Befreiungshalle

Perched on the Michelsberg above the town of Kelheim, the Befreiungshalle is one of King Ludwig I of Bavaria's most ambitious monumental projects, commemorating the German Wars of Liberation against Napoleon (1813–1815). Construction ran from 1842 to 1863 under two architects: Friedrich von Gärtner began the structure and Leo von Klenze completed it, drawing on ancient circular buildings like the Pantheon as their formal model. Inside the neoclassical rotunda, 18 colossal marble Victories stand in a ring, each holding two shields inscribed with the names of victorious battles — the effect is austere and theatrical in equal measure. A walkway beneath the exterior cornice rewards the climb with sweeping views across the Altmühl valley below.