Walhalla, The Temple of Heroes

Come with us, we’re going to visit the “Walhalla”!
The walala? What’s that??? That’s the question I asked when I was taken to visit this monument near Regensburg, in Bavaria. And I was really impressed, so I’ll share with you what I learned there….

A Walhalla (or Valhöll) is, in the German-Scandinavian mythologies, the temple were the most heroic warriors were buried. The Virgin-warriors called “Valkyries” are bringing these dead heroes to the God Odin who prepares them to the “final battle”. But I wasn’t in Scandinavia, but in Germany….

So, near of Regensburg, over the river Donau, is a giant monument called “Walhalla”, in an ancient Greek architectural style, but in fact it was constructed during the XIXth century, between 1830 and 1842 by the King of Bavaria Ludwig the 1st. He was totally fascinated by all the ancient European mythologies and built this monument as a homage to all the great men of the German civilization.

Inside the monument you can see 65 commemorative plaques and 130 statues of the “greatest German Men” (like Konrad Adenauer, Otto von Bismarck, J.S. Bach, Mozart, Albrecht Dürer, Schiller…. for the full list see the wikipedia link below). You can have a great travel through German history made by all these men.

But the most impressive is to see this giant construction with these impressive columns dominating the whole landscape and have one of the most beautiful views over the Donau river. A fascinating place to visit, to shoot and a very interesting history lesson….!

To go there, just take the main road (or highway, exit Neutraubling – Walhalla) from Regensburg to Straubing, following the Danube river, and it’s about 10 km after Regensburg, you can’t miss this giant monument (or follow the signs in case you’re lost…)!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walhalla_temple
http://www.walhalla-regensburg.de/

written by vicuna on 2009-06-24 #places #culture #history #river #monument #landscape #view #building #panorama #location #germany #danube #greatest-men