Naumburg Cathedral
Naumburg Cathedral is a UNESCO world heritage site. The cathedral is composed of a Romanesque core structure flanked by two Gothic choirs in the east and in the west. Naumburg Cathedral was one of the large double-choir cathedrals built in the transitional style between Late Romanesque and Early Gothic. The four towers form part of the Romanesque structure of the cathedral, even though parts of the upper floors and domes date from more recent style periods. The cathedral is a vaulted, cruciform basilica in a bound system with a segregated crossing.
The Late Romanesque structure of Naumburg Cathedral replaced the first, Early Romanesque cathedral, which had been consecrated around 1042. The new construction was initiated in 1242 under the patronage of the Princes of the Apostles – Peter and Paul.
Naumburg Masters
The workshop organization of sculptors and stonemasons, the Naumburg Master innovated architecture and sculpture of the Hohenstaufen period of the 13th century that were particularly developed at the cathedral in Reims.
No written sources about the chief sculptor-architect of this workshop who was named after his main work in Naumburg. However, there is a general consensus with regard to the itinerary of the building workshop from Mainz via Naumburg to Meissen. An assumption relying on the analysis of historic sources is based on the idea that the milestones of his creative work are marked by the completion of the choir screen in Mainz in 1239, the west choir in Naumburg in 1249/50 and the work of the building workshop in Meissen from 1250 up until prior to 1268.
Next to the plant ornaments, based on the thorough observation of nature and found in all three places, and next to the many matching architectural details, identical stonemason's marks recently found in Iben, Naumburg and Meissen support the evidence. The migration of the building workshop of the Naumburg Master, from Northern France over the Middle Rhine area up to the eastern boundaries of the German Empire and further on to southwestern Europe, reflects the extensive European cultural exchange during the High Middle Ages.
Choir screens
This mural choir screen type combines high artistic architecture, ornamentation and figural sculptures. The plant décor of the west choir, due to its exceptional accuracy and the great variety of shapes to be seen on the capitals, friezes and corbels (corydalis, mugwort, hazel and vine), softens the sharpness and blocky features of the partition architecture and emphasises the organic character of the architecture.
The relief frieze is one of the most sophisticated and formally most perfected arrangement of the Passion of Christ among the preserved sculptural ensembles from the 13th century throughout Europe. It shows the last supper, the payment of the pieces of silver, the capture, Peter's denial, two guards, the reading of Christ's sentence, the flagellation and the carrying of the cross. An important theme of the cycle is the juxtaposition of Judas and Peter; Judas, the sinner who was desperate and damned; Peter, the sinner who believed in forgiveness and became a saint.
The Naumburg Master achieved a high degree of dramatic expressiveness and natural vibrancy. The Jews, for example, wear the typical hats, while Pilatus appears in a splendorous courtly garment, washing his hands off responsibility. The artist mastered a remarkable challenge concerning the usage of the limited space. In the representation of the last supper, he limited the number of disciples beside Christ in the middle and the clearly isolated betrayer Judas to four. The monumental multi-coloured crucifixion group in the central portal of the choir screen shows in an impressive manner the immeasurable suffering of Christ and the deep and obvious grief of Mary and John.
Gothic west choir
The Early Gothic west choir is a hall choir and was built with an elevated gallery. On the level of the gallery, the ten pillars supporting the vault merge with the life-sized sculptures of the founders. The twelve statues of the founders of Naumburg Cathedral rank among the most outstanding creations of European medieval sculpting.
The nearly portrait-like representation of aristocratic men and women of the Thuringian-Saxon nobility is an unparalleled appreciation of the first founders of the church. Even though the people honoured with the sculptures had already been dead for 150 to 200 years at the time of creation, they are shown wearing contemporary courtly garments from the middle of the 13th century. The faces are individual and express inner emotions. The figures interact with the beholder and apparently with each other through looks and gestures.
The attempt to relate the sculptures of the founders to the first founders of the church that were mentioned in the call for donations from 1249 has proven to be an unsolvable undertaking, even after the meticulous examinations of the colouration of the statues during the restoration work. The prevalent opinion in art science is that the statues on the south side are Countess Gerburg and Count Conrad and those on the north side are Countess Berchta and Count Theodoric.
Two founder couples are standing across from each other in clearly prominent positions: Ekkehard II, Margrave of Meissen, with his wife Uta in the north and his older brother, Margrave Hermann, with his wife Reglindis in the south. Only the sculpture of Uta has experienced an unparalleled cult, fostered considerably by the photographs of Walter Hege in the early 20th century.
