Bavaria is the female symbolic figure and secular patron of Bavaria and appears as a personified allegory for the state of Bavaria in various forms and manifestations. She thus represents the secular counterpart to Mary as the religious .
In the visual arts, the colossal bronze statue in Munich is the best-known and most monumental depiction of Bavaria. It was commissioned by King Ludwig I (1786–1868) between 1843 and 1850 and stands in structural unity with the Ruhmeshalle on the edge of the slope above the Theresienwiese.
After the Baroque colossal statues of the 17th century, it is the first example of its kind from the 19th century and the first colossal statue to be made entirely of cast bronze since antiquity. It was and is a technical masterpiece.
Allegories of Bavaria
The Tellus Bavarica has been a common allegory of the "Bavarian earth" for many centuries, appearing in many different forms, including in coats of arms, on paintings, as a relief depiction, for example above house entrances, and as a statue. In public perception, Bavaria is today largely identified with the monumental statue on the Theresienwiese, but other examples can be found in public spaces. An easily accessible one can be seen in Munich's Hofgarten: The dome of the central "Dianatempel" was originally crowned by a bronze statue of Diana by Hubert Gerhard, which Hans Krumpper presumably transformed into an allegory of Bavaria in 1623 by adding an elector's hat to her helmet and placing an orb in her hand instead of a wreath of corn. There is a copy on the temple today, the original is on display in the Munich Residence.Bavarian Palace Department : Hofgarten
In 1773, Bartolomeo Altomonte created parts of the Baroque decoration of the Fürstenzell monastery near Passau and placed Bavaria in the center of the ceiling fresco in the Hall of Princes. She is depicted as a queen at the moment of her coronation by an angel and surrounded by allegories of the church, trade, agriculture and the arts.
In 1805, the artist Marianne Kürzinger created a completely different version of a Bavarian state allegory in her oil painting Gallia Protects Bavaria The picture shows a young, delicate allegory of the country in a white and blue robe, fleeing from the impending storm into the arms of the approaching Gallia, while the Bavarian lion throws itself against the threat. The depiction reflects the alliance between Bavaria and France at the time.Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte: Gallia schützt Bavaria, Catalog of the national exhibition 1999 "Bayern und Preussen“ The Habsburg Emperor Francis II had threatened: "I will not take Bavaria, I will devour it."
Around a quarter of a century later, Peter von Cornelius, together with other artists involved in the decoration of the Munich Hofgarten arcades, created a much more self-confident allegory of Bavaria as a fresco: this peaceful but defensive Bavaria wears a breastplate and a mural crown, in her right hand she holds an inverted spear as a sign of peace, and in her left a shield with King Ludwig I's motto "Just and Persevering". With the Bavarian Lion at her side, she sits in front of a landscape with mountains and river valleys.Peter von Cornelius et al. (1829): "Allegorie der Bavaria" Holger Schulten"
The unknown painter of a shooting target in Tölz from 1851Unknown artist (1851): "Allegorie der Bavaria mit Schwert, Kranz und Löwe, davor Wappen von Bad Tölz" was almost certainly aware of Schwanthaler's work on the colossal sculpture for the Ruhmeshalle, which was already well advanced at the time, from the press or even from his own experience: Although freely interpreted, his depiction of Bavaria shows her with the same attributes as the Bavaria on the Theresienwiese, which was unveiled two years later. The clothing is different, but the positioning on the pedestal, the sword in the right hand and the victory wreath in the left clearly reveal the original. However, here the artist placed the allegory in front of an Alpine landscape with a view of Bad Tölz in the background and added a town coat of arms in the foreground.
From 2011 to 2018, Bavaria, portrayed by the actress Luise Kinseher, held the sermon at the strong beer festival at Nockherberg.
Ruhmeshalle and Bavaria The Bavaria at the Theresienwiese is surrounded by the Ruhmeshalle and the Bavariapark. It forms a conceptual and design unit, despite some breaks, with the three-winged Doric columned hall surrounding it, standing above it on its base. For this reason, the following description of the Bavaria is preceded by a brief account of the history of the hall. A more detailed account of its development can be found in the article on the Ruhmeshalle Munich.
Origin of the Ruhmeshalle
Historical background
Ludwig I's youth was marked by Napoleon's claims to power on the one hand and Austria's on the other; at the time, his family's House of Wittelsbach was a pawn between these two great powers. Until 1805, when Napoleon "liberated" Munich in the War of the Third Coalition and made Ludwig's father Maximilian king, Bavaria was repeatedly a theater of war with devastating consequences for the country. It was not until Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813 that Bavaria really entered a period of peace.
In this context, Crown Prince Ludwig thought about a "Bavaria of all tribes" and a "greater German nation". These motivations and goals subsequently motivated him to undertake several construction projects for national monuments such as the Konstitutionssäule in Gaibach (1828), the Walhalla east of Regensburg above the Danube and the village of Donaustauf (1842), the Ruhmeshalle in Munich (1853) and the Befreiungshalle near Kelheim (1863), all of which were privately financed by the king and which, in terms of form and content, purpose and reception, form an artistic and political unity that is unique in Germany, despite all the internal contradictions.
Ludwig, who succeeded his father on the royal throne after his death in 1825, felt a close connection to Greece, was a fervent admirer of Greek antiquity and wanted to transform his capital Munich into an "Isar-Athens". Ludwig's second-born son Otto was proclaimed King of Greece in 1832.
Building history
As early as the time he was crown prince, Ludwig developed the plan to erect a patriotic monument in the royal seat of Munich, and subsequently had lists and directories of "great" Bavarians from all classes and professions drawn up. In 1833, he announced a competition for his building project. The competition was initially intended to gather initial ideas for the design of the Ruhmeshalle, which is why only the key data for the project were specified in the invitation to tender: The hall was to be built above the Theresienwiese and provide space for around 200 busts. The only requirement was:
This stipulation did not exclude the classicist architectural style of the parallel Walhalla project, but it is reasonable to assume that the architects were to be encouraged to propose a different architectural style. As the designs of the four participants have largely been preserved, it provides an interesting insight into the history of the Ruhmeshalle, which was built during a phase of artistic and ideological conflict between classicists on the one hand, who felt a connection to the aesthetics of Greek and Roman antiquity, and romantics on the other, who based their artistic expression on the formal language of the Middle Ages. In the competition for the Ruhmeshalle, this artistic-architectural as well as ideological-political debate continued and was reflected in the designs submitted. In March 1834, Ludwig I ultimately decided against the projects of Friedrich von Gärtner, Joseph Daniel Ohlmüller and Friedrich Ziebland, primarily for cost reasons, and commissioned Leo von Klenze to build the Ruhmeshalle. He was undoubtedly particularly impressed by the colossal statue in Klenze's design, as such a large sculpture had not been realized since antiquity. Flattered by the idea of erecting statues as imposing as the admired rulers of antiquity, Ludwig I wrote after his decision in favor of Klenze's design:
Bavaria
Iconography The statue was originally sketched in antique iconography, but the character was changed during the planning period. The statue that was finally created is influenced by Romanticism and incorporates the symbolism of Germanic culture.
Designs by Leo von Klenze Von Klenze drew the first sketches of a Bavaria as a "Greek Amazon" as early as 1824. The inspiration for such a statue was the colossal bronze statue of Athena Promachos; several paintings from 1846 show Klenze's idea of the Acropolis of Athens.
After the competition for the design of the Ruhmeshalle was decided in v. Klenze's favor, he drew further designs for the Bavaria in addition to detailed sketches for the hall. The sketches show a Bavaria modeled on ancient depictions of the Amazon with a double-belted dress (chiton) and high-laced sandals. With her right hand, she crowns a multi-headed herm, whose four faces symbolize the virtues of rulers and war, the arts and science. In her left hand, the Bavaria holds a wreath at hip height with her arm outstretched, which she symbolically donates to the honored personalities. A lion crouches to the left of the Bavaria.
With this proposal, von Klenze created a new type of regional allegory by mixing different motifs. Personifications of Bavaria had existed long before, as described above. But while the attributes of the Tellus Bavarica on the Hofgarten temple, for example, represent the material wealth of the state, v. Klenze endowed his Bavaria with attributes of education and state leadership. In doing so, he also created a new ideal of the state. In v. Klenze's design, a virtuous and enlightened ideal of the state takes center stage and supplants the agrarian symbols. In a further design from 1834, v. Klenze planned the Bavaria as an exact copy of the Athena Promachos that once stood in front of the Acropolis. According to this proposal, the Bavaria would have been equipped with a helmet and shield and a raised lance.
On May 28, 1837, the contract for the production of the Bavaria was signed between Ludwig I, v. Klenze, the sculptor Ludwig Schwanthaler and the arch-founders Johann Baptist Stiglmaier and his nephew Ferdinand von Miller. Ludwig I and the artists involved were certainly aware of the designs for the Hermann monuments in the Teutoburg Forest from the 1820s, although these were only completed after the Bavaria.
Schwanthaler's designs
In contrast to Klenze, who was intensely interested in antiquity, Schwanthaler was a supporter of the Romantic movement and belonged to several Munich medieval circles, which were enthusiastic about everything "patriotic" but rejected anything foreign and, above all, antiquity. Schwanthaler was therefore in opposition to Klenze's classicist guidelines. It was evidently part of Ludwig's strategy to incorporate the opposing artistic views into the design of one and the same patriotic monument project in order to unite the conflicting camps under the umbrella of the nation. His attempt to synthesize the classicist and romantic-gothic styles is often referred to in the literature as "romantic classicism" or "Ludovician style".
Schwanthaler initially followed Klenze's specifications in his first Bavaria designs. However, the sculptor soon began to design his own variations of the Bavaria. The decisive factor here was his decision to no longer design the Bavaria according to the ancient model, but to dress her in a "Germanic" manner: The shirt-like dress reaching down to the feet was now draped very simply and girded together with a bearskin thrown over it, which in Schwanthaler's opinion gave the figure a typically "Teutonic" character.