Naumburg has been nominated for inclusion in the World Heritage List in 2015. Initially, only the Naumburg Cathedral was registered in the tentative list, but a few years ago the site was extended to a cultural landscape and renamed as: "The Naumburg Cathedral and the landscape of the rivers Saale and Unstrut an important dominion in the High Middle Ages". The high density of preserved monuments from the 10th to 13th century is considered to be the unique feature: a kind of model landscape of the Middle Ages with testimonies of religious and secular power. In a radius of 10 kilometres around the confluence of the Saale and Unstrut are castles and monasteries, remains of city fortifications, small parish churches, and a pleasant landscape with orchards, river meadows, and of course also vineyards.

I have visited the Naumburg Cathedral sometime in the 1990s and again in April 2014. The cathedral is a mixture of late Romanesque and early Gothic elements, the change of styles can be seen in the two rood screen, which divide the interior into a central nave and two choirs. Most impressive are the marvellous works by an unknown artist, called the Naumburg Master: the reliefs depicting the Passion of Christ and the Crucifixion sculpture on the rood screen of the western choir (photo), and especially the statues of the twelve founders in the west choir. The very individual drawing of the faces and gestures is amazing, each sculpture is characteristic and distinctive. Quite unusual for a cathedral in Germany that you have to pay an entrance fee (6.50 Euro plus 2 Euro for photo permission).

On my second visit I paid more attention to the surrounding landscape and visited several of the locations listed on the nomination webpage. But these are rather mediocre sites, enjoyable to visit but not very exciting. After visiting the cathedral, I first took a walk through the old town of Naumburg: pretty town houses around the market square and a massive medieval city gate (Marientor). The most interesting site in the proposed area was the former Cistercian monastery Pforta with a nice old cloister and an imposing gatehouse. Also noteworthy: the double chapel in Neuenburg Castle high above the town of Freyburg and the parish church in Flemingen with nice frescoes in the apse. From the small Romanesque church in Zscheiplitz you have a nice view of Freyburg, Neuenburg Castle and the Unstrut valley with steep vineyards, it is the most scenic part of the nominated area. Other main objects are: the castles of Schönburg, Rudelsburg and Saaleck, Goseck church and castle and the Romanesque House in Bad Kösen (formerly a grange of the Pforta monastery).

Two places not connected with the Middle Ages might be of interest: the large graduation tower in Bad Kösen and the reconstruction of the Neolithic Goseck circle.

So to sum up: the Naumburg Cathedral is the landmark of the nominated area and well worth a visit, twenty years ago it would have been inscribed without any problems as a single monument. However, none of the other buildings and sites are of outstanding value. But who knows? The high number of monuments in a relatively small area is certainly a plus, and also that the landscape has not changed substantially over the centuries. So this could be a nomination, where a good story and a comprehensive dossier finally leads to an inscription.