Ihe Naumburg Cathedral had to close to visitors for a total of five months last year due to the Corona pandemic. Due to the long closure, 2021 visited 80.361 people visited Naumburg Cathedral. Domestic tourism was not as strong as after the lockdown in 2020, people travelled abroad again, and business with tour groups was nowhere near the level of previous years, which we also noticed," says the director of the Combined Cathedral Foundations, Dr Holger Kunde. "However, we are very happy that we were able to reach an agreement with the state of Saxony-Anhalt to compensate for Corona-related shortfalls in income; we also took advantage of state support, such as short-time work in particularly affected departments, and launched a comprehensive savings and cost reduction programme in all parts of the Abbey administration," Dr Kunde continues.
Nonetheless, in 2021 the service further expanded for the guest: Admission tickets for the cathedral for guided tours and events, but also souvenirs can be purchased via a new online shop. In addition, the cathedral's website has also been translated into French, Russian and Dutch with the support of Investitions- und Marketinggesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt mbH. In this context, the audio guide that leads through the World Heritage Site has also been revised and translated into the languages mentioned, as have leaflets about the cathedral. The event rooms were modernised and can be used even better in the future, for example for conferences. The period of closure was also used to redesign the entrance area of the cathedral. Guests can now purchase their tickets in the vestibule. The exit leads through the cathedral shop with its ever-growing and varied range of souvenirs.
In the east choir, the extensive Restorations of the stained glass windows was completed and the windows now shine in new splendour. The restoration of the façade of the east choir was also completed in 2021. At the beginning of 2021, the renovation work for the residential building at Domplatz 5 and the garden house at Domplatz 6 were completed on schedule. The renovations created three high-quality flats with a total area of 458 m2 created.
The Vereinigte Domstifter will, however, continue to be involved in many construction projects around the cathedral. Since August 2021, repair work has been in full swing on the building next door to the cathedral's administration, Domplatz 20. In spring 2023, the "Alter Bischofshof" guesthouse with around ten rooms is to be built on the site of a former canon's court dating from the 12th century.
In the Bishop's Curia at Domplatz 1, planning is progressing for the future World Heritage Information Centre which is scheduled for completion in 2024. The project, which is worth more than ten million euros, is being financed primarily by funds from the Saxony-Anhalt Investment Bank and the Burgenlandkreis. The Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung and the Sparkasse Burgenlandkreis, the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the Friede Springer Foundation are supporting the museum staging in the Bishop's Curia, which will offer a varied exhibition on the World Heritage Naumburg Cathedral and Naumburg Masters as well as the cultural landscape on the Saale and Unstrut rivers. The funding commitment was handed over to the Vereinigte Domstifter on 1 September 2021 by Friedrich-Wilhelm von Rauch, Managing Director of the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung, and Mario Kerner, Chairman of the Board of the Sparkasse Burgenlandkreis.
