The Walhalla

The Walhalla is one of Germany’s most important halls of honor. It is located in Donaustauf, 20 km downstream from Regensburg. 

The classical building was erected between 1830 and 1842 under King Louis I., following the example of the Parthenon in Athens. It honors eminent German-speaking personalities. Walhalla means “hall of heroes” in Old Norse. 

Leading figures can be “admitted” to the Walhalla only 20 years after their death. However, no mortal remains can be found there. Right now, there are 128 marble busts and 64 commemorative plaques in this hall of honor, among them Johannes Gutenberg, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Albert Einstein, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Albrecht Dürer, Maria Theresia Empress of Austria, Katharina II. the Great, Martin Luther, Otto von Bismarck, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, and the commissioner himself, Louis I. of Bavaria. 

As just a handful of spots are still available, the debate regularly makes headlines in Bavaria as to who should be the next one to enter the hall of fame…