Quedlinburg briefly served as the capital of the East Franconian German Empire during the 10th century, when it was ruled by King Heinrich I. In AD 936, his widow, Mathilde, founded a convent and the town was ruled by its Abbesses for the next 800 years, until Napoleon invaded in 1802. The town certainly has a mythical atmosphere, with its Romanesque castle complex soaring out of the hilltop, surrounded by a patchwork of half-timbered houses and clusters of trees.

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