Ep. 197 – The Landshuter Hochzeit – Love and War in Bavaria (Part 2)
History of the Germans
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2025
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On November 14th and 15th 1475 one of the grandest events in the history of the Holy Roman Empire took place, the Landshuter Hochzeit, the nuptials of Georg, the Rich, son of Ludwig, the Rich and grandson of Heinrich, the Rich, all of them dukes of Bayern-Landshut, and Hedwig, the daughter of king Kasimir IV of Poland and Lithuania.
The event attracted 10,000 guests, amongst them the Counts Palatine on the Rhine, the Dukes of Württemberg, the archduke Maximilian of Austria and the emperor Friedrich III himself. It lasted several days during which the eminent invitees as well as the citizens of Landshut ate, drank, danced and watched an endless row of tournaments, plays and musical performances.
The fame of these festivities reverberated through the ages, so that in the 19th century the burghers of the town decided to stage the event again, initially annually and nowadays every 4 years. The reenactment involves over 2,000 participants, and culminates in a procession through the city, complete with bridal carriage, musicians and Landsknechte, all in splendid historical costumes.
Which leaves us with more questions than answers. How come the most powerful ruler of central Europe, Kasimir King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania married one of his precious daughters to the son of the ruler of half a duchy, hundreds of miles from his capital; secondly, how such a duke became so rich he could afford to stage an event that counted amongst the grandest weddings of this already very ostentatious century; and lastly, why Landshut is today a gorgeous, but only medium sized country town, and by no means the beating heart of Bavarian commerce, culture and politics.
That is what we are going to explore in this episode.
The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.
As always:
Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.com
If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast
For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast
Facebook: @HOTGPod
Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast
Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social
Instagram: history_of_the_germans
Twitter: @germanshistory
To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.
So far I have:
Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy
Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen
The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356
The Reformation before the Reformation
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the History of the Germans, episode 197, the Lanzhuter |
| 0:10.2 | Hochezeit, Love and War in Bavaria, Part 2, which is also episode 13 of season 10, the |
| 0:16.3 | Empire in the 15th century. On November 14th and 15th, 1475, one of the grandest events in the history of the Holy Roman |
| 0:25.8 | Empire took place. |
| 0:27.6 | The Lanzhuter Hochezaid. |
| 0:29.5 | The nuptials of Georg, the rich, son of Ludwig, the rich, and grandson of Heinrich, the rich, |
| 0:36.4 | all of them, dukes of Bayan Lanshut, and Hedwig, the daughter of Heinrich the rich, all of them, dukes of Bayern Landshut, and |
| 0:38.8 | Heathwick, the daughter of King Casimir, the fourth of Poland and Lithuania. |
| 0:43.9 | The event attracted 10,000 guests, amongst them the Counts Palatine on the Rhine, the |
| 0:48.7 | dukes of Wurtenberg, the Archduke Maximilia Navoscia, and the Emperor Fridic III himself. It lasted several days, |
| 0:58.0 | during which the eminent invitees as well as the citizens of Lanshood ate, drank, danced, |
| 1:04.0 | and watched an endless row of tournaments, plays and musical performances. |
| 1:10.0 | The fame of these festivities reverberated through the centuries |
| 1:13.3 | so that in the 19th century the Burgers of the town decided to stage the event again, |
| 1:19.4 | initially annually and nowadays every four years. The reenactment involves over 2,000 participants |
| 1:26.0 | and culminates in a procession to the city, |
| 1:29.3 | complete with bridal carriage, musicians and Lansknechde, all in splendid historical costumes. |
| 1:36.3 | Ridgizers with more questions and answers. |
| 1:39.3 | How come the most powerful ruler of Central Europe, King Casimir of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, |
| 1:47.0 | married one of his precious daughters to the son of the ruler of half a duchy, hundreds of miles from his capital? |
| 1:55.0 | Secondly, how such a Duke became so rich he could afford to stage an event that counted amongst the grandest weddings |
| 2:02.6 | of this already very ostentatious century. And lastly, while Lanzhud is today a gorgeous, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dirk Hoffmann-Becking, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Dirk Hoffmann-Becking and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.