Imagine taking a scenic tour around the German city of Regensburg and stumbling upon a grand Doric temple reminiscent of the Parthenon in Athens. This impressive structure, known as Valhalla, is adorned with stairs, columns, and capitals that evoke ancient Greece. Its grand architecture stands in stark contrast to the nearby half-timbered houses and medieval buildings typical of the region.

The concept for Valhalla emerged in 1807 when Crown Prince Ludwig, inspired by Norse mythology where Valhalla is the hall of fallen heroes, envisioned a monument after the Prussian army’s defeat by Napoleon. The neoclassical temple’s construction originated in the mid-1800s, under the direction of King Ludwig I, who tasked architect Leo von Klenze with designing a temple to honor great German figures. Inside, you’ll find 129 busts and 65 commemorative plaques celebrating influential men and women in politics, religion, art, science, and music.

Among the figures commemorated are Barbarossa, Bismarck, Erasmus, Luther, Copernicus, Röntgen, Gutenberg, Einstein, Goethe, Mozart, Wagner, and Sophie Scholl, a heroine of the White Rose anti-Nazi movement, as well as Ludwig I himself.

Valhalla in Regensburg is open to visitors from 9 am to 5:45 pm from April to September. In October, it closes an hour earlier at 4:45 pm, and from November to March, it operates from 10 am to 11:45 am and then from 1 pm to 3:45 pm.