On July 1, 2018, Naumburg Cathedral was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List as a masterpiece of human creativity and a significant intersection of human values in relation to the development of architecture. Now the World Heritage Center is being built in the building of the former bishop's curia Domplatz 1 opposite Naumburg Cathedral. This consists of a visitor information center for the UNESCO World Heritage Naumburg Cathedral and the cultural landscape along the Saale and Unstrut rivers including a museum and an event area. In addition, the surrounding gardens will be restored. The official start of construction took place on March 10, 2023 with the handover of the funding decision of the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the placement of the time capsule.
"With the establishment of the World Heritage Center, we can advance the communication and strengthening of the World Heritage idea. A place will be created that presents the World Heritage site of Naumburg Cathedral and the surrounding cultural landscape on the Saale and Unstrut rivers and highlights their exceptional value. Furthermore, it is our concern to promote the understanding of cultural and historical developments as well as to create a sense of identity for the World Heritage Site as a whole. Against this background, the other UNESCO World Heritage sites in Saxony-Anhalt will also be presented in the World Heritage Center," says the director of the United Cathedral Foundations, Dr. Holger Kunde.
Tourism Minister Sven Schulze says: "Naumburg Cathedral is one of the most important cultural monuments in Saxony-Anhalt and an absolute visitor magnet. For the Saale-Unstrut region and for Naumburg, it makes an important contribution to tourism value creation. The World Heritage title also radiates nationally and internationally, and visitor numbers have risen once again since then. I am very happy that we as a state will continue to help drive forward the development of Naumburg Cathedral and create further attractive incentives for a visit with the visitor center and bishop's garden that are being built."
In addition, the World Heritage Center will be a central information point for tourists in the future. As an important visitor magnet on the "Romanesque Road", Naumburg Cathedral attracts thousands of regional, national and international visitors to the Saale-Unstrut region every year. The new center is intended to strengthen access to the cultural heritage of the entire region and thus also its tourist appeal. As a first point of contact for visitors, tickets for the cathedral are sold here and other bookable offers for the cathedral and the region are offered. In addition, a multilingual exhibition will highlight the cultural and tourist attractions in the Saale-Unstrut region, as well as the importance of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Saxony-Anhalt as important cultural and tourist highlights. Furthermore, further education, seminars and lectures are to be offered in cooperation with numerous partners, which will find their spatial place in the lecture room of the 1st floor as well as in the large hall of the attic. An annual number of 150,00 to 200,000 visitors can be expected, who will use the World Heritage Information Center and its historic garden as a central point of contact.
The Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung and the Sparkasse Burgenlandkreis, the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the Friede Springer Stiftung support the museum production in the Bishop's Curia.
The handover of the funding decision from the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the placement of the time capsule on March 10, 2023 represent the official start of construction of the World Heritage Center, which is scheduled for completion in 2025.
"In the course of the reconstruction measures, we will carry out a comprehensive general overhaul," says cathedral architect Prof. Regine Hartkopf. "Due to many reconstructions in the last centuries, the inner structure of the building is hardly recognizable anymore. Therefore, we will strengthen the original substance of the monument through various repair and restoration measures." Adjacent to the historic bishop's building at Domplatz 1 is the former curia garden, which will also be restored in a manner appropriate to the monument and then made available free of charge to visitors to the World Heritage Center and Domplatz.
The funding will be handed over by Sven Schulze, Minister for Economy, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of Saxony-Anhalt, and by Dr. Sebastian Putz, State Secretary for Culture of Saxony-Anhalt. A total of 11.4 million euros will be invested. The state of Saxony-Anhalt is supporting the project with funds from the joint task "Improvement of the regional economic structure" (GRW). The Burgenlandkreis district is also supporting the construction project with 800,000 euros. No structural transformation funds are flowing into this project.
BISCHOFSKURIE
The bishop's curia Curia Episcopalis with its Romanesque residential tower and curia garden is, along with the cathedral and the Ägidien chapel, the most historically valuable ensemble on Domplatz. Both in terms of its structural and cultural-historical development, it has a formative effect on the square opposite the east choir. The palatial main building was erected in the 16th century under the last Catholic bishop Julius Pflug in the Renaissance style. The curia was later used by canons and remodeled several times. The 18th century (representative interiors, pavilion, etc.) and the 20th century (disfiguring but reversible conversions to clinical facilities) brought significant changes. A special jewel of the whole complex is the Romanesque residential tower. As the core of the complex, it dates back to the 12th century, was rebuilt many times and its surfaces show a maximum of readable changes. Inside, fragments of valuable paintings have been preserved.
