New art within old walls: the painter Michael Triegel created central altarpieces for Naumburg Cathedral. But whether they are allowed to stay there is more than questionable.
The inauguration of the redesigned The altar of Mary in the cathedral attracted a lot of attention
The year is 1519, when the painter Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) was commissioned to create altarpieces for Naumburg Cathedral. But in 1541 they were smashed by radical Protestant iconoclasts: Because the supporters of the Reformation are convinced that such cult images distract believers from true piety. Numerous sacred works of art are thus lost in the Middle Ages, from Cranach's work in Naumburg Cathedral only the two side wings survive the furor.
But now, after almost 480 years, the cathedral, which has been Protestant since the Reformation, again has a complete altarpiece in its west choir, a three-winged so-called altar retable. It was supplemented by the painter Michael Triegel. It is great art in one of the outstanding churches in Germany from the 13th century world famous. The twelve sculptures by the donors attract numerous visitors. Above all, the figure of Uta is considered a masterpiece, has been used for centuries as a “the most beautiful woman of the Middle Ages” admired.
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Naumburg Cathedral is a World Heritage Site
Naumburg Cathedral
Today's Protestant Naumburg Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul dates from the 13th century. It is one of the most important late Romanesque buildings and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 2018. After the Reformation, Nikolaus von Amsdorf was the first evangelical bishop to be appointed in 1542. The diocese was dissolved in 1564. However, the cathedral remained the church of the evangelical cathedral community.
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Naumburg Cathedral is a World Heritage Site
Figures of the unknown ” Naumburg Masters”
The western rood screen shows what are probably the most impressive stone figures of the High Middle Ages. It is one of the main works of the Naumburg master. The rood screen served as a “barrier”, separating the nave from the west choir. The reliefs show scenes from Christ's suffering up to the crucifixion.
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Naumburg Cathedral is a World Heritage Site
West choir in Naumburg Cathedral
The west choir in particular is a masterpiece of Gothic sculpture. The unknown “Naumburg Master” created figures full of liveliness and naturalness, a sensation in the 13th century. Twelve representatives of the nobility are shown, who once made the construction of Naumburg Cathedral possible with their generous donations. Among them is the Margravine Uta.
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Naumburg Cathedral is a World Heritage Site
Cathedral Treasure
The Naumburg Cathedral Treasure shows treasures in various interesting rooms on the cathedral grounds that document the thousand-year history of Naumburg Cathedral in all its diversity. Here you can see the Marian retable in a Gothic winged altar.
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Naumburg Cathedral is a World Heritage Site
Uta von Naumburg
As the Writer Umberto Ecco was asked with whom he would like to have dinner one day, he answered: with Uta von Naumburg! Her grace and aloofness have made the character famous. However, Walt Disney used her as a template for the evil stepmother in the Snow White film.
Naumburg Cathedral is a World Heritage Site
Naumburg Market Square
A visit to the old town of is not only worthwhile because of the cathedral Naumburg. The richly decorated town houses on the market square are visible evidence of the wealth of earlier centuries.
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Naumburg Cathedral is a World Heritage Site
Pforta Monastery
In the High Middle Ages, i.e. from the middle of the 11th to the middle of the 13th century, there were around 50 monasteries on the Saale and Unstrut. Monks made a crucial contribution to the region's upswing. In 1137 the Cistercian order founded the Pforta monastery. Its technical achievements include the water supply with canals and mills.
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Naumburg Cathedral is a World Heritage Site
Pforta Library
In addition, the Pforta Monastery is still a traditional high school today. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche also went to school here in the 19th century. The library was founded in 1570 and is today one of the largest and most traditional school libraries in Germany with around 80,000 book titles.
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Naumburg Cathedral is a World Heritage Site
Spirit of Wine
It was also monks who laid out the first terraces and planted vines a thousand years ago. Today, the wine-growing region on the Saale and Unstrut is the northernmost in Germany: small but beautiful. And when the sun shines, you understand why the region is also called “Tuscany of the North”.
The church has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018. The now complete three-wing altar retable is a joint work of two painters from different eras. The two preserved side wings from the 16th century frame the newly created Triegel elements. “Triegel meets Cranach” is the name of the project.
Naumburg Cathedral is a World Heritage Site
Triegel's picture shows an almost venerable and sacred scene in the style of Renaissance painting. Mary is depicted as a young woman holding out her newborn son to the viewer. At her feet, young women, almost girls, are playing music. In the background, ten people, six women and four men, hold a valuable cloth around Mary as if to protect her. And quite surprisingly there is also a rabbi and – with a Ferrari-red baseball cap – a man from the street who looks at the viewer almost kindly.
Triegel feels “connected to the cathedral”
He has felt a connection to the cathedral “since childhood,” says Michael Triegel. The 53-year-old, born in Erfurt in East Germany, is currently the most important painter of religious art in Germany. A portrait of the then Pope Benedict XVI, which he was commissioned to paint in 2010, made him internationally known. A few years later, the artist was baptized and became a member of the Catholic Church.
The painter Michael Triegel< /p>
Triegel has already created a number of religious works in the style of Renaissance painting. After two paintings for altars in smaller evangelical churches in Lower Saxony in 2004 and 2005, he designed large works for several Catholic churches in Franconia and most recently also church windows for a church in Saxony-Anhalt. Not only because of its size, but also because of its charisma, the Naumburg Altar looks like one of Triegel's main works.
A Roman homeless man
The face of the young Maria is based on the face of Triegel's daughter (as in earlier works, his wife could be guessed in the faces several times). Triegel's style, which masterfully approaches the greats of Renaissance painting, includes the personal – and also irritation.
In the center of the chancel of the church: the altarpieces
He says he saw the man with the baseball cap on the street in Rome – a homeless man. Triegel wanted to paint him, approached him, and they agreed on a fee for sitting as a model. Now a Roman beggar, drawn from life, represents the apostle Peter. And over Mary's shoulder, the evangelical theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), executed by the National Socialists in April 1945, looks the viewer in the eye.
The “United Domstifter”, which is a traditional state foundation and is independent of the Evangelical Church and owns the cathedral and the works of art, made a conscious decision to commission the central Marian motif. In the catalog for the altar, the Protestant regional bishop Friedrich Kramer praises this as an “important ecumenical impulse”. And the “Ecumenism Minister” of the Vatican, Cardinal Kurt Koch, expresses the hope that the “renewed Naumburg Marienaltar” will become “a symbol of renewed church unity”.
At the inauguration in a packed church, Kramer and his Catholic Magdeburg colleague, Bishop Gerhard Feige, unanimously sweared by the ecumenical charisma. And cathedral preacher Michael Bartsch also called the “ecumenical togetherness” a “sign of hope”. An altar stands as a sign of reconciliation, whose predecessor was smashed as an expression of hate and destruction.
The World Heritage Site
The world-famous stone carvings in the cathedral
If the altar is to remain permanently in the west choir of the cathedral… Because there is a dispute about the installation of the magnificent altarpiece. Representatives of monument protection and the International Council for Monument Protection (ICOMOS) had been warning for months. Her objection: The now complete altar retable disturbs the line of sight to the stone donor figures. This means that the deletion of the World Heritage title must be discussed. Then the cathedral would lose a predicate that attracts many thousands of visitors to Naumburg every year.
After the erection and inauguration of the altarpiece, the dispute escalated. The World Monuments Council ICOMOS and the state government of Saxony-Anhalt are pushing for the altarpiece to be quickly installed elsewhere in the cathedral. Until now, the “United Cathedral Donors” had counted on the altarpiece being able to stand in the central part of the west choir for three years and then a decision would be made to remain permanently at this point. Now they want to shorten this period to December 4, 2022.
The back of the altar too painted by Michael Triegel
The altarpiece is painted to fit its current location . You can also walk around the altar, Michael Triegel has immortalized the risen Christ on the back. The line of sight, according to many, is actually not disturbed. Does the motto still apply in winter: “Triegel meets Cranach” – and move on?