Editing Quedlinburg (section)

==History==
[[File:Quedlinburg asv2018-10 img03 Castle.jpg|thumb|left|Quedlinburg Castle]]
[[File:Quedlinburg asv2018-10 img27 Roland.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of [[Roland]]]]
[[File:Quedlinburg asv2018-10 img07 Schlossberg Finkenherd.jpg|thumb|left|Restored houses in Quedlinburg Old Town, 2018]]
The town of Quedlinburg is known to have existed since at least the early 9th century, when there was a settlement known as ''Gross Orden'' on the eastern bank of the River [[Bode River|Bode]]. It was first mentioned as a town in 922 as part of a donation by King [[Henry the Fowler]] (''Heinrich der Vogler''). The records of this donation were held by the abbey of [[Corvey]].

According to legend, Henry had been offered the German crown at Quedlinburg in 919 by Franconian nobles, giving rise to the town being called the "cradle of the German Reich".<ref name="Booklet"/>{{rp|85}}

After Henry's death in 936, his widow [[Matilda of Ringelheim|Saint Matilda]] founded a religious community for women (''[[Frauenstift]]'') on the castle hill, where daughters of the higher nobility were educated. The main task of this collegiate foundation, [[Quedlinburg Abbey]], was to pray for the memory of King Henry and the rulers who came after him. The ''[[Annals of Quedlinburg]]'' were also compiled there. The first abbess was Matilda, a granddaughter of King Henry and St. Matilda.

The Quedlinburg castle complex, founded by King Henry I and built up by [[Otto the Great|Emperor Otto I]] in 936, was an imperial ''[[Kaiserpfalz|Pfalz]]'' of the Saxon emperors. The ''Pfalz'', including the male convent, was in the valley, where today the Roman Catholic Church of ''St. Wiperti'' is situated, while the women's convent was located on the castle hill.

In 973, shortly before the death of [[Otto the Great|Emperor Otto I]], a ''[[Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)|Reichstag]]'' (Imperial Convention) was held at the imperial court in which [[Mieszko I of Poland|Mieszko]], duke of [[Polans (western)|Polans]], and [[Boleslav I of Bohemia|Boleslav]], duke of [[Bohemia]], as well as numerous other nobles from as far away as [[Byzantium]] and [[Bulgaria]], gathered to pay homage to the emperor. On the occasion, Otto the Great introduced his new daughter-in-law [[Theophanu]], a Byzantine princess whose marriage to [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto II]] brought hope for recognition and continued peace between the rulers of the Eastern and Western empires.

In 994, [[Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto III]] granted the right of market, tax, and coining, and established the first market place to the north of the castle hill.

The town became a member of the [[Hanseatic League]] in 1426. Quedlinburg Abbey frequently disputed the independence of the town, which sought the aid of the [[Bishopric of Halberstadt]]. In 1477, [[Hedwig, Abbess of Quedlinburg|Abbess Hedwig]], aided by her brothers [[Ernest, Elector of Saxony|Ernest]] and [[Albert III, Duke of Saxony|Albert]], broke the resistance of the town and expelled the bishop's forces. Quedlinburg was forced to leave the Hanseatic League and was subsequently protected by the [[Electorate of Saxony]]. Both town and abbey converted to [[Lutheranism]] in 1539 during the [[Protestant Reformation]].

In 1697, [[Augustus II the Strong|Frederick Augustus I]] of [[Personal union of Poland and Saxony|Poland–Saxony]] sold his rights to Quedlinburg to Elector [[Frederick I of Prussia|Frederick III of Brandenburg]] for 240,000 thalers. Quedlinburg Abbey contested [[Brandenburg-Prussia]]'s claims throughout the 18th century, however. The abbey was secularized in 1802 during the [[German Mediatisation]], and Quedlinburg passed to the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] as part of the Principality of Quedlinburg.<!--(? -- this might be Halberstadt as there is no evidence that Quedlinburg ever became a principality) --> Part of the [[Napoleonic Wars|Napoleonic]] [[Kingdom of Westphalia]] from 1807 to 1813, it was included within the new Prussian [[Province of Saxony]] in 1815. In all this time, ladies ruled Quedlinburg as abbesses without "taking the veil"; they were free to marry. The last of these ladies was a Swedish princess, an early fighter for women's rights, [[Sophia Albertina, Abbess of Quedlinburg|Sofia Albertina]].

During the [[Nazism|Nazi regime]], the memory of Henry I became a sort of cult, as [[Heinrich Himmler]] saw himself as the reincarnation of the "most German of all German" rulers. The collegiate church and castle were to be turned into a shrine for [[Nazi Germany]]. The Nazi Party tried to create a new religion. The cathedral was closed in 1938 and during the war. The local [[crematory]] was kept busy burning the victims of the [[Langenstein-Zwieberge]] concentration camp. [[Georg Ay]] was local party chief from 1931 until the end of [[World War II]]. During the war, Quedlinburg was the location of a subcamp of the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]] and a subcamp of the [[Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=409, 995|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}}</ref> American occupation during the last months of World War II brought back the Protestant bishop and the church bells, and the Nazi-style eagle was removed from the tower. However, in the 1980s, upon the death of one of the US military men, the [[theft of medieval art from Quedlinburg]] came to light.

Quedlinburg was administered within [[Administrative division of the German Democratic Republic|Bezirk]] [[Halle, Saxony-Anhalt|Halle]] while part of the Communist [[East Germany]] from 1949 to 1990. It became part of the state of [[Saxony-Anhalt]] upon [[German reunification]] in 1990.

During Quedlinburg's Communist era, restoration specialists from Poland were called in during the 1980s to carry out repairs on the old architecture. Today, Quedlinburg is a center of restoration of [[Timber framing#German tradition or Fachwerkhäuser|''Fachwerk'']] houses.

Quedlinburg is the setting for the acclaimed 2016 ''[[Frantz (film)|Frantz]]'', serving as a quintessential small German town in the wake of WWI, home to a family who is reeling from the death of a son in the war.