As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of influence under the Ottonian dynasty in the 10th and 11th centuries.

[3] The castle, church and old town with around 2,100 timber houses,[4] dating from this time of influence, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994 because of their exceptional preservation and outstanding Romanesque architecture.

The town of Quedlinburg is known to have existed since at least the early 9th century, when there was a settlement known as Gross Orden on the eastern bank of the River Bode.

[5]: 85 After Henry's death in 936, his widow Saint Matilda founded a religious community for women (Frauenstift) on the castle hill, where daughters of the higher nobility were educated.

The main task of this collegiate foundation, Quedlinburg Abbey, was to pray for the memory of King Henry and the rulers who came after him.

In 973, shortly before the death of Emperor Otto I, a Reichstag (Imperial Convention) was held at the imperial court in which Mieszko, duke of Polans, and Boleslav, duke of Bohemia, as well as numerous other nobles from as far away as Byzantium and Bulgaria, gathered to pay homage to the emperor.

Quedlinburg Abbey frequently disputed the independence of the town, which sought the aid of the Bishopric of Halberstadt.

In 1477, Abbess Hedwig, aided by her brothers Ernest and Albert, broke the resistance of the town and expelled the bishop's forces.

[6] American occupation during the last months of World War II brought back the Protestant bishop and the church bells, and the Nazi-style eagle was removed from the tower.

Quedlinburg is the setting for the acclaimed 2016 Frantz, serving as a quintessential small German town in the wake of WWI, home to a family who is reeling from the death of a son in the war.

[13] Since December 1994, the old town of Quedlinburg and the castle mount with the Stiftskirche (collegiate church) are listed as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

[14] Quedlinburg is one of the best-preserved medieval and Renaissance towns in Europe, having escaped major damage in World War II.

The treasure of the church, containing ancient Christian religious artifacts and books, was stolen by an American soldier but brought back to Quedlinburg in 1993 and is again on display here.

The former Stiftskirche St. Wiperti was established in 936 when the Kanonikerstift St. Wigpertus (of male canons) was moved from the castle hill to make way for what became Quedlinburg Abbey.

Regional trains operated by Deutsche Bahn and the private Transdev company run on the standard-gauge Magdeburg–Thale line connecting Quedlinburg station with Magdeburg, Thale, and Halberstadt.

Other novels set in the area include Gerhard Beutel's Der Stadthauptmann von Quedlinburg (1972), Helga Glaesener's Du süße sanfte Mörderin (You Sweet, Gentle Murderess; 2000), and ten novels by Christian Amling about the fictional private investigator Irenäus Moll.

Several episodes (64, 67--70, 76) of the series Ärger im Revier (Trouble in the Precinct) broadcast by RTL Zwei were filmed in Quedlinburg.

[16] From 2012 to 2017, the ARD daytime series Heiter bis tödlich: Alles Klara was filmed in the city and its vicinity, with 48 episodes over three seasons.