Quedlinburg

Quedlinburg, a town of Prussia, at the northern base of the Harz Mountains, 56 miles by rail SE. of Brunswick. Founded by Henry the Fowler in 924, it is still in part surrounded by a wall flanked with towers. On an eminence overlooking the town stands the castle, which prior to the Reformation was the residence of the abbesses of Quedlinburg, who were independent princesses of the empire, and had a vote in the diet, and other privileges. The castle chapel contains monumental tombs of Henry I., his wife Matilda, and the Countess of Königsmark. Here Klopstock and Karl Ritter were born. The town has manufactures of sugar, wire goods, and farinaceous foods, and gardening is prosecuted on an extensive scale. Pop. (1885) 19,323.