Germany’s Neuschwanstein Castle, which famously served as Walt Disney‘s inspiration for Sleeping Beauty’s palace, is one of several new additions to UNESCO’s prestigious World Heritage List.

The list, which was established to protect and preserve sites of unique beauty, cultural and historical importance for humanity, now includes 1,248 landmarks and areas across over 170 countries. Sites of cultural importance account for the majority of these landmarks, at 972.

The rest is split between places of astounding natural beauty (235), and so-called mixed properties (41), which have both natural and cultural value.

A Fairy-tale Castle, French Megaliths, And The Vestiges Of Long-Lost Mediterranean Civilizations

A total of 26 new sites were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list this year, 21 of which are of cultural importance to humanity, 4 of which are of natural value, and one of which is of both cultural and natural value.

These are all the new additions, which span across several continents:

• Australia: Murujuga Cultural Landscape
• Brazil: Cavernas do Peruaçu National Park
• Cambodia: Cambodian Memorial Sites: From centers of repression to places of peace and reflection
• Cameroon: Diy-Gid-Biy Cultural Landscape of the Mandara Mountains
• China: Xixia Imperial Tombs
• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: Mount Kumgang—Diamond Mountain from the Sea
• Denmark: Møns Klint
• France: Megaliths of Carnac and of the shores of Morbihan
• Germany: The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Schachen and Herrenchiemsee
• Greece: Minoan Palatial Centres
• Guinea-Bissau: Coastal and Marine Ecosystems of the Bijagós Archipelago—Omatí Minhô
• India: Maratha Military Landscapes of India
• Iran (Islamic Republic of): The Prehistoric Sites of the Khorramabad Valley
• Italy: Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sardinia — The domus de janas
• Jamaica: The Archaeological Ensemble of 17th Century Port Royal
• Malawi: Mount Mulanje Cultural Landscape
• Malaysia: Forest Research Institute Malaysia Forest Park Selangor
• Mexico: Wixárika Route through Sacred Sites to Wirikuta (Tatehuarí Huajuyé)
• Panama: The Colonial Transisthmian Route of Panamá
• Republic of Korea: Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream
• Russian Federation: Rock Paintings of Shulgan-Tash Cave
• Sierra Leone: Gola-Tiwai Complex
• Tajikistan: Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal
• Turkey: Sardis and the Lydian Tumuli of Bin Tepe
• United Arab Emirates: Faya Palaeolandscape
• Viet Nam: Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son, Kiep Bac Complex of Monuments and Landscapes

Among these, King Ludwig II’s Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany, is likely the site most people around the world are already most familiar with. Built in the 19th century as a tribute to the operas of German composer Richard Wagner, the castle’s romantic architecture makes it the perfect scenario for a fairy tale.

That is certainly what Disney thought when he decided to recreate it inside the very first Disneyland park, which opened in California in 1955. An animated version of the castle also appeared in Disney‘s 1959 Sleeping Beauty.

The castle joined the UNESCO list together with three other magnificent royal residencies in the same southern Germany region, which altogether reached an overall 1.7 million visitors last year.

“The inclusion of the palaces on the World Heritage List is an outstanding honour for these impressive places,” said the President of the German UNESCO Commission, Maria Böhmer following the World Heritage Committee’s meeting in Paris. “They are all architectural masterpieces and bear witness to the artistic imagination, but also the eccentricity of the fairy tale king.”

More Than Just A Title

Being recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site is more than a mere symbolic act—it turns a natural or cultural landmark into an immediate must-visit for both residents and foreign visitors.

Entering the prestigious list immediately elevates a site’s profile on the global stage, boosting tourism and thus generating more revenues which can then be reinvested in better protecting or restoring the landmark.

But being added to the list also allows sites to become eligible for global funding programs in case any repairs or restoration work is needed, as once included in the list, the site’s protection becomes a matter of interest for the entire world.