History

House Mühlenstraße 20, today`s Hotel Domschatz, was built in the year 1789 in half-timbered style by Quedlinburg master carpenter Sasse on behalf of Johann Friedrich Weitling and his wife Catharina Margreta. It´s written in a balk on the forefront.

red colored timber head

An important architectural detail is the red colored timber head. It`s actually used on older houses from the 17th century.

Our house was used as a location for horse-drawn vehicles. The entry was located on street „Rittergasse“. There was space for up to 8 horses. Later craftsmen lived here to provide service.

View at the Hotel Domschatz and castle hill with Collegiate Church St. Servatius

Princess Sophia Albertina of Sweden

Street »Mühlenstraße« was the place where members of the secular canonesses on castle hill used to live. When our house was built in 1789 the Abbess Princess Sophia Albertina of Sweden was in charge. She was a sister to Gustav III of Sweden and niece to Frederick II, King in Prussia, also known as Frederick the Great. Until 1878 street „Mühlenstraße“ had the name „Vor der Kunst“. It`s a reference to a water drawing machine, a so called water art.

photo: Wikimedia Commons

With good reason our house is known for being an artist house: In 1853, February 10th, the sculptor Prof. Richard Leopold Oskar Anders was born here.

Prof. Richard Anders, photo: on the authority of Hasso Storbeck

At the beginning of his career he gained experience with sculpting wood. From 1871 he studied at Berlin Art Academy where he returned to as a professor many years later. In 1866 he started his studio to cast figures in bronze and copper. Three of his most important works are the equestrian portrait of German Emperor Wilhelm I. in Cologne, the GutsMuths memorial and the equestrian memorial Mars la Tour, both in Quedlinburg.

the former equestrian memorial Mars la Tour,
photo: on the authority of Hasso Storbeck

GutsMuths memorial

Wilhelm Steuerwaldt,
photo: place of location – Klopstockhaus, photographed by Heiko Günther, on the authority of Schlossmuseum Quedlinburg

From 1867 the painter Wilhelm Steuerwaldt with his family used to live in this house for several years. Until 1867 he owned the Klopstockhaus. Steuerwaldt is a son of Quedlinburg. He was born 1815, September 1st, in the street „Finkenherd“. From 1833 he studied at Düsseldorf Art Academy. His works are part of the romantic era. He gained a reputation for his paintings showing the ruined monastery of Heisterbach. One of this paintings was exhibited in the Louvre Museum in Paris. His typical style is a perspective through a gothic hall toward a snowcapped landscape with a castle, churchyard and ruin. The author Heiko Günther wrote a book about the life and work of Wilhelm Steuerwaldt.

ruined monastery of Heisterbach by Wilhelm Steuerwaldt,
on the authority of Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg.

Through old address books we know that craftsmen and gardeners lived in this house. We know of  master weaver Gebecke and carpenter Meyer. Robert Ferdinand Leopold Anders, father of sculptor Richard Anders, had his dye factory here. And we know that in 1887 the gardeners Heinemann und Schilling lived here.

At the end of the 19th century the master baker Friedrich Bock had his bakery and sales room in this house. Until the 1940s there was a grocery store owned by Paul Küster. In the GDR the house was used as a residential house. There was need to restore the building. In the middle of the 1980s the authority made appropriate plans. The project failed because of lack of money.

Our house in 1954 during the filming of the movie Pole Poppenspäler

In the early 1990s, after the revolution in east germany and east europe, the house was bought by architect Angelika Drews. She managed the extensive reconstructing in 1994. Since then the building is being used as hotel. It carries status as a listed building. As part of the architectonic legacy of Quedlinburg it has been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The current name of the hotel was chosen due to the treasure „Domschatz“ located in the nearby Collegiate Church St. Servatius.

House Mühlenstraße 20 before…

…during…

…and after reconstruction