Walhalla (memorial)

The Walhalla (German pronunciation: [valˈhala] ^ⓘ) is a hall of fame Monument that honours laudable and distinguished people in German history – "politicians, sovereigns, scientists and artists of the German tongue";^[1] thus the celebrities honoured are drawn from Greater Germany, a wider area than today's Germany, and even as far away as Britain in the case of several Anglo-Saxon figures. The hall is a neo-classical building above the Danube River, in Donaustauf, east of Regensburg in Bavaria, the exterior modelled on the Parthenon in Athens.

The Walhalla memorial is named for the Valhǫll of Norse Paganism. It was conceived in 1807 by Crown Prince Ludwig I of Bavaria in order to support the gathering momentum for the unification of the many German states into the German Empire. Following his accession to the throne of Bavaria, construction took place between 1830 and 1842 under the supervision of the architect Leo von Klenze. The memorial displays some 65 plaques and 130 busts covering 2,000 years of history, beginning with Arminius, victor at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 AD.

The entire system including the substructure is 125 meters long and 55 meters high, the shape of complex is a Greek temple in the style of a Doric Peripteros. The roof is supported by an iron structure that was ultra-modern for the time. The length of the classicist temple building is 66.7 meters, the width is 31.6 meters, and the height is 20 meters. The fully sculptural gable field on the north side, designed by Christian Daniel Rauch and executed by Ludwig von Schwanthaler, shows on the left the Germanic tribes under Arminius in the battle in the Teutoburg Forest against the Romans attacking from the west right. The southern gable represents Germany's liberation in 1814, in the middle Germania, from the left and right the German states and federal fortresses approach in homage, in the spandrel the border rivers Rhine and Moselle are symbolized. Inside, the Walhalla is 48.5 meters long, 14 meters wide and 15.5 meters high. The surrounding frieze by Martin von Wagner depicts the early history of the Germanic peoples, their departure from the Caucasus and their immigration into Central Europe. The final stage is the conversion to the Christian faith by Saint Boniface. In addition to its decorative function, the history frieze also serves as a visual separation between the lower bust zone and the upper panel zone. There are also twelve marble armchairs in the interior, which were created by the sculptor Ernst Mayer, and eight marble candlesticks.