St. Cyriakus Collegiate Church (Gernrode)

The collegiate church of St. Cyriakus in Gernrode (Harz district, Saxony-Anhalt) is one of the most important Ottonian architectural monuments in Germany. The church, first mentioned in 961, is largely in its 10th-century condition today, thanks to 19th-century restorations; only the western apse was added around 1130. The church was the collegiate church of the Gernrode convent founded by Margrave Gero, which was headed by abbesses from the noble families of the region until it was dissolved in 1616. The church became Protestant in 1521, when Abbess Elisabeth von Weida joined the Reformation and her monastery was secularized, making it one of the first Protestant churches in the world. Since the restoration it has been used as a parish church by the Evangelical parish of Gernrode.
Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiftskirche_St._Cyriakus_(Gernrode)

In 959 Margrave Gero founded a women's charter in his castle Geronisroth and appointed his daughter-in-law Hathui as abbess. The foundation was confirmed on 17 July 961 by King Otto I.His successors gave the chapter in documents the freedom to elect an abbess and accept a guardianship according to the need of the congregation. Gernrode was in the parish of Halberstadt, but was directly subordinate to the pope and the emperor. The monastery developed into an important Ottonian and Salian center and was equated to the imperial abbeys. Emperor Heinrich V. was visiting Gernrode and Kaiser Friedrich Barbarossa held a court day in Gernrode in 1188.The confirmation of 961 mentions for the first time a place called Rode, which was next to the Abbey and the castle of Geronisroth. The place Geronrod was created after the ending -rode as a clearing village. Since 1700, Gernrode has prevailed as the name of the city. The abbesses had sovereignty over the village of Gernrode. The abbess was assisted in the fulfillment of her duties by a guardian; this had the Abbey to protect against attacks and exercised the secular jurisdiction over the pin and the high jurisdiction over the place Gernrode. In the year 1149 Albrecht the bear became from the house of the Askanier the Schutzvogt of the pin. From then on until the end of the abbey in 1616, the Ascanians usually made the patronage of the abbey.The Collegiate Church of St. Cyriacus is one of the best preserved Ottonian religious buildings in Germany.In 1834, the art historian Franz Theodor Kugler drew attention to the rundown construction. The art historian Ludwig Puttrich persuaded Duke Alexander Carl of Anhalt-Bernburg to prevent further deterioration and to cause a restoration. The Prussian conservator Ferdinand von Quast was commissioned with the restoration of the collegiate church. The restoration from 1858 to 1872 preserved or restored the original designs.Source:
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gernrode_%28Quedlinburg%29
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiftskirche_St._Cyriakus_%28Gernrode&29
stiftskirche-gernrode.de

Since April 2019 also stamping point of the Harzer Klosterwanderweg.
The flat-ceiling basilica houses a replica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and the tomb of Margrave Gero.