Quedlinburg Abbey
[5][6][7] In the early and high Middle Ages, next to the abbey there was an imperial palace in Quedlinburg (a Kaiserpfalz), which was often used by the Holy Roman Emperor for Easter celebrations.The later "Kaiserlich freie weltliche Reichsstift Quedlinburg" ("Free secular Imperial abbey of Quedlinburg"), as its full style was until its dissolution in 1802, consisted of a proprietary church of the Imperial family to which was attached a college of secular canonesses (Stiftsdamen), a community of the unmarried daughters of the greater nobility and royalty leading a godly life.In the course of the German Mediatisation of 1802 and 1803 the Imperial Abbey was secularized and its territory, properties and subjects were absorbed by the Kingdom of Prussia as the Principality of Quedlinburg.All later clearances (i.e., of previously uncultivated land) in the immediate vicinity were also theirs, but in addition they acquired far more distant possessions, such as Soltau, 170 kilometres away, given by Otto I in 936.[14] At the end of World War II a number of the most valuable items were stolen by an American soldier, Joe Tom Meador, including the reliquary of Saint Servatius, from the time of Charles the Bald; the 9th century Samuhel Evangeliary (Samuhel Evangeliar); the printed St. Wipert's Evangeliary (Evangelistar aus St Wiperti) of 1513; and a liturgical ivory comb.The most famous illuminated manuscript associated with the town, the 5th-century Quedlinburg Itala fragment, once in the church, had been moved to a museum in Berlin and was not stolen.The immediate predecessor building where Henry I was initially buried in 936 in front of the main altar had been a small three-aisled church with narrow side aisles.The graves of Heinrich der Vogler (Henry the Fowler), King of East Francia and his wife Mathilda are located in the crypt of the church.Heinrich's grave only contains a battered empty stone coffin; the whereabouts of the king's remains and time and circumstances of their disappearance are unknown.Under the Nazis, Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer SS, came to Quedlinburg several times to hold a ceremony in the crypt on the anniversary of the King's death, 2 July.
Middle AgesEarly modernUpper Saxon CircleProtestantSecularisedPrussiaProvince of SaxonyDuchy of SaxonyKingdom of PrussiaGermanyUNESCO World Heritage SiteSessionGermanFrauenstiftQuedlinburgSaxony-AnhaltSaint MathildaEast FrankishHenry the FowlerImperial EstateHoly Roman EmpireEvangelical Church in GermanyRomanesque architectureUNESCOWorld Heritage ListLutheranOtto IQueen MathildaKaiserpfalzHoly Roman EmperorImperial abbeyproprietary churchEssen AbbeyGandersheim AbbeyGernrode AbbeyHerford AbbeyBishop of HalberstadtImperial DietReformationAnna II (Countess of Stolberg)German Mediatisationpuppet stateKingdom of WestphaliaSoltauSaint MichaelVolkmarskellerBlankenburg am HarzMichaelstein AbbeyDuderstadtLower SaxonyEmperor Otto IIIPotsdamVögteEmperor Otto IEmperor Otto IITheft of medieval art from QuedlinburgAachenHalberstadtWorld War IIreliquaryCharles the BaldEvangeliaryliturgical ivory combQuedlinburg Itala fragment1 SamuelAnnals of QuedlinburgMagdeburgList of princess-abbesses of QuedlinburgDenominationConsecratedRomanesqueSaint ServatiusTongerenSaint DenisbasilicaLothar IIItranseptWorld Heritage Sitetourist routeRomanesque RoadHeinrich HimmlerHeinrich der VoglerEast FranciaAdelaide I, Abbess of QuedlinburgBeatrice I, Abbess of QuedlinburgAdelaide II, Abbess of QuedlinburgWayback MachineLower SaxonMonumenta Germaniae HistoricaHonan, William H.MatildaAdelaide IBeatrice IAdelaide IIAgnes IAgnes IIHedwigAnna IIElisabeth IIAnna IIIDorotheaDorothea SophiaAnna Sophia IAnna Sophia IIAnna DorotheaMarie ElisabethAnna AmaliaSophia AlbertinaImperial abbeysRhenishBuchauBurtscheidGandersheimGernrodeHerfordHersfeldKaisheimKornelimünsterMemlebenMichaelsbergNiedermünsterNienburgObermünsterSt. Emmeram'sSt. Ludger'sSt. Maximin's