Halberstadium, Urbs Saxoniae [on sheet with] Quedelinburga, Antiquissimum Saxoniae Oppid. [Halberstadt and Quedlinburg].

A fine copper engraving with two panoramic views by Braun and Hogenberg: Halberstadt and Quedlinburg. From: 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum. Liber tertius'. Köln, 1581.
HALBERSTADT. TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: Halberstadt, town in Saxony, famous for its political constitution, beautiful location and monastery.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Charlemagne, the praiseworthy King of the Franks and Roman Emperor, realised after lengthy experience and battles waged against the Saxons, that the people of this land are savage, strong and without respect, and absolutely do not allow themselves to be cowed and tamed by armies or weapons, but can be subdued and subjugated only with gentleness and good and devout orders and laws. He therefore appointed over them many bishops as rulers and chaplains."

Halberstadt, which lies in the foothills of the Harz Mountains, is seen here from the south from the direction of the Spiegelberge Mountains, in a view that illustrates its oval layout at the foot of the 314-m-high Hoy Hills. The three churches dominating the skyline are (from left) the Romanesque Liebfrauen pier basilica with its four towers, the twin-towered Gothic cathedral of St Stephen and the Gothic three-aisled church of St Martin with its taller south tower.
Beside the city wall in the left foreground stands the steepleless Gothic three-aisled church of St Andrew, today the Halberstadt Franciscan monastery. Halberstadt became a bishop's see in AD 804, was granted market rights in 989 and joined the Hanseatic League in 1387.

QUEDLINBURG. CARTOUCHE: Quedlinburg, an ancient town in Saxony. COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Quedlinburg is an old town, not far from Magdeburg in Saxony, which was built by Emperor Henry the Fowler along with a convent [...] and as whose first abbess he appointed his grand-daughter Mathilda.
Quedlinburg is a beautiful, old and impressive city, which was also quite wealthy, so long as, after its founding, a lawful authority ruled, namely so long as it was subordinate to the abbess. But when the town turned disobedient, Duke Ernest of Saxony attacked it and took away its statue of Roland, which had served as a symbol of its freedoms since ancient times."
The view from the southeast shows Quedlinburg and, left, the castle hill with the three-aisled Romanesque cathedral of St Servatius, which houses the tombs of King Henry I and his wife, St Mathilde. A striking feature of the city itself are the four churches aligned in parallel (from left): St Blasius, the market church of St Benedict, the late Gothic church of St Ägidii with its massive towers and the church of St Nicholas with its 72-m-high twin spires.
Quedlinberg grew in importance from the 10th century onwards, when it became an imperial palatinate and when Henry I's grand-daughter, Mathilda, was confirmed as the first abbess of the convent by Otto I. (Taschen)

The 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum', or the "Braun & Hogenberg", is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully colored. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso. A large number of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who was a professional artist.
The first volume was published in Latin in 1572, the sixth volume in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau.
Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Reference: Van der Krogt 4, 1698; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p.248.