The landmark Quedlinburg Castle with "der Brocken" in the background
©Quedlinburg-Tourismus-Marketing GmbH
Outside view of St. Cyriakus, the Romanesque Clositer and Church in the Gernrode district
©Quedlinburg-Tourismus-Marketing GmbH
Inside courtyard of St Cyriakus
©Quedlinburg-Tourismus-Marketing GmbH
Half timbered houses below the castle
©Quedlinburg-Tourismus-Marketing GmbH
Typical outdoor dining in Quedlinburg
©Quedlinburg-Tourismus-Marketing GmbH
A procession during the "Kaiserfrühling" - an annual Medieval Festival
©Quedlinburg-Tourismus-Marketing GmbH
A Concert in the St. Servatius Convent Church during the Quedlinburg Summer Music Festival
©Jürgen Meusel
Quedlinburg - Summer and Fall 2012
Celebrating the 1100th Anniversary of Otto the Great
This summer and fall, visitors to Quedlinburg, the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, will have a very special experience as the city will be celebrating the 1100th birthday of the Saxon King and Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great (912 - 973.)
Otto and his descendents dominated eastern Germany’s cultural and political life for more than two hundred years from the early 920’s well into the 12th Century, strengthening and expanding Germanic influence and re-enforcing the spread of Christianity and political and economic stability. Historians today consider the Saxon Otto to be the first real Holy Roman Emperor rather than Charlemagne (Karl der Grosse) the Frank.
Beginning August 27th, 2012, the nearby Art History Museum at Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt’s capital city, will launch a major exhibition, “Otto the Great and the Roman Empire” in conjunction with festivities and exhibitions in seven other regional cities of which Quedlinburg is foremost.
Quedlinburg’s new borough, Gernrode, is one of the other locales, thus “doubling” Quedlinburg’s participation.
The remains of Otto’s Quedlinburg palace may be seen as well as an exhibition, while the Stiftskirche Foundation Church houses the Ottonian treasury of precious artifacts. Quedlinburg was a mainstay in Otto’s life. It was there where at 16 he married his first wife, the Anglo-Saxon Princess Editha, and also founded a seminary-foundation for noble women. Otto’s father Heinrich was buried in Quedlinburg in 936 and from about 940 on Otto celebrated Easter here.
Given the transitory nature of the Imperial circuit court, continuously dispensing judgment and justice en route, this was a notable residency or “Pfalz.”. At the time of Otto’s death, in 973, a multitude of high-ranking international visitors and nobility attended a major Court assembly conducted here.
The creation of numerous monasteries and shelters for women were among the important internal accomplishments of Otto the Great’s years prior to his coronation in 962. Margrave Gero, (one of Otto’s closest advisors who had contributed significantly to the conquest of the adjacent heathen Slavic regions), established the Women’s Cloister or Stift - the Kanonissenstift -- in neighboring Gernrode on the site of his castle “Geronisroth” in 959. A further cloister adjacent to Gero’s gravesite was created to allow the sisters to pray for the wellbeing of his soul and those of his sons. The first Abbess of this convent was Hathuie, the widow of Gero’s son Siegfried who was Otto’s godson. That cloister’s church, the Stiftskirche St Cyriakus is considered to be among the best-preserved examples of Romanesque church architecture in the world. In conjunction with religious life, yet another exhibition is currently being prepared: this one deals with cloister life. It is entitled “Life behind the Veil”, or “Veiled Mystery”.
Prior to the big exhibition in Magdeburg, Quedlinburg’s own, accompanying exhibition begins August 24th, 2012. Entitled “Otto and Love - Imperial Weddings (literally “High Times” in Quedlinburg”) this show will concern itself with the Ottonians’ quest for love and their relationships, affairs and marriages. Subtitled - “The King is Coming, It’s Wedding Time in Quedlinburg!” This exhibition continues through the winter until February 2nd, 2013.
For further information contact:
Quedlinburg-Tourismus-Markting
Markt 2
06484 Quedlinburg
Phone +49 (3946) 905620
qtm@quedlinburg.de
Visit the English language website here.
http://www.quedlinburg.de
