Old Synagogue and Naumburg Cathedral

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Old Synagogue

   For a long time nobody in Erfurt knew that they were living above one of the oldest synagogues in Europe. The Old Synagogue stands in the narrow streets of the medieval centre, and its oldest walls date from the late eleventh century, with later enlargements in the Gothic style. After the pogrom of 1349, when the Jewish community was destroyed, the building passed into other hands and was used as a warehouse, a restaurant and a ballroom. Its original function was largely forgotten, until a restoration in the 1990s revealed the medieval walls under the later alterations.

   Read the complete Old Synagogue write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Old Synagogue is where the day begins. Next is The former School of Applied Art.

2. 2. The former School of Applied Art

   Weimar is a small city with a very large place in German culture. Goethe and Schiller lived and worked here, Liszt composed and taught, Nietzsche spent his last years here, and in 1919 the national assembly that created Germany's first democratic constitution met in the theatre, giving the Weimar Republic its name. That same year, the architect Walter Gropius founded a new art school in the city, merging the academy of fine arts with the school of applied arts, and called it the Bauhaus. The school building designed earlier by the Belgian architect Henry van de Velde, along with the main building of the art academy, became its home. These buildings, together with the Haus am Horn, are part of the UNESCO serial site of the Bauhaus and its sites, inscribed in 1996.

   Read the complete The former School of Applied Art write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The former School of Applied Art comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Naumburg Cathedral.

3. 3. Naumburg Cathedral

   The twelve figures in the west choir of Naumburg Cathedral are among the most famous sculptures of the Middle Ages, and once you have seen them, you understand why. Carved around the middle of the thirteenth century by an unknown artist known as the Naumburg Master, they represent the founders and benefactors of the cathedral, noblemen and noblewomen who had died two centuries earlier, but they look like real people, with individual faces, expressions and gestures. The most famous is Uta, the wife of Margrave Ekkehard, standing with her cloak drawn up to her face, cool and enigmatic, who has become an icon of German art. The cathedral, with its Romanesque and Gothic architecture and its rich sculpture, was listed by UNESCO in 2018.

   Read the complete Naumburg Cathedral write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 75 km into the recorded legs you reach Naumburg Cathedral. Next is back through The former School of Applied Art.

4. 4. back through The former School of Applied Art

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete The former School of Applied Art write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through The former School of Applied Art, late in the day. Next is Old Synagogue.

5. 5. Old Synagogue

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Old Synagogue write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Old Synagogue. That is the ride.