‘Fairytale’ Neuschwanstein castle becomes UNESCO heritage site
The Château de Neuschwanstein in German Bavaria, perhaps better known to inspire Walt Disney fairytale castles, was appointed World Heritage Site, the United Nations cultural agency announced on Saturday.
Three other royal residences, also built at the end of the 19th century, under the famous king obsessed with the arts, Ludwig II of Bavaria, were also added to the coveted list: Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof and Schachen.
Neuschwanstein, perched on a rocky alpine rocks 200 meters high, is the most visited castle in Germany, with nearly 1.5 million people who flock to it each year.
“A fairy tale is realized for our fairytale chateaux: we are #Worldheritage!” Bavaria governor Markus Soeder wrote on X after the announcement.
Neuschwanstein combines a medieval exterior idealized with architectural techniques considered to be peak at the time.
His main pieces are decorated with paintings of German and Nordic legends, the same stories that inspired the composer Richard Wagner, for whom Ludwig was a generous patron.
Peter Seibert de la Bavarian Castles Administration (BSV) told AFP that the UNESCO list “is a very great responsibility, but also of recognition … for the work that we have done so far in preservation”.
Philippe, a 52 -year -old visitor from Canada, was surprised that the castle was not already a world heritage site.
“We are fortunate to be able to experience it,” he said, calling the list “a very good idea”.
Herrenchiemsee evokes a miniature Versailles on a lake between Munich and Salzburg, a tribute to the absolute monarch Louis XIV in France, which Ludwig admired.
Indeed, Ludwig nicknamed Herrencheimsee “Meicost -tal”, an anagram of the alleged aphorism of Louis XIV “the State is Muit” (“I am the state”).
– “part of the Bavarian identity” –
The third site on UNESCO’s list is LEMPHE DE LINDERHOF, completed in 1878, the only one to have been finished in the life of Ludwig.
He mixes elements of French Baroque architecture from the reign of Louis XIV with touches of the Rococo style developed in the south of Germany.
Its park has an artificial cave inspired by the Wagner Tannhaeuser Opera, 90 meters long and up to 14 meters high, which houses a cave of Venus and was designed as a personal retirement for Ludwig.
The electric lighting system used in the cave was in the state of the art at the time, with glass discs used to light the cave in different colors.
The last of the four sites on the list is Schachen, a royal house in the style of a large Swiss chalet, where Ludwig liked to celebrate the day of the saint of his homonym St Louis on August 25.
It is located 1,800 meters above sea level, not far from Neuschwanstein.
The four castles have become “part of the Bavarian identity” explains Seibert, “emblematic and perfectly rooted in a beautiful landscape”.
Ironically, while the architectural heritage of Ludwig is today a source of pride in Bavaria – not to mention tourism income – they were part of the reason for its own fall.
The ruinous construction costs of sumptuous residences have led the Bavarian government to deposit it, declaring it crazy.
Interned in the Berg Palace, he died shortly after in mysterious circumstances at Lake Starnberg.
CLP / JSK / FZ / SEA / YAD
