Walhalla, Regenaburg, Deutschland 🇩🇪

The Walhalla is one of the best-known national monuments dating from the 19th century. Its name alone identifies it as a memorial. In medieval poetry Walhall (Valhalla) is a majestic hall belonging to the Germanic gods to which fallen heroes are taken. During the Napoleonic wars King Ludwig I became interested in establishing an appropriate place in which to honour German-speaking men and women of outstanding merit with busts and plaques and reinforce the spirit of national unity. For the creation of this monument he chose the architect Leo von Klenze. After a 12-year building period the Walhalla was inaugurated

on 18 October 1842, the 29th anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig. The building is based on a 'poetic idea'. The tiered substructure was created not only to raise the temple and adapt it to the sloping ground, but also to symbolize the ascent of the honoured persons after death via transfiguration to immortality. Here the idea is that they achieve immortality through being remembered by the visitors. The interior contains over 130 busts of people of merit and numerous memorial plaques. The individuals commemorated in the Walhalla are women and men who have made outstanding contributions to the common good. They include rulers, generals, scientists and politicians as well as numerous musicians, writers and artists.

In 1966 the Bavarian parliament decided to add new memorials at intervals of five to seven years. It is not the state but the public that initiates the addition of further busts.

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