Monday, September 13, 2010: Naumburg, Thueringen, Germany

Naumburg (German pronunciation: [ˈnaʊmbʊɐ̯k]) is a town in Germany, on the Saale River. It is in the district Burgenlandkreis in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, formerly a part of East Germany. It is approximately 60 km (37 mi) southwest of Leipzig, 50 kilometers (31 mi) south-southwest of Halle, and 40 kilometers (25 mi) north-northeast of Jena.
Local industries include the manufacture of foodstuffs, textiles, machinery and toys.
Naumburg is in a wine-growing region, with numerous vineyards in the surrounding area. SC Naumburg was a former football club in the town from September 1899 to 1908.

The most important architectural landmark of the town is St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral (known in German as the Naumburger Dom), an impressive late Romanesque and Gothic Cathedral, built between the 13th and 15th centuries.
The early Gothic western rood screen was built in 1250. The eastern screen was added in the high Gothic style in the first half of the 14th Century. The Romanesque crypt under the east gallery was established around 1170 and was part of an earlier building. Both of the towers at the east end of the church are octagonal and have Baroque canopies. The south-western spire was completed only in 1884; both western spires are closely modelled on the spires of the cathedrals of Laon and Bamberg. The pulpit dates from 1466.
Its interior includes windows from the Middle Ages, as well as the famous 13th century statues of the founders of the cathedral, Margrave Ekkehard and his wife Uta, along with other local nobles.
The western tower has been open to the public since Easter 2007, after having long been closed for renovations.