Go Travel and See The Landshuter Hochzeit in Landshut, Bavaria, Germany
Landshuter Hochzeit or Landshut Wedding takes place every four years in Landshut, a city in the state of Bavaria, Germany. This year’s celebration starts from June 27 to July 19, 2009. It means until this weekend only. If you have the chance to visit this festival, you better do so before it is too late..or else in 2013 again. I will share more photos as soon as I can from this renowned festival in Europe. Keep reading below for more information about this festival
“The Landshut Wedding (German: Landshuter Hochzeit) is one of the largest historical pageants in Europe. Countless visitors from all over the world have taken part, or have been spectators of the “Landshuter Hochzeit 1475”, a pageant held in Landshut, Bavaria (Germany). More than 2,000 participants in mediaeval costumes bring the festival to life to recreate the Late Middle Ages. It commemorates the wedding between Hedwig (Jadwiga), the Polish King’s daughter, and Georg, the son of the Duke of Landshut.
Every four years the medieval wedding is reenacted, and everyone gets carried away with medieval jousting, pageantry, feasting and wedding processions for a short period in the summer.
This is the Old City of Landshut where the festival is held every four years…A lady from this city told us that Landshut was not destroyed during the WW II that is the reason why you can still see intact old but beautiful buildings here.
These children in friont of St. martin Church are wearing the Medieval costumes during the Landshut Wedding festival
HISTORY
The festival is held in memory of the wedding between George of Bavaria, the son of the Bavarian duke, and Jadwiga Jagiellon, daughter of King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland, in 1475.
The wedding was negotiated in 1474 in Cracow through legations. The marriage was of importance, because it was seen as a strong alliance against the Ottoman Turks. At the time, most royal marriages were not entered into because of love, but because of political motivations. It took the bride two months to travel to Landshut, where she was received by princes and bishops.
The bridal pair were married in St. Martin’s Church, and the service was officiated by Salzburg’s Archbishop Bernhard von Rohr. Afterwards the bridal procession proceeded through the Old Town to the Town Hall. Ten thousand people are said to have attended the affair and they were provided food and drink by the young duke’s father.
Livestock eaten at the original festival
* 320 bullocks
* 1,500 sheep
* 1,300 lambs
* 500 calves
* 40,000 chickens
The historic event is notable for its detailed records yielding a complete chronicle of the wedding days. In 1902 a society called “Die Förderer” (the sponsors) was founded to re-animate the Landshuter Hochzeit, one year later the first bridal procession took place. “Wikipedia
