An internal circular staircase leads up to a platform in the head, where four openings in the helmet provide a view of the Theresienwiese and downtown Munich.

Because it forms a logical and artistic unit together with the Bavaria statue, a brief description of the historical background and construction of the Hall of Fame follows.

These goals motivated him in following years to undertake several projects involving the construction of national monuments like the pillar commemorating the Bavarian constitution of 1818 in Gaibach, the Walhalla temple on an imposing platform overlooking the Danube river and the town of Donaustauf east of Regensburg, the Hall of Fame in Munich (1853) and the Befreiungshalle (“Hall of Liberation”) near Kelheim (1863), all of which were privately financed by the king.

In another proposal dating from 1834, Klenze planned the Bavaria statue as an exact copy of the Athena Promachos which once stood in front of the Acropolis.

It was apparently part of Ludwig's strategy to combine these contrary artistic conceptions in a single patriotic monument, thereby uniting the opposing camps under one national ideal.

For Schwanthaler, who was in any case an enthusiastic patriot, this crisis seems to have been the motivation for portraying his Bavaria statue as emphatically fit to fight and armed with a drawn sword.

The lion always had a firm place in heraldry for the rulers of Bavaria, as Counts of the Rhine Palatinate the House of Wittelsbach had included it in its coat of arms since the High Middle Ages.

The bronze statue was sand-cast using a process resulting in four major parts (head, bust, hips, lower half with lion) and a number of smaller pieces which were attached later.

Ever since Classical Antiquity this alloy had been an esteemed material, valued for its long-lasting qualities, and Ludwig, who wanted to create an enduring legacy, strongly favored bronze.

On September 11, 1844 the head of the Bavaria statue was cast using metal from bronze Turkish cannon salvaged from the 1827 naval Battle of Navarino (modern-day Pylos on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula).

These cannon had been sold in Europe as recycling material under the then Greek King Otto, son of Ludwig I, and a number of them had reached Bavaria.

Before any celebrations were held featuring a king who had meanwhile abdicated, government concerns first had to be dispelled that such an event could be interpreted as a demonstration against the ruling monarch, Maximilian II.

Between June and August the separate pieces of the Bavaria statue were transported to the place of installation on especially constructed wagons, each drawn by 20 horses.

The official unveiling took place on October 9 after a procession including all involved trades and guilds and, as expected, turned into a tribute for the king who had abdicated.

The artists whom the king had greatly supported in the years of his reign and provided with commissions thanks to his extensive construction program paid special homage to Ludwig.

On the one hand, the various plans they developed to redesign the fairgrounds on the Theresienwiese including the Bavaria and the Hall of Fame betrayed a total lack of respect for the location and the intention of their founders.

For example, in 1934 they considered demolishing the Hall of Fame behind the Bavaria statue to make space for exhibition grounds, and the Theresienwiese was to be fragmented by avenues for large parades.

On the other hand, the open space of the Theresienwiese and the existing imposing and symbolic architecture were readily used for propagandistic staging, for example for the mass events connected with the pompous May Day celebrations which took place until the outbreak of World War II, as is evident in accounts written by the tightly controlled press.

[5] In the course of the renovation work which was immediately initiated and cost some one million euros, the raised arm was stabilized and the entire outside surface was cleaned, polished and sealed.

In order to help finance the renovation work, replicas in various scales were made based on the one model which had been produced by Schwanthaler, the tip of the small finger, including one that could be used as a drinking vessel, as well as other objects of craftsmanship, all of which, as well as a publication, were sold.

It was produced at the Royal Metal Foundry Ferdinand von Miller, consists of the same material as the original (92% copper, 5% zinc, 2% tin, 1% lead), has a wall thickness of 4–8 millimeters, and weighs 420 kilograms.