic
Naumburg is located at the intersection of three
federal highways. The B 87 leads from Apolda to Leipzig, the B 88 to
Jena and the B 180 from Querfurt to Zeitz. Naumburg can also be reached
via the Naumburg junction of the A 9 (21a) autobahn, which is linked to
the city by the B 180 federal highway.
The most important traffic
routes currently lead radially to the southern edge of the old town ring
of Naumburg, where traffic jams often occur due to the increased volume
of traffic. The federal government has therefore been planning the
construction of three bypasses for many years in order to relieve the
inner city areas. In the course of federal highway 87, the Naumburg
bypass in the south and the Bad Kösen bypass to the west with a bridge
spanning the Saale valley between Saaleck and Großheringen are planned.
In the east, it is planned to relocate federal highway 180 to a new
route east of Naumburg, east of the Henne to the existing Freyburg
(Unstrut) bypass. The Bad Kösen bypass, for which archaeological
investigations have been underway since 2017 and whose construction is
scheduled to be completed in 2025, is the most advanced.
Regional
transport
Naumburg (Saale) Hbf station is on one of the busiest
railway lines in Germany, the Thuringian Railway, which opened in 1846.
It was fundamentally expanded due to the ICE stop in the years 2002 to
2006 and reopened on September 6, 2006.
Naumburg is also at the
start of the Unstrut Railway to Artern and the Naumburg-Teuchern to
Zeitz railway line. Since 1900, Naumburg has had a second station on the
Naumburg-Teucherner Bahn, the Ostbahnhof. However, rail traffic between
Naumburg and Teuchern has been discontinued in the meantime. Regional
trains run hourly on the Unstrutbahn to Wangen.
In addition to
the regional train lines Halle-Eisenach and Naumburg-Saalfeld, which ran
every hour or every two hours, Naumburg was also a stop for ICE trains
on the Hamburg-Berlin-Munich route until the opening of the
Nuremberg-Erfurt high-speed line in December 2017 and until the
completion of the New Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle line Individual trains stop
on the Frankfurt am Main–Leipzig–Dresden line. Since then, IC trains
have stopped in Naumburg, mainly the IC between Cologne and
Stralsund/Binz via Kassel, Erfurt, Halle (Saale) and Berlin.
In
the course of this, the range of local transport connections was almost
tripled. In addition to the hourly regional train lines Halle-Saalfeld
and Leipzig-Eisenach, fast regional express lines run every hour to
Erfurt, Halle and Jena and every two hours to Leipzig. Most lines are
operated by Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland, only two regional express
lines by DB Regio.
Tram and bus transport
Naumburg is in the
catchment area of the PVG Burgenlandkreis mbH and thus of the Central
German Transport Association. Furthermore, Naumburg has a city bus
system that serves important hubs of the city on three lines every half
hour (every hour on weekends). The central stop in the city center is
the City Bus stop Hallesche Straße, the former central bus station.
Today's bus station is on the outskirts of the city at the main train
station.
The Naumburg tram runs on a 2.9 km long section of the
former ring-shaped tram route. After the cessation of operations in
1991, it has been running every half hour since spring 2007. The
remaining section is currently not passable due to temporary closure and
demolition. Numerous special trips with historic tram railcars from the
GDR are still carried out under the name of the "Naumburger Tourist
Railway". The tram currently runs as line 4 between the main station and
Salztor.
Ship traffic
Due to Naumburg's location on the Saale
and Unstrut, both first-class bodies of water in the state of
Saxony-Anhalt, the basis for navigability is given. There is no longer
any economic use of the waterway, both rivers are used for tourism.
Until 2016, three passenger ships operated on the lower reaches of the
Unstrut from Karsdorf to the mouth in Naumburg’s blooming ground, the MS
“Fröhliche Dörte” built in 1888, the MS “Unstrutnixe” built in 1908 and
the MS “Reblaus” built in 1969.
The regional press medium is the Naumburger Tageblatt, which appears
daily from Monday to Saturday and is part of the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.
The free editorial advertising papers Wochenspiegel and Super Sonntag
appear weekly. The official Naumburg Official Gazette is “Der Domspatz”,
which appears once a month and is distributed to all households free of
charge.
From 1999 to 2004 there was also a local, non-commercial
citizen radio in Naumburg, Freies Radio Naumburg, which was supported by
an association. Until 2005, Naumburg was connected to the network of the
regional TV broadcaster "Welle Süd Fernsehen", which had to stop
broadcasting due to insolvency and today only broadcasts a slide show
with photos from the Burgenland district on the frequency. Since
December 2008 there has also been regional television in the Burgenland
district. The broadcaster BLK-regionalTV, based in Hohenmölsen, reports
on what is happening in the district in a weekly program. The program
can now be received in many cable networks, and the programs can also be
accessed online.
The drinking water for Naumburg is obtained by the Technical Works
Naumburg GmbH from bank filtrate of the Saale and the underlying
groundwater from the Buntsandstein and treated in the Panoramaweg
waterworks. Among other things, the water is aerated to expel carbon
dioxide, it is passed through multi-layer and activated carbon filters
and chlorine dioxide is added to the pure water for disinfection. The
water then enters the pipe network of the technical works, where a total
of eight elevated tanks with a total volume of approx. 13,300 m³ are
installed, which cover consumption peaks and also serve to maintain the
pressure in the network.
The overall hardness of 19.4 °dH is in
the "hard" hardness range. The gross consumption price is €2.12/m³.
Wastewater disposal is handled by the Naumburg Wastewater
Association. There is a 110 km sewer network in the city area. The water
is cleaned in the central treatment plant Welt-Icon. It was put into
operation on March 1, 1996 and has an expansion capacity of 60,000
population equivalents. The system achieves a cleaning performance of
95%. The cleaned wastewater (1.13 million m³ per year) is discharged
into the Saale.
The sewage gas (233,000 m³/a) produced during the
digestion of the sewage sludge is used in a combined heat and power
plant to generate electricity and heat. The sewage treatment plant can
now cover 23% of its electricity and 90% of its heat requirements
itself.