18301830–1863 · Donaustauf and Kelheim

Walhalla and the Hall of Liberation

The marble Walhalla temple on its wooded hillside above the Danube, seen from a boat — Photo: Kora27. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Decades before Germany existed as a state, King Ludwig I of Bavaria built a marble temple above the Danube to honour great Germans. Leo von Klenze's Walhalla, modelled on the Parthenon, opened in 1842 with busts chosen by the king, and new ones are still added. On the Michelsberg above Kelheim, Ludwig's Hall of Liberation, finished in 1863, commemorates the wars against Napoleon.

Architecture & Urban History
Political History
Regensburg, Germany

Sites

Site 1: Walhalla, DonaustaufHilltop Doric temple filled with marble busts and plaques, overlooking the Danube.Map ↗
Site 2: Hall of Liberation (Befreiungshalle), KelheimDomed rotunda ringed by marble goddesses of victory, above the Danube gorge.Map ↗