The first documented mention of Quedlinburg dates from 922 as "Quitilingaburg", being the favorite place where King Heinrich I (Henry the Fowler) held the imperial diets. His wife St. Matilda founded the convent on the castle hill in 936 (dissolved in 1802). Their son Otto I (Otto the Great) became the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In 994 the city received trading rights, and in 1426 it became a member of the Hanseatic League. Quedlinburg has preserved a large number of timber-framed buildings dating from several centuries.