Wolfram Weimer, Minister of State for Culture, has called for a compromise on the question of the proper location for the Cranach-Triegel Altar in Naumburg Cathedral. Such a compromise would be “a wonderful thing,” Weimer said. Due to years of ongoing disagreement over the proper location of the artwork, the altar was moved from Naumburg to Rome at the end of October 2025. The work is “something magnificent and belongs back here,” Weimer emphasized. The Leipzig painter Michael Triegel had completed the altarpiece, which was created between 1517 and 1519 by Lukas Cranach the Elder and later partially destroyed. The artwork was on display for the first time from July through December 2022 in the west choir of Naumburg Cathedral—among the famous figures of benefactors such as Uta of Naumburg. The altar was then displayed for about a year at the Diocesan Museum in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, before returning to the west choir of Naumburg Cathedral. The United Cathedral Founders consider the altar to be in its original location within the World Heritage site in southern Saxony-Anhalt. The World Monuments Council (ICOMOS) disagrees. It believes the artwork obstructs the view of the famous High Medieval donor figures and had called for the altar’s removal from the west choir. In Rome, the altar was installed in the Church of Santa Maria della Pietà on the Campo Santo Teutonico, near St. Peter’s Basilica. It is scheduled to remain on display for visitors there until 2027. By then, a mutually agreeable solution is expected to have been reached regarding where the altar should be placed in Naumburg Cathedral. Copyright 2026, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reservedThe World Monuments Fund called for the removal of the altar from the west choir
