2023-06-19 13:57:00
Residents of the Bavarian community of Schwangau in the East Allgäu region supported the idea of granting the local Neuschwanstein Castle the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In order to enlist the support of the local population to submit such an application, the Bavarian authorities put the issue to a referendum held on Sunday, June 18.
According to the news agency dpa, citing Mayor Stefan Rinke, about 56 percent of the participants voted for the start of this project. 44 percent were against. Voter turnout exceeded 50 percent. In general, the population of the Schwangau community is about 3.5 thousand people.
The state authorities of Bavaria will now start preparing an official application for this prestigious international status for the world-famous castle. The documents are expected to be handed over to the UNESCO office in Paris in early 2024. Consideration of the application may take place as early as mid-2025.
Fairy tale castle Neuschwanstein. Photo gallery
Neuschwanstein Castle was built in the 19th century for the Bavarian king Ludwig II. In addition to this residence, the proposal, under the working title “Builded Dreams”, will also include other architectural landmarks of Bavaria, erected during the reign of Ludwig II – a romantic and dreamer on the throne, nicknamed the fairy-tale king. We are talking about Herrenchiemse Palace, Linderhof Castle and the mountain lodge – the Royal Manor on Schachen.
Herrenchiemsee PalacePhoto: Zoonar/picture alliance Linderhof Castle Photo: Andreas Vitting/Imagebroker/picture alliance
Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the most popular attractions in Germany. About 1.4 million tourists visit here every year. Some locals oppose the increase in the flow of visitors due to infrastructure overload. The number of guests who can visit the castle daily is also limited and has actually reached its upper limit.
Critics of the project also fear that the World Heritage status could lead to restrictions on the planning and implementation of new construction projects in the community of Schwangau due to stricter rules for the protection of UNESCO monuments.
World Heritage in Germany
At the moment, about fifty cultural and natural monuments in Germany already have the status of World Heritage Sites. The first in 1978 was the Aachen Cathedral. The latest in this list were, in particular, the Art Nouveau monument Colony of Artists on the Matilda Hill (Mathildenhöhe) in Darmstadt, the German resorts of Baden-Baden, Bad Ems and Bad Kissingen, as well as “Jerusalem on the Rhine” – monuments of Jewish history in the German cities of Speyer, Worms and Mainz.
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