St. Mary’s on the Münzenberg

The church was founded in 986 at the behest of the Abbess Mathilde, in memory of her prematurely deceased brother, Kaiser Otto II, as a monastic church of the Quedlinburg Benedictine order. After a fire in 1017, it was newly consecrated in the presence of Henry II. The Church had a three-celled sanctuary with a spacious semicircular apse, a short nave and a voluminous transverse rectangular west building with a gallery. There is a hall crypt beneath the apse.

According to some scholars, the building bears similarities to East Roman Byzantine churches, such as the ruin of the 6th century basilica of Qalb Loze in what is today Syria, especially the presbyteries by the sanctuary and the west building with its galleries. Whether or not Empress Theophanu personally intervened in the construction is unknown.

The monastery was abandoned after its destruction in the Great Peasants' War. From the second half of the 16th century, simple people such as musicians, etc., settled on the Münzenberg. These crowded and spoilt the former monastery grounds with their many small houses, and the church interior was divided into 17 individual houses and overbuilt.

This complex still exists in large parts today, and the crowd of houses is now registered in Quedlinburg's monuments list. The house Münzenberg 8 is now protected as a listed monument in its own right. The house Münzenberg 2 was built on the choir and the transept of the church. Originally a timber-framed construction, its truss structure was replaced by a solid-built construction. Some flat, stylised tendril ornaments from the original church are integrated on the west side of house Münzenberg 65.

The church’s portal has been moved to St. Wiperti’s Church. However, much of the church interior was made accessible again in the Münzenberg Museum, based on the original shape. Several impressive high medieval graves were discovered when the church's floor was excavated.

In recent years, the area has again been made widely accessible through private initiatives.

Opening hours: Daily from 10 am to 5 pm, free admission