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Walhalla memorial, high above the Danube River

Saturday, 10 October 2015 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union
Category/Kategorie: General Reading Time:  3 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post The Walhalla is a hall of fame that honors laudable and distinguished people, famous personalities in German history – politicians, sovereigns, scientists and artists of the “German tongue“. The hall is housed in a neo-classical building above the Danube River, east of Regensburg, in Bavaria. The Walhalla is named for Valhalla of Norse mythology. It was conceived in 1807 by Crown Prince Ludwig, who built it upon ascending the throne of Bavaria as King Ludwig I. Construction took place between 1830 and 1842, under the supervision of architect Leo von Klenze. The memorial displays some 65 plaques and 130 busts of persons, covering 2,000 years of history – the earliest person honored is Arminius, victor at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD).

Ludwig intended his Walhalla not only for warriors but also for scientists, writers, and clerics, and specifically included both men and women. Decades before the foundation of the modern German state in 1871, “German” was understood as “Germanic“. Included were Gothic, Langobardic, Anglo-Saxon, Austrian, Dutch and Swiss German figures, as well as persons who had gained fame mainly in other countries or while serving non-German governments. As successor to the King, the government of Bavaria decides on additions. Anyone may propose a name, but candidates must have died at least 20 years before becoming eligible (doubled in 1912). Only 31 busts have been added since its opening, on an irregular basis, for a total of 191, twelve of them female.

Plaques were made for people (or acts) of which no portraits or descriptions were available to model sculptures after. The timeline spans from Arminius a.k.a. Hermann der Cherusker (born 17 BC) to watchmaker Peter Henlein, who died in 1542. In 2003 a plaque was added to commemorate well-known and unknown German Resistance fighters against Nazi Germany.

In Munich, King Ludwig I established an additional Hall of Fame for Bavarians in 1853 – the Ruhmeshalle München. Nine of the Bavarian enshrinees have since become Walhalla enshrinees. Thus, their busts in the Ruhmeshalle, which were destroyed in 1944 during World War II, have not been recreated. Instead, a plaque with their names tells of their transfer to Walhalla. Additionally, King Ludwig I, who commissioned the Befreiungshalle and other monuments, is enshrined both at Walhalla and in the Ruhmeshalle.

Read more on Walhalla and Wikipedia Walhalla (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Johns Hopkins University & Medicine - Coronavirus Resource Center - Global Passport Power Rank - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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