As we had a day off, we did some sightseeing. Naumburg has some very impressive medieval architecture but even more impressive, and much simpler, was the circle created nearly 7000 years ago and used for observing the sun and the stars. The picture above is taken from the Sonnenobservatorium Goseck website
The site was discovered only a few decades ago by a pilot flying over the area who noticed the circular shape in the landscape. Further investigation on the ground identified the circle with the remains of holes where the poles had been. Wooden poles were replaced and it was found that the gaps line up with the spring, summer, autumn and winter sun rises.
The wooden poles around the circle provide very interesting acoustics as Ray discovered by clapping.
The website is only in German. The pictures below provide more information in English.
The site is a short walk through the trees to Schloss Goseck which is described in an earlier note.
We then drove to Naumburg. The Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Initially the site of a church built in 1028, the cathedral is 13th century. It is quite different in many ways such as by having an alter at both ends.
Naumburg has been very well restored. All the buildings were not well looked after until after unification. Then the council didn’t want the properties to be bought by property developers and “modernised”. So they sold the properties to local people at a very cheap price with the condition that they had to restore them. This proved to be a collaborative effort over many years leading to Naumburg now being a very popular tourist destination.
A Visitor On Europe’s Roads 
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