24 Hours in Quedlinburg, Germany

1,200 half-timbered houses that travel through time, with honey-colored bricks and caramel-colored wood, outline the medieval skyline. Quedlinburg is like an open parchment scroll, with each eave hiding a thousand-year-old story and each pebble soaked in the amber of time. 🌟 3 time and space anchor points not to be missed 1. Stiftskirche St. Servatius The Romanesque church where Otto the Great was crowned, and where 10 kings and queens are buried in the crypt. The sunlight shines through the rose window, creating a golden-red Danube on the mural. It is recommended to come at 7am in the morning to hear the choir's harmonies echoing in the dome, as if overlapping with the coronation in 936. 2. Quedlinburg Castle The Renaissance palace on the top of the mountain overlooks the entire city from the battlements, and the 1,200 trussed houses look like overturned Lego boxes. The castle museum houses medieval gold artifacts and the manuscript of the "Gospel of Samuel" in a glass cabinet. The gold stamping on the edges of the pages still shines with the glory of the Ottonian dynasty. 3. Town Hall Square (Marktplatz) The aroma of rye bread wafts through the market in the early morning, and stall owners in traditional costumes hand out freshly baked honey gingerbread. The statue of Roland in the center of the square holds a sword and guards the contract of the Hanseatic League. During the Christmas season, this place will turn into a fairytale forest, with the sweet aroma of mulled wine and roasted almonds wafting from the wooden houses. 🍃How to play the secret realm: ▫️Hiking in the Harz Mountains: Follow the mist in the Bode Valley in the morning and encounter a mountain trail with dancing wild flowers (the same as in Heine's poem!) ▫️Christmas Magic Season: The square in front of the Town Hall is transformed into a gingerbread house market🎄, mulled wine with freshly baked twisted bread, the snowy night is breathtakingly beautiful! ▫️Manhole cover treasure hunt game: cast iron manhole covers with the city emblem are hidden on the gravel road in the old city. Collect 5 of them to summon the like king of WeChat Moments👑 🍽️ The Middle Ages on the tip of your tongue 🤩Sauerkraut Beef Stew (Sauerbraten mit Kartoffelkloße) Recommended restaurant: Gasthaus Zur Alten Kanzlei The sour beef stewed for 8 hours is served with potato dough, and the sour and sweet taste dances a waltz on the tip of your tongue. Paired with local Harz beer, the malt aroma neutralizes the harshness of sauerkraut. 🤩Honey gingerbread (Lebkuchen) The century-old shop Bäckerei Hoyer bakes freshly baked gingerbread, and the aroma of cinnamon and honey penetrates the half-timbered walls. Remember to buy the "Heart of Quedlinburg" with almond frosting as a souvenir, which is very ceremonial. 🏨 Live in a time capsule 🏡Romantik Hotel am Brühl It was formerly an 18th-century noble residence, and you can see the panoramic view of the castle by opening the carved windows. The four-poster bed in the room comes with silk bed curtains, and breakfast is served in the greenhouse glass room with a Baroque garden outside the window. 🏡Apartment im Fachwerkhaus Half-timbered apartment in the city center with exposed wooden beams and vintage tiled bathroom. The kitchen is stocked with spice jars so you can try to recreate a medieval stew. 🚶♀️ Route inspiration 📸A hidden corner in the morning mist Depart from the train station at 6:30 and stroll along the Bodesteg Bridge to watch wild ducks cut mirror-like patterns on the Bodesteg River. Passing through the Kröpeliner Tor city gate and turning into the Hinter der Mauer alley, the sunlight is gilding the 300-year-old half-timbered houses. 📸Afternoon Historical Jigsaw Puzzle 14:00 After visiting the castle, walk 10 minutes to St. Wigbert's Church. The crypts here contain 11th-century frescoes, and the gold leaf on angels’ wings trembles in the candlelight. 📸The magic of light and shadow at dusk At 17:30, we climbed up the Nikolaikirche bell tower. In the 360° panoramic view, the red-tiled roofs looked like overturned pomegranate seeds, and the church spires and castle towers formed a crown in the twilight. 🎁 Travel notebook material 👀Buy hand-painted tile coasters at the market, with patterns of the town’s 12 churches. 👀 Collect 10 medieval coat of arms stamps in the Castle Museum Stamp Book. 👀The Christmas limited edition "Quedlinburg Night Lights" has a group of gilded half-timbered houses in the glass cover. ✨ Practical magic book 🚂 Transportation: Take the ICE from Berlin Central Station to Halberstadt, then transfer to RE5 to Quedlinburg (the whole journey takes 2.5 hours) 🎫 Tickets: Castle Museum €6, Church Ticket €8 (including St. Servatius Church and Crypt) 📅 Best season: May-June when cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and the December Christmas market (11.27-12.22) is like a real-life scene from The Nutcracker 💡 Hidden trick: Rent medieval costumes to take photos and recreate the coronation of Otto the Great in front of the town hall (costume rental: Historische Kostüme Quedlinburg) Quedlinburg is the amber of time. When dusk falls over the city walls, the windows of the half-timbered houses are lit with warm yellow lights, and even the shadows become storytelling elves. Here, every corner is a crack in time, waiting for you to push open the creaking wooden door and step into the Kingdom of Saxony in 922.