6 Best Sights in Quedlinburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia

Quedlinburg’s skyline is dominated by the Schlossberg. The original town that became Quedlinburg forms the base of the hill. The half-timber houses in this are much smaller than those in the Old Town as they housed handworkers and artisans that supported the Abbey. The hill is ringed by the Wassertorstrasse and a small footpath that make exploring this area picturesque and easy. Finkenherd Square hosts a large collection of medieval half-timber houses. The house at Finkenherd #1 is where, in 919, Heinrich I learned that he would be king. On the way up to the castle, stop at Vincent's Käsekuchenbäckerei for the best cheesecake in Quedlinburg.

Quedlinburg hosts the largest and most comprehensive collection of work of the German-American artist Lyonel Feininger, although Feininger never set foot in the city. Feiniger came to Germany to study and eventually teach at the Bauhaus in Weimar and in Dessau. As an exponent of the modern, the Nazis declared his work "decadent" and encouraged Feininger to leave in 1937. Before leaving, Feininger entrusted his friend and fellow artist Herman Klumpp with a large collection of his engravings, lithographs, etchings, and paintings. Klumpp hid the collection from the Nazis and the East German authorities, showing the works in his apartment until the gallery opened in 1986. This sophisticated, modern gallery is placed behind half-timber houses so as not to affect the town's medieval feel.

The Altstadt (Old Town) is full of richly decorated half-timber houses, particularly along Mühlgraben, Schuhof, the Hölle, Breitestrasse, and Schmalstrasse. Notable on the Marktplatz are the Renaissance Rathaus, with a 14th-century statue of Roland signifying the town's independence, and the baroque 1701 Haus Grünhagen. Street and hiking maps and guidebooks (almost all in German) are available in the information office at the Rathaus.

Quedlinburg's largely Renaissance castle buildings perch on top of the Schlossberg (Castle Hill), with a terrace overlooking woods and valley. The grounds include the Schlossmuseum, which has exhibits on the history of the town and castle, artifacts of the Bronze Age, and the wooden cage in which a captured 14th-century robber baron was put on public view. Restored 17th- and 18th-century rooms give an impression of castle life at that time.  Due to extensive renovation work to the Abbey, the palace and museum are closed until 2025.  It is still worth visiting the hill, if not only for the panoramic view of Quedlinburg from the baroque Schlossgarten.

The oldest half-timber house in Quedlinburg, built about 1310, is now a museum to half-timbered construction techniques and architecture.

This simple, graceful church is one of the most important and best-preserved 12th-century Romanesque structures in Germany. Henry I and his wife Mathilde are buried in its crypt. The renowned Quedlinburg Treasure of 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-century gold and silver and bejeweled manuscripts is also kept here (what's left of it). Nazi SS leader Heinrich Himmler made the church into a shrine dedicated to the SS, insisting that it was only appropriate, since Henry I was the founder of the first German Reich.  Due to renovation work, visiting the church is restricted until 2025, and the church may, occasionally, be closed completely.