Befreiungshalle, Neoclassical monument on Michelsberg hill, Kelheim, Germany
Befreiungshalle is a circular hall built from pale limestone on the Michelsberg near Kelheim, visible for miles with its dome and outer ring of columns. The interior opens beneath a coffered dome with a round opening at the center that lets daylight fall onto the polished marble floor.
King Ludwig I of Bavaria had Friedrich von Gärtner begin the hall on the Michelsberg in 1842; after Gärtner's death in 1847, Leo von Klenze took over, kept the basic concept and added neoclassical elements. The hall was completed in 1863 and opened on 18 October 1863, the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig, to commemorate the victories over Napoleon in 1813–1815.
The 34 statues inside are Victories, not winged figures on the gallery: two 3.3-metre Victories stand before each of the 17 niches, holding gilded bronze shields cast from captured cannon. The two beside the entrance are of white Tyrolean marble and hold palm branches; the rest are Carrara marble. Designed by Ludwig Schwanthaler, they join hands in a ring alluding to the German Confederation's member states.
The climb to the hall follows a paved path that winds through forest and open slopes, accessible from several directions around the base of the hill. Visitors can walk around the exterior viewing platform and look out over the Danube valley and surrounding hills.
The hall has no windows in the usual sense, only the circular opening at the top of the dome admits light and changes the mood inside with the time of day and weather. On sunny days the circle of light slowly moves across the walls and floor.
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