The Walhalla is situated about 10 km down the Danube from Regensburg. The monumental marble temple, in
strict Dorian style on an enormous substructure, was built
for King Ludwig I by Leo von Klenze taking the Parthenon on the Acropolis as his model.The competition was announced in 1814 and its terms demanded Greek forms because, it was argued, the Partheon had been closely linked to the Greek victory over the Persians from which Greek unity derived.
What exactly is the Walhalla? According to the Teutonic mythology Walhalla is the residence of gods in which those warriors are allowed to enter who have been brought there by the Valkyrie. For Ludwig it was also to be "to excellent Germans a monument, hence a Walhalla," and he emphasized that one was intended to be more German on leaving it than upon entering. The building glorified great personalities by placing portrait busts of, for example, Leibnitz, Shiller, and Mozart inside the memorial. The Valkyrie also appear inside, but in the form of Greek caryatids wearing Nordic bearskins! Outside, one sculptured tympanum shows the defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig, the other the defeat in A.D 9 of Augustus's legions by the united tribes of central and north western Germany, who thereby saved the country from Roman domination.