Ekkehard's sons founded a small parish church in the western part of the area around the castle. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and was first mentioned in surviving texts of the Merseburg bishopric chronicle in 1021. In 1028, after some encouragement from the two brothers they won approval from King Conrad II and Pope John XIX to move the Episcopal See from Zeitz to Naumburg on the grounds that the castle would provide more protection for the see than it could get at Zeitz.