1878 Reclus print DONAUSTAUF & WALHALLA, BAVARIA, GERMANY, #56

Description: Reclus03_56 1878 Reclus print DONAUSTAUF & WALHALLA, BAVARIA, GERMANY, #56 Nice print titled Donaustauf et la Walhalla, from wood engraving with fine detail and clear impression, approx. image size is 18.5 x 13 cm. From La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes / The Earth and Its Inhabitants, great work of Elisee Reclus. Walhalla temple The Walhalla is a hall of fame for "laudable and distinguished Germans" resp. "famous personalities in German history – politicians, sovereigns, scientists and artists" "of the German tongue", housed in a neo-classical building above the Danube River east of Regensburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It was conceived in 1807 by Crown Prince Ludwig I of Bavaria, when he had become King, and was built between 1830 and 1842 by the architect Leo von Klenze. The Walhalla hosts about 65 placques and 130 busts of persons, covering 2000 years of history; as the oldest person honored is Arminius, victor in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in year 9. History By 1806, Napoleon's First French Empire had annexed German lands along the Rhine and the North Sea, and Central German states formed the Confederation of the Rhine, which sided with Napoleon. As a result of this, the Emperor formally dissolved the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and styled himself Austrian Emperor instead. The War of the Fourth Coalition pitted German forces on both sides, and Napoleon prevailed once again. In 1807, in a time of deep humiliation of Germany, 20-year-old Crown Prince Ludwig I of the Kingdom of Bavaria, newly elevated by Napoleon, had the idea to remind all Germans of common heritage, of great figures and events in ethnic German history. He ordered several sculptors to create busts of famous persons of his choice, and Johann Gottfried Schadow's bust of Nicolaus Copernicus was one of the first to be finished, in 1807. For further advice, Ludwig contacted Swiss historian Johannes von Müller in 1808. By the time of King Ludwig I's coronation in 1825, 60 busts had been completed. In 1826, he commissioned a temple above the Danube near Regensburg, modeled after the Parthenon in Athens. The southern pediment frieze features the 1815 creation of the German Confederation; the northern shows scenes from the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. On the Walhalla's inauguration on October 18, 1842, there were 96 busts, plus 64 plaques for persons or events of which no portrait was available on which to model a sculpture. As being "of the German tongue" was the main selection criterion for the original 160 persons representing the 1,800 years, the King included persons from or active in modern-day Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and the Baltic States. Whereas the Valhalla of Norse mythology was home to those gloriously slain in battle, Ludwig's Walhalla was intended not only for warriors but also for scientists, writers, clerics and specifically also for women. Decades before the German Empire was founded in 1871, "German" was understood as "Germanic," since Gothic, Langobardic, Anglo-Saxon, Dutch and Swiss German figures were included, as well as persons who had gained fame mainly in other countries or for non-German governments As successor to the King, the government of Bavaria decides on additions. Proposals may be made by anyone, but only persons who have been dead at least 20 years are eligible (this had been doubled in 1912). Only 31 busts have been added since, on an irregular basis, for a total of 191, twelve of them female. Donaustauf Donaustauf is a market town in Bavaria, 5 km east of Regensburg at the foothills of the Bavarian Forest. The ruins of a medieval castle, presumably erected between 914 and 930, tower above the small town. Situated nearby on a hill rising from the Danube is the imposing Teutonic temple of fame, Walhalla, a costly reproduction of the Parthenon in Athens which was commissioned by Bavarian King Ludwig I and inaugurated on 18 October 1842. In 1810, the territory of Donaustauf, with restriction of the sovereignity, was given to the Princes of Thurn and Taxis as an indemnity for the imperial posts, which had been retired by the Kingdom of Bavaria. Maximilian Karl, Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his family, who liked the romantic scenery of Donaustauf, moved to the newly constructed princely Castle Donaustauf in 1843, which, however, was completely destroyed during a blaze on 4 March 1880.

Price: 19.96 USD

Location: Zagreb, HR

End Time: 2024-12-05T07:18:52.000Z

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