Valhalla Closes at Quarter to Six

May 20, 2022

Columns and pediment figures of Walhalla above the Danube near Regensburg, visitors on the steps — The people on the steps look like a mistake in scale, and the doors had already closed.

Day three, Germany. Valhalla.

I saw it years ago on a Porsche calendar, where it stood behind a 911 doing nothing in particular. I remember thinking: is that in Greece? It is not. It is near Regensburg, above the Danube, and I had wanted to go for years. I got there on the second day of the journey, which tells you something about how far Germany actually is.

It is enormous. The columns are exactly symmetrical and I have no idea how they managed it. A person standing next to them looks like a mistake in the scale. The reliefs and the figures in the gable must have cost the stonemasons half their lives.

I wondered whether we could still do this, if we wanted to. I decided we probably could. Then I wondered when we last wanted to.

The gates of Valhalla stayed shut to me. Visiting hours end at 5:45 p.m.

Colonnade of the Walhalla near Regensburg, a small figure in a yellow shirt at the bright far end — A person next to the columns looks like a mistake in the scale.

Looking up at fluted columns and the coffered ceiling of the Walhalla against a blue sky — I still have no idea how they got the columns this exact.

Close-up of weathered limestone with yellow lichen at the Walhalla, green countryside blurred behind — Up close the temple is a block of limestone that lichen has been working on for a long time.

Fluted column of the Walhalla photographed from below, capital and entablature against a blue sky — Only right underneath do you see how far up the columns go.

Pediment of the Walhalla with white marble figures above Doric columns, framed by leaves — The figures in the gable must have cost the stonemasons half their lives.

Warrior figures with helmets and swords in the Walhalla pediment, half hidden by green maple leaves — Seen through the trees, the warriors look as if they are hiding.

Steps and columns of the Walhalla in evening light, a tree trunk, lawn and gravel path in front — Late afternoon, and visiting hours end at a quarter to six.

Side view of the Walhalla near Regensburg, a columned temple on a massive base with a wide stairway — Years ago I saw it on a Porsche calendar and took it for something in Greece.