Naumburg an der Saale is an old cathedral city on the fast rail line between Leipzig and Weimar, reachable from both in under an hour. Rather neglected for decades, the 30,000-inhabitant city has made giant steps in restoring its historic buildings since reunification.
The old town, set on heights overlooking the Saale valley, is dominated by the Naumburg Cathedral — a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018 that shows medieval German architecture and sculpture at its best. The west choir is world-famous for its lifelike donor portraits by the anonymous "Master of Naumburg," particularly the figures of Uta and Ekkehard, and Hermann and Reglindis. The figures have a psychological realism that nothing else in medieval Europe quite matches.
The Marktplatz is handsome and lived-in, lined with restored gabled houses and the late-Gothic town hall. Stadtkirche St Wenzel on the market square holds a Bach-approved organ and a Cranach altarpiece. The Nietzsche-Haus commemorates the philosopher's formative years here. Naumburg also makes a good base for exploring the Saale-Unstrut wine region, Germany's most northerly, with terraced vineyards along two river valleys.