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Collegiate Church, Castle, and Old Town of Quedlinburg. unesco Jun 3, 2010 Quedlinburg, in the Land of Sachsen-Anhalt, was a capital of the East Franconian German Empire at the time of the Saxonian-…More
Collegiate Church, Castle, and Old Town of Quedlinburg.

unesco Jun 3, 2010 Quedlinburg, in the Land of Sachsen-Anhalt, was a capital of the East Franconian German Empire at the time of the Saxonian-Ottonian ruling dynasty. It has been a prosperous trading town since the Middle Ages. The number and high quality of the timber-framed buildings make Quedlinburg an exceptional example of a medieval European town. The Collegiate Church of St Servatius is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture.
whc.unesco.org/en/list/535
Irapuato
Quedlinburg: First Capital of Germany
History
What to see
Where to Stay
Map

It would be hard to find a more charming town than Quedlinburg! The narrow, cobblestone streets are lined with over 1300 half-timbered houses.
Fortunately, Quedlinburg survived the war undamaged and was valued by the DDR, and so it's still here to be appreciated with its medieval look and layout intact. As a result, the …More
Quedlinburg: First Capital of Germany
History
What to see
Where to Stay
Map


It would be hard to find a more charming town than Quedlinburg! The narrow, cobblestone streets are lined with over 1300 half-timbered houses.

Fortunately, Quedlinburg survived the war undamaged and was valued by the DDR, and so it's still here to be appreciated with its medieval look and layout intact. As a result, the entire town was named a UNESCO World Heritage site.

History of Quedlinburg
Birthplace of the German Nation

King Heinrich I (Henry the Fowler) was crowned King of Germany here in 919 A.D. This was the first time anyone had ruled Germany as a single entity. The church, Norbertinerkirche, was built around this time. Like other towns of the Harz, Quedlinburg owed much of its prosperity to the silver, copper and tin mines nearby.
It was also a major market town and member of the Hanseatic League, rivaling Cologne in importance during the Middle Ages.

Women Rule Quedlinburg

Burgberg
Quedlinburg was ruled by women for 800 years. King Heinrich I's widow, Mathilde, founded a convent for aristocratic women in 936 and their granddaughter became the ruler of the town as the Abbess in 966.

The Abbesses of the convent of Quedlinburg ruled the city until 1802, when Napoleon invaded and disbanded the Abbey.

First Woman Doctor

Maybe it's no coincidence that the first German woman to win the right to attend a university was a native of Quedlinburg. Dorothea Erxleben was the first woman to receive the academic title of Medical Doctor in Germany in 1754. Return to top

What to see in Quedlinburg

Hohestrasse
The ancient town is built around a large square (Markt) and perches on two hills with the river Bode running through the middle. On one hill is the castle/abbey/church complex called the Burgberg. The other hill is the Muenzenberg.

The Markt
The town square is lined with great examples of medieval and Renaissance buildings. Several large, old hotels are here along with the Rathaus.

Breite Strasse, which heads north out of the Markt, has some delightful examples of half-timbered houses. Make sure you take a walk along this street. Look for the Gildehaus zur Rose
at #39 Breite Strasse, possibly the prettiest of the houses in town.

Return to top
The Burgberg

On the Burgberg you will find the Abbesses' Palace (Residenzbau) and the Stiftkirche St. Servatius church.

Inside the Abbesses' Palace is the Schloss Museum
which displays an interesting assortment of Ice Age fossils, Bronze Age artifacts and medieval torture instruments. On exhibit is the cage used to display a captured robber baron in the 1300's.
St. Servatius is one of the best-preserved 12th century buildings in Germany. Heinrich I and Mathilde are buried in the crypt with the abbesses.

The church also contains the amazing Treasure of Quedlinburg.
www.uncommon-travel-germany.com/quedlinburg.html
Irapuato
Heilige Mathilde (Quedlinburg) Mathilde (* Anfang 955; † 7./8.Februar 999) war von 966 bis zu ihrem Tod die erste Äbtissin auf dem Stiftsberg in Quedlinburg. Sie wird als Selige, besonders im Bistum Magdeburg verehrt.
Mathilde war eine Tochter Kaiser Ottos I. und Enkelin der Heiligen Mathilde. Ihre Mutter war Adelheid von Burgund, die Tochter des burgundischen Königs Rudolfs II. Als Elfjährige …More
Heilige Mathilde (Quedlinburg) Mathilde (* Anfang 955; † 7./8.Februar 999) war von 966 bis zu ihrem Tod die erste Äbtissin auf dem Stiftsberg in Quedlinburg. Sie wird als Selige, besonders im Bistum Magdeburg verehrt.
Mathilde war eine Tochter Kaiser Ottos I. und Enkelin der Heiligen Mathilde. Ihre Mutter war Adelheid von Burgund, die Tochter des burgundischen Königs Rudolfs II. Als Elfjährige wurde sie 966 von allen Erzbischöfen und Bischöfen des Reiches zur Äbtissin von Quedlinburg geweiht. Papst Johannes XIII. bestätigte die Weihe im April 967.
Während ihrer Amtszeit wurde Quedlinburg durch die Förderung ihres kaiserlichen Bruders Ottos II. und ihres Neffen Ottos III. zu einem Zentrum des Ottonenreiches. Im Jahr 994 erhielt sie von König (später Kaiser) Otto III. das Privileg des Münz-, Markt- und Zollrechtes für den Marktflecken Quedlinburg. Mathilde war eine der mächtigsten Frauen des Reiches und führte von 997 bis zu ihren Tod die Regentschaft für ihren in Italien weilenden Neffen Otto III.
Nach ihrem Tod wurde sie in der Stiftskirche zu Quedlinburg beigesetzt.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathilde_(Quedlinburg)
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St. Matilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg
St. Matilda
(December 955 – 999), also known as Mathilda and Mathilde, was the first Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg. She was the daughter of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, and his second wife, Adelaide of Italy.
Taking the veil
Her grandmother, Saint Matilda of Ringelheim, founded the Quedlinburg Abbey in 936 and led it. In April 966, in a splendid ceremony requested …More
St. Matilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg
St. Matilda
(December 955 – 999), also known as Mathilda and Mathilde, was the first Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg. She was the daughter of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, and his second wife, Adelaide of Italy.
Taking the veil
Her grandmother, Saint Matilda of Ringelheim, founded the Quedlinburg Abbey in 936 and led it. In April 966, in a splendid ceremony requested by her father, the eleven-year-old granddaughter and namesake of Saint Matilda was recognized as abbess by all bishops and archbishops of the Holy Roman Empire.
[edit] Regency
A year after becoming abbess, her grandmother died, and Matilda was left as the only member of the Ottonian Dynasty in the kingdom when her father and brother Otto went to Italy. Thus, her task was to represent her dynasty and rule over Saxony in a particularly difficult situation.[1]
As regent, Matilda held a reforming synod at Dornberg. The synod was reforming in character and it concerned the church in Germany. In 984, she held an imperial diet at her abbey. At the diet, Henry the Wrangler questioned the right of Matilda's nephew to succeed his father. Matilda successfully defeated his claims and secured the election of her nephew as Holy Roman Emperor, therefore "holding the empire together".[2][3] In 984, Matilda, her mother, Empress Adelaide, and her sister-in-law, Empress Theophanu, became co-regents for Matilda's young brother, Otto III.[4] A contemporary chronicler described her regency as being "without female levity". Matilda succeeded in restoring peace and authority by leading an army against the barbarians.[2] She was praised for achieving her goals without using military force, even though it was at her disposal.[3]
[edit] Death
She died in 999 and was succeeded by her niece who reigned as Adelheid I.
Widukind of Corvey, a Saxon historical chronicler, dedicated his writings, among which is the most important work of Ottonian historiography, to Matilda.[1]
[edit] Ancestry
Ancestors of Matilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg[hide]

8. Otto I, Duke of Saxony

4. Henry I of Germany

9. Hedwiga of Franconia

2. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor

10. Count Dietrich of Westphalia

5. Matilda of Ringelheim

11. Reinhild

1. Matilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg

12. Rudolph I of Burgundy

6. Rudolph II of Burgundy

13. Guilla of Provence

3. Adelaide of Italy

14. Burchard II, Duke of Swabia

7. Bertha of Swabia

15. Regelinda of Zürich

[edit] References
^ a b The New Cambridge Medieval History: C. 900-C. 1024. Cambridge University Press. 1999. ISBN0521364477. books.google.com/books. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
^ a b Jansen, Sharon L. (2002). The monstrous regiment of women: female rulers in early modern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN0312213417. books.google.com/books. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
^ a b McNamara, Jo Ann (1996). Sisters in arms: Catholic nuns through two millennia. Harvard University Press. ISBN067480984X. books.google.com/books. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
^ Yorke, Barbara (2003). Nunneries and the Anglo-Saxon royal houses. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN0826460402. books.google.com/books. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
Regnal titles
Office created
Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg

966–999
Succeeded by
Adelheid I
[hide]v · d · eAbbesses of Quedlinburg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda,_Abbess…