Along with the growing fascination for the Middle Ages in the late 20th century, the Landshut Wedding became a well known medieval festival with great effects on the cultural traditions in the region and its aspects of living history. At 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.
The Landshut Wedding Festival held in Landshut, Bavaria (Germany) is one of the largest historical pageants in Europe and it celebrates the “Landshuter Hochzeit 1475″, a wedding which took place in the 15th century between Hedwig, the Polish King’s daughter, and George, the son of the Duke of Landshut because it was seen as a strong alliance against the Ottoman Turks. (information from Wikipedia)
The festival play in the Town Hall makes the visitors familiar with the exciting events of 1475. The concerts such as ”Laudate Dominum” acquaint them with Gothic music. The ‘masque’ is played, which is a burlesque of medieval dancing and playing. In the tavern of the ”Steckengasse” spectators indulge in medieval life, enjoy music, food and drinks.
Festive games in the night camp give the guests an idea of the great festival. During the procession they cheer the bride, and on the tournament ground knights perform the jousting, showing their skills and courage.
Today, the approximately 60,000 inhabitants of Landshut welcome about 600,000 to 700,000 visitors during the three weeks of the festivities with about 120,000 visitors watching the bridal procession. If you are interested about the medieval life and you intend to participate to this festival, the next “wedding” will be in the summer of 2013.
More historical information and other details about the festival you will find here.
Pictures via 1,2,3
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Thanks for the info. I was born in Landshut but now live in the USA. Have been back several times but never for this event. I plan to go in 2013. Stayed in hotel near river before. Plan on trying to stay there again. What is your recommendation as far as how far out to make a hotel reservation. We will be driving in either from Munich or Frankfurt.
The name of the hotel was Hotel Gasthof zur insel
@lee, unfortunately we did not visit the area, so we do not know if the zones near Landshut are traveling-friendly. We do recommend checking out this page, with various comments from people who traveled in Landshut. You will also find impressions about accommodation offers.