UNESCO World Heritage Sites — Saxony-Anhalt
The fourth federal state in our series introducing Germany’s UNESCO World heritage sites, Saxony-Anhalt, home to sites from the Middle Ages, Enlightenment and Reformation.
Collegiate Church, Castle and Old Town of Quedlinburg (1994)
The town of Quedlinburg was the capital of the East Franconian German Empire and royal residence of King Henry I during the Saxonian-Ottonian dynasty (919 to 1024). The 12th century Collegiate Church is one of the key evidences of the city’s former of the Empire during the Middle Ages. In later years, particularly following the Thirty Years’ War, Quedlinburg reached great prosperity as a vibrant trading hub.
Lovers of architectures adore the number and high quality of the timber-framed buildings, and the town hall, erected in 1330, resembling the typical development of a medieval and post-medieval town.
Quedlinburg with its architectural and historical wonders became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.
Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg (1996)
Wittenberg is a small town of 50,000 inhabitants in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Its Castle Church, also referred to as All Saint’s Church, was the cradle of the Lutheran Reformation. On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther is said to have posted his ’95 Theses’ on the entrance of the church, launching an ideological and intellectual revolution throughout the Western world. In 1760, during the Seven Years’ War, the church was set on fire, irreversibly damaging the infamous wooden doors which were later replaced with a bronze model. Recently, the church’s 15th century chapel underwent major renovation works for its 500th anniversary.
The World Heritage site further entails the “Lutherhaus” where the Godfather of Protestantism resided from 1507 to 1521 and set out his ’95 Theses’. It was constructed in 1504 as part of the University of Wittenberg and expanded in 1564 to host the Augusteum — a Protestant seminary and library. The entire complex still exists today and is the world’s largest museum relating to the Reformation.
The magnificent medieval town of Eisleben in Saxony-Anhalt witnessed Luther’s first and last steps. He was born there on 10 October 1483 and passed away on 18 February 1546. His birthplace was entirely destroyed in 1689 but later re-built. Both buildings now house a museum. Eisleben further marks Luther’s first encounter with religion. The original baptismal font in which Martin Luther was baptised in 1483 is still on display in the local St-Petri-Pauli Church.
Due to its “outstanding significance for the political, cultural, and spiritual life of the Western world that extends far beyond German borders”, the Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg were UNESCO World Heritages in 1996.
Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz (2000)
The Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz, located in the Middle Elbe Region, is a resemblance of landscape design and planning from the Age of the Enlightenment in the 18th century.
Its construction was initiated by Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz of Anhalt-Dessau and stretched over the course of forty years. The result was a Garden Kingdom of unprecedented sophistication, size, and beauty. UNESCO notes that the notion of public access to the buildings and grounds was a reflection of the pedagogic concept of the humanisation of society which followed the philosophical ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the intellectual contemplations of Joachim Winckelmann and the aesthetic models of Johann Georg Sulzer.
It has been inscribed as a World Heritage since 2000.
Naumburg Cathedral (2018)
Located in the eastern part of the Thuringian Basin, the Cathedral of Naumburg is a masterpiece of medieval art and architecture. Constructed between 1028 and 1044, is a renowned landmark of the German late Romanesque, characterised by two Gothic choirs — a typical feature during the architectural transition from Romanesque to Gothic.
UNESCO praises Naumburg Cathedral as “an outstanding testimony to medieval art and architecture”. The eye-catching exterior consisting of impressive Romanesque structure and Gothic choirs houses masterpiece life-size sculptures of the Cathedral founders by an anonymous medieval artist known only as a the ‘Naumburg Master’.
Announced UNESCO World Heritage in 2018, Naumburg Cathedral is one of the most recent German additions to the list.
