Church buildings are permanent only when they are built of "living stones," their members, and their "cornerstone" is Christ—so theology and experience teach.

The Naumburg Cathedral with its world-famous donor figures from the 13th century has such living stones.

At the beginning of July, they dedicated an altar donated by the painter Michael Triegel, which complements Lucas Cranach's Marian altar in the center of the west choir, which was partially destroyed in the iconoclasm of 1541, but is stylistically completely appropriate.

At the weekend you could experience this new-old altar of Mary with its Peter with baseball cap and a very present Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer as what it will no longer be for a long time - as the restored liturgical center of a living church.

Because the international monument protection authority Icomos in Paris has threatened to withdraw the World Heritage title because the altarpiece has obstructed the line of sight between the donor figures and has claimed that Cranach's altar of the Virgin Mary never existed in the west choir, which is demonstrably false.

The United Cathedral Donors of Naumburg have given in for the time being: On Monday, the altar was dismantled again after only five months, after the travel blessing had been spoken over it by the cathedral preacher during a ceremonial farewell on Sunday - this also speaks for a lively picture that is metaphorical "set off" to be on display in the Paderborn Diocesan Museum until the end of June 2023.

The cathedral is the place of worship

It sounds absurd: Naumburg Cathedral has not only been visited because of Uta and her fellow donors - as the influx of visitors since the Cranach-Triegel altar was erected - but also because of the new altarpiece.

Worship is now also celebrated on it, which was previously extremely rarely the case in the almost purely museum-like west choir.

Despite the altar, every visitor was able to understand the lively, gestural visual dialogue of the stone figure theatre.

But Naumburg is not the first case in Germany in which Icomos wants to establish a status quo - see Dresden with the Waldschlößchenbrücke and Koblenz with its cable car over the Rhine.

What they all seem to have in common is that a static, if not ahistorical and, in the case of Naumburg, factually incorrect understanding of culture and cultural heritage is used.

If nothing can be changed in a room intended for liturgical purposes, even though the liturgy requires it, a church becomes a museum.

If bridges are no longer allowed to be built to accommodate urban developments, then the premises on which this tendency to become museums should be discussed should be discussed.

At an international colloquium on the altar dispute in Naumburg two weeks ago, the world-renowned architect for the preservation of historical monuments, Barbara Schock-Werner, emphasized that decisions must primarily be made by the master builder on site in consultation with her community.

Schock-Werner, who was master builder of Cologne Cathedral for thirteen years until 2012, should know: She spoke about the permanent changes in “her” Cologne Cathedral, including the constant migration of the main altar over the centuries: first at the foot of the shrine of the Three Kings, then to the middle of the high choir, then to the edge of the crossing.

With the Cologne Cathedral, however, a key witness for contemporary interventions in venerable church buildings comes into play, which represent a benefit and do not damage the structure: Gerhard Richter's abstract south window made of 11,263 colored glass fields.

For years, art lovers have been pilgrimaging to Cologne just because of this glass masterpiece, although and precisely because it naturally changes the color of the transept significantly.

The same applies to the Gothic Cathedral of Reims with also abstract, colorful monumental windows by the German painter Imi Knöbel, which, like the Cologne Cathedral as the French coronation cathedral, is a UNESCO and therefore Icomos World Heritage Site.

However, the United Cathedral Donors do not want to harden and have presented a compromise proposal: after his return, the altarpiece could remain closed on weekdays and only be opened on Sundays and public holidays - the proverbial "liturgical transformation" of these not static, but rather changeable winged altars of the late Middle Ages.

With the altar closed, all donor figures would be visible at a glance - and all sides could be satisfied.