The Landshuter Hochzeit, a Medieval-Themed Festival Held in Landshut

Georg the Rich, Herzog Georg, der Reiche, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut (1455-1503) was the son of Ludwig the Rich. Georg was a strong ally of Emperor Maximilian I and supported his campaigns in Swabia, Switzerland, Geldern and Hungary. In 1475, he married Jadwiga Jagiellon (Hedwig von Polen), daughter of King Casimir IV of Poland. The wedding was negotiated in 1474 with ambassadors who had been sent to Cracow through legations and it took the 18-year-old bride-to-be two months to travel with her large escort to Landshut, where she was received by princes and bishops. The Elector of Brandenburg referred to the union as divine ordinance “for the benefit of Christendom and the Empire.” The marriage was of importance, because it was seen as a strong alliance against the Ottoman Turks.

The wedding celebration in Landshut with one of the most splendid festivals of the Middle Ages. The pair were married in St. Martin’s Church, and the service was officiated by none other than Salzburg Archbishop Bernhard von Rohr. Afterward, the bridal procession paraded through the Old Town to the Rathaus where the Emperor led the first dance with the bride. Ten thousand people are said to have attended the wedding where they were entertained, feted and fed by the young duke’s father. At the original festival, some 320 bulls, 1,500 sheep, 1,300 lambs, 500 calves and 40,000 chickens were consumed. The detailed records of the festivities provide a historic chronicle of events.

The couple had five children, three sons and two daughters. However, none of their sons outlived their father, and by Salic law in medieval Germany, their daughters could not inherit the duchy. George tried to circumvent this by bequeathing the duchy to his daughter Elizabeth and her husband Rupert, Count Palatine, but this led to a destructive war of succession after George’s death. He was finally succeeded by Albert IV of Bavaria-Munich and only the new duchy of Palatinate-Neuburg passed to Rupert’s sons Otto-Heinrich and Philipp.

Duke Georg’s father founded the University of Ingolstadt, and in 1496, Duke Georg established the Collegiurm Georgianum for poor students in the faculty of arts, and other foundations for similar purposes were subsequently made. Duke Georg also had something to do with extending Bavaria’s famous beer Purity Law to the whole of Bavaria in 1516, making it the Bavarian Purity Law.

The “Landshuter Hochzeit” is a festival founded in 1902 and held in Landshut every four years. The wedding of Duke Georg is reenacted and it is one of the largest historical pageants in Europe. The town citizens act as bishops, aristocrats, bride, and bridegroom at the “wedding” and it is the custom for Landshut men to let the hair grow long before the event. Every citizen of Landshut dresses in medieval garb during the festival days. Thousands of participants dress in medieval costumes and try to recapture the Late Middle Ages. There is jousting, pageantry, feasting and of course, beer.