Quedlinburg Castle

Quedlinburg Castle sits on the Schlossberg, a sandstone ridge that also holds the Romanesque St Servatius church more precisely a collegiate church served as the castle church above the UNESCO World Heritage-listed old town of Quedlinburg with its 1,300 half-timbered houses. The castle was founded in 936 by Henry the Fowler, the first Saxon king of Germany, and became the seat of the Quedlinburg Abbey in 966, a foundation for noblewomen of the highest aristocratic families. The abbesses were powerful figures who answered directly to the pope. The Romanesque crypt of St Servatius built between 997 and 1021 holds the tombs of Henry the Fowler and his wife Mathilda, making it one of the most significant early medieval burial sites in Germany. The Domschatz cathedral treasury contains illuminated manuscripts including the 10th-century Quedlinburg Gospel Book, reliquaries, liturgical vestments and vessels, and ivory carvings of exceptional quality. The castle was rebuilt in the Renaissance in the 16th century after the Protestant Reformation dissolved the abbey and later served as a residential palace and administrative building. The Schlossmuseum in the palace wing covers the history of the castle, the abbey, and the medieval town. The view from the Schlossberg across Quedlinburgs half-timbered roofs and the Harz foothills is exceptional.