Quedlinburg's Old Town covers an area of some 80 hectares. UNESCO declared it to be an outstanding example of a European city of medieval origin which has preserved through the centuries its precious architectural heritage of romanesque and half-timbered buildings, partly in exceptional quality. Quedlinburg was at the heart of the East Franconian Empire at the time of the Saxon dynasty - the Ottonians. From its foundation in the tenth century, Quedlinburg became a prosperous trading-centre. The collegiate church of St. Servatius on a hill above the old town is a masterpiece which also houses a famous church treasure. In the nearby fields, the thousand-year-old Wiperti Church, and the remains of a Monastery of St. Mary on the neighbouring Münzenberg hill, still reflect the prestige that Quedlinburg enjoyed at a time when German lands were still evolving their later political fabric.

Quedlinburg`s medieval town exhibits more than eight centuries of authentic architecture in a way that is unique in both quality und quantity. Buildings of all styles and epochs make Quedlinburg the perfect place to study the development of half-timbered building-techniques and styles throughout the ages.

Founder of the Saxon Dynasty was King Henry I., elected by the assembled dukes of the German tribes, and crowned in 919. Quedlinburg`s „castle-mound“ became one of his favorite seats of residence. Thus it was here that he was laid to rest after his death in 936. In that same year and on the same hill, his widow Mathilde established a ladies' convent which was endowed by Henry`s successor, Otto I (the Great), with considerable wealth and influence throughout the realm. Even after the deminse of the Saxon dynasty, Quedlinburg remained a cultural and spiritual centre for centuries.

But at the hight of Ottonian power,  it was at Quedlinburg that the Saxon rulers regularly celebrated Easter and held important imperial diets. Around the castle-mound  a thriving market-town developed, with connections to the major trading-routes of the time, supported by a prospering agrarian economy around it.

Since December 1994 the old town of Quedlinburg and the castle-moundl with the collegiate church are listed as one of UNESCO´s World Heritage Sites.

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