Exploring Quedlinburg

Y'all.  If there is a town in Germany as adorable as Wolfenbüttel, I finally found it.  Quedlinburg is a small town not far away, but across the border into the state of Sachsen-Anhalt (I'm in Lower Saxony, by the way).  Full of half-timbered construction, haunting churches and cemeteries, bright spring flowers, and several cats that let me pet their heads, Quedlinburg was a total dream!

I didn't have much of a plan going in, except that I wanted to see the Romanesque "Stiftskirche" (monastery church is the rough translation) and its treasury museum.  The church sits atop a peak of the Harz mountains, and is visible from nearly everywhere in town.  I hiked up the cobbled road to the "Schlossberg" (palace mountain, sort of) that the church sits atop, and the views were super!  It wasn't nearly as scary as the Notre Dame towers, don't worry!

St. Servatii, Stiftskirche, Quedlinburg

Inside St. Servatii Stiftskirche

View from the Schlossberg

Several grave stones of former abbesses of the monastery are kept in the crypt of the church, and they were probably my favorite part of the treasury.

The Crypt

After having a coffee break basking in the long-awaited spring sun, I visited St. Wiperti church and cemetery.  The 10th-century church (formerly a Premonastratensian monastery) itself was closed and appeared to be under construction, but the cemetery was super cool!  Rather than a vase of flowers near the headstone, all of the plots were planted like flower beds and gardens.  And of course, there is nothing as spooky and simultaneously beautiful as an old cemetery.

A nice place to relax and bask in the spring sun!

St. Wiperti Cemetery-- B&W edit by Volker

Next on the agenda was to hunt down the church that belonged to the enormously tall bell-towers I had been spotting from all over town.  It was St. Nikolai, and it is nestled among, and looms large over, the half-timbered streets of Quedlinburg.  St. Nikolai was built between the 13th and 15th centuries as the parish church for Neustadt.

Next I sort of stumbled upon St. Blasius, which was closed, but it was surrounded by lovely blooming trees so I was entertained nonetheless!

St. Aegidii was the final church of the day, and it was also closed (noted, churches close early).  St. Aegidii was originally built in the 13th century, and now neighbors a 19th-century cemetery.

Now to the important stuff-- I ran into three cool cats in Quedlinburg.  The first one had the coolest markings I have ever seen.  All black with a bright orange patch on its head!  Next cat was a big puffy thing perched on a crumbling stone wall, looking all ominous and stuff.  And last but not least was another black cat (without orange hair) that let me pet and love on her for a while.  The old guy across the street seemed slightly weirded out that I dropped everything and talked to a cat in the street.  Priorities.

So next time you're in Sachsen-Anhalt, stop by Quedlinburg!  I hear that have a super Christmas market too!!