Around 2,100 half-timbered houses dating from eight centuries still shape Quedlinburg’s World Heritage area today. Their number and high quality make the town an exceptional example of a medieval European town. Exploring Quedlinburg, you can discover its history in the townscape as well as in churches, museums and individual collections.
Half-timbered Houses, the Collegiate Church and Medieval Art
The Collegiate Church of St. Servatius is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture. Its treasury is an exceptionally well-preserved collection of medieval treasures. It includes a knotted carpet dating from around 1200, described as the oldest surviving knotted carpet in Europe. The remains of St. Mary’s Church on the Münzenberg also reveal Romanesque architectural features: an apse, transept, three-aisled nave and westwork.
The Castle Museum, with exhibitions on the history of the town and collegiate foundation, is housed in the former collegiate premises. The museum rooms also include reception and audience halls with elegant interiors. These historic interiors complement the evidence of the past found in the churches and among the half-timbered buildings. For a specific visit, it is advisable to check current access conditions and exhibitions.
The Half-Timbered House Museum in the Ständerbau building is dedicated to Quedlinburg’s half-timbered architecture from the 14th to the 19th century. It also provides information about restoration and reconstruction work in the World Heritage town. Models illustrate the development of half-timbering styles. This brings together architectural history, the treatment of historic building fabric and the surviving houses as distinct but interconnected topics.
Art and Town History in Museums
The Lyonel Feininger Museum is a museum and exhibition space for 20th-century and contemporary art. It is dedicated to Feininger’s work. The collection of Bauhaus artist and Quedlinburg native Dr. Hermann Klumpp is on permanent loan to the museum and includes one of the world’s most significant collections of Feininger prints. For those who want to combine art and architecture, it offers a distinct focus alongside the history of the town and collegiate foundation. Current exhibitions may change.
City Walk, Tour or Rally
A city walk through the historic old town and up to the Schlossberg takes around 120 minutes and introduces more than 1,100 years of town history. The Quedlinburg Bimmelbahn offers a shorter, 45-minute tour: it runs from MarktstraĂźe via the lower Schlossberg through the historic Neustadt and back to MarktstraĂźe. The stated durations make it easy to choose between a walk of about two hours and the 45-minute tour. Times and availability may change, so check them ahead of your visit.
A city rally combines puzzles with creative tasks. Its route passes historic sites and also takes you through everyday life in the town today. This offers a different focus from the walks and exhibitions: you explore the town by following a trail of tasks, while the museums delve into individual topics.
Quedlinburg in the Northern Harz
Quedlinburg lies directly on the northern edge of the Harz and is described as a starting point for short excursions, longer hikes and bike rides in the surrounding area. The Selketal-Stieg and the Harzer Klosterwanderweg begin or end in Quedlinburg. When planning longer routes, checking the specific route conditions is a helpful complement to choosing activities in town.
The Romanesque Road also offers a broader perspective on Romanesque buildings in Saxony-Anhalt. Quedlinburg is represented by four key buildings on the more than 1,000-kilometre tourist route, which links 88 Romanesque buildings in 73 towns. The route thus provides a regional framework for discovering the Romanesque heritage found in Quedlinburg itself.
Plan Your Stay
Quedlinburg offers a range of cultural and active pursuits, though they don’t all need to fit into the same day’s itinerary.
Discover more destinations: Gernrode, Bad Suderode, Rieder, Huy, Nordharz, Osterwieck, GĂĽntersberge, Ilsenburg.
See the overview of destinations: Harz.
