weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

In this set we visit Quedlinburg's ancient market square, dating back to the year 994, located in the center of the old town and at the foot of the castle hill. It is a huge, slightly slanted and irregularly shaped square, looking somewhat akin to a narrow martini glass, paved with cobble stones and surrounded by interesting, some quite exquisite buildings. At the northern end, the wide open part of the martini glass, stands to the right the ancient city hall (Rathaus) and beside it the spectacularly shaped narrow but 5 stories high half-timbered building housing the Boulevard Café. Behind these two structures protrude the towers of the Market Church St Benedikti.

DETAIL DESCRIPTIONS:
MÜNZENBERGER MUSICIANS - The group of statues depicts four musicians originally from Bohemia that lived on the Münzenberg hill opposite of the castle hill. Many of the inhabitants of the Münzenberg earned their livelihood with playing music at a great variety of public and private events, a tradition that slowly disappeared after WWII.
CITY HALL (RATHAUS) - The city hall was first officially mentioned in the year 1310. At the beginning of the 17th century it was reconstructed in the style of the Renaissance. During this time, the formal entry portal with the city coat of arms was built. Between 1899 and 1901, two side wings were added.
ROLAND STATUE - Roland, a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne, became a symbol of the independence of the growing cities from the local nobility. He is depicted as a knight with a drawn sword. The Quedlinburg version dates back to 1435 and is a 2.75 m tall sandstone statue of Roland in his armor, the sword straight up in his right hand, in the left a shield. It is the smallest and one of the oldest Roland statues in Germany. The sculpture was destroyed in 1477, restored and re-erected in 1869 to stand before the facade of the city hall next to the terraced staircase leading up to the entry portal.
BOULEVARD CAFE - This lovely half-timbered house was constructed in the second half of the 16th century.
ST BENEDIKTI MARKET CHURCH - This church constituted the center of the merchants’ settlement with its beginnings around the year 1000. The late Gothic hall church had a predecessor building, of which the west facade is still preserved. From the original double towers only the north tower remains: Its pendant was destroyed by lightening. The new Gothic structure was begun by erecting the choir, the portion of the completed building that still manifests the highest level of artistic construction.


Notes
TRIP INFO: Set # 1 provides a brief introduction, maps and information for the entire series. Find it at:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-693834-1.html

DETAILS ON QUEDLINBURG: Set 25 provides an intro, see: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-696723-1.html

EARLIER POSTS of this series: Access my topic list, the new posts are listed in reverse chronological order:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user-topic-list?usernum=45105

Thank you for visiting, I recommend viewing the downloads and look forward to your comments and questions.

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1 - Market square looking north with the fountain and sculptures of the Münzenberger Musicians in the front and the ensemble of the Café, St Benedikti church tower and Rathaus at rear

(Download)

2 - Northern end of the market square with the Boulevard Café in the iconic narrow yellow gabled building and the city hall (Rathaus) at right with the Roland statue

(Download)

3 - The Boulevard Café in its narrow yellow gabled building, with the towers of the St Benedikti Market Church

(Download)

4 - Front/side view of the Boulevard Café

(Download)

5 - Ivy-covered city hall of Quedlinburg at the northern end of the market square with the St Benedikti church towers at left and historic buildings on Breitestrasse at right

(Download)

6 - Historic city hall of Quedlinburg, (1310)

(Download)

7 - Detail of decoration above the entrance door to the city hall: black eagle with the town crest, topped with a statue of Abundantia, roman godess of abundance

(Download)

8 - Roland sculpture (1435) at the city hall as a symbol of its town status, this is one of the oldest of many similar statues in Northern Germany, in front a pavement mosaic with a black German Imperial Eagle (Reichsadler)

(Download)

9 - Detail of the Roland statue - Historic symbol of independence for towns in the Holy Roman Empire

(Download)

10 - Pavement mosaic of a Black German Imperial Eagle (Reichsadler) with the town crest

(Download)

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Trip map of the Germany segment for your reference

(Download)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you very much Bill!

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

I'm really enjoying this journey, Joe.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

As usual, all good, but I really like the last shot, Joe.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thanks Ken, glad to hear that and it is good to have you along!

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Mike - I love this ancient art of mosaics, this one is well done, I do remember some beautiful mosaics down in Paphos/Cyprus that just take your breath away.

NMGal Loc: NE NM

I could spend some time exploring.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thanks Barbara - this is a great place for explorations. When we are on a drive, we normally start out early in the morning, get into the new place early in the afternoon and have the rest of the day to explore - and move on the next day. We really should have made a two-nights stop here, actually I thought we did, but I just checked my itinerary and we unfortunately didn't, but we spent a little time in the morning of the second day to go up to the castle before moving off.

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

Super set.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Richard, glad you like it!

Rathyatra Loc: Southport, United Kingdom

Excellent set.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

Beautiful images with great color and detail - thanks for sharing!

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Still enjoying your city scenes!