Walhalla memorial

Welcome to the banks of the Danube, just outside the historic city of Regensburg. You are standing before one of the most significant national monuments in Germany, the Walhalla. …

As we begin the climb up the three hundred and fifty-eight steps toward the temple, let the physical effort serve as a metaphor for the arduous path to historical greatness. Each step takes us higher above the valley of the…

Standing now under the shadow of the great peristyle, you can appreciate the precision of Leo von Klenze’s neo-classical vision. This is a peripteral temple, meaning it is surrounded by a single row of columns. …

Entering the main hall, the atmosphere changes instantly. The space is vast, lined with white marble and lit by natural light filtering through the roof. …

Perhaps the most poignant addition to the Walhalla in recent decades is the bust of Sophie Scholl, placed here in two-thousand-three. Sophie Scholl was a core member of the White Rose resistance group during the Third Reich. …

If you look above the rows of busts, you will see a series of plaques high on the walls. These plaques are dedicated to figures for whom no contemporary portrait exists, or collective groups whose identities have been lost to…

Exiting the hall back onto the upper terrace, the sudden expansion of the horizon is breathtaking. From this height, the Danube appears as a silver ribbon winding through the green plains of Bavaria. …

As we descend the steps and return to the level of the river, we carry with us a complex picture of what Walhalla represents. It began as a prince's dream of national unity, expressed through the language of ancient Greece and…