The imposing round building of the Liberation Hall on the Michelsberg in Kelheim, southwest of Regensburg, is visible from afar. King Ludwig I had the memorial built for the victorious battles against Napoleon in the Wars of Liberation from 1813 to 1815 and as a memorial for the unity of Germany. The Liberation Hall follows in the tradition of other monumental buildings that Ludwig I commissioned to the glory of Bavaria and the German nation: the Field Marshal's Hall, the Victory Gate and the Hall of Fame with the Bavaria in Munich, as well as the Walhalla near Regensburg.
The ceremonial inauguration took place on October 18, 1863, the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig. The floor plan of the Liberation Hall is an 18-sided polygon. The buttresses of the outer façade are crowned by 18 colossal statues - allegories of the German tribes - which the sculptor Johann Halbig made from Danube limestone. The number 18 symbolizes the date of the Battle of the Nations, when Napoleon's troops were defeated by the coalition.