The Neuschwanstein Castle is annually visited by about 1.2 million tourists and is considered to be one of the most beautiful and famous castles in the world. King Ludwig II of Bavaria erected a memorial for himself when he commissioned this fairy-tale castle in 1869. The ruler was only able to live in the romantic Neuschwanstein for a few months. The construction created immense expenses so that after the Kings death in 1886 a great deal of planed labour on the castle was discontinued and to this day has not been completed in the sense of the royal builder.