The works of art were catalogued photographically. (After World War II 39 photo albums were found in the palace, documenting the dimension of the robbery. The albums are now stored in the United States National Archives.)
At the end of the war the German Reichsbank deposited gold in the palace, which in the last days of the war was taken to an unknown place.
In April 1945, the SS considered blowing up the palace to prevent the building itself and the artwork it contained from falling to the enemy. However, the plan was not realized by the SS-Gruppenf�hrer who had been assigned the task, and at the end of the war the palace was surrendered undamaged to representatives of the Allied forces. Thereafter the Bavarian archives used some of the rooms as a provisional store for salvaged archivalia, as the premises in Munich had been bombed.
Neuschwanstein is a global symbol of the era of Romanticism. The palace served as a model for the Sleeping Beauty Castle of Disneyland and became a location for films such as Helmut K�utner's Ludwig II (1955), Luchino Visconti's Ludwig (1972) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968).
In 1977, Neuschwanstein Castle became the motif of a West German definitive stamp, and it is to appear on a �2 commemorative coin for the German Bundesl�nder series in 2012. In 2007, it was a finalist in the widely publicized on-line selection of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The palace is not on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 2009, a plan was discussed to make it a transnational candidate jointly with Ludwig's Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee palaces and two similar palaces in Romania: Pele? Castle and Peli?or Castle.
Today, with 1.3 million visitors per year Neuschwanstein is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. For security reasons the palace can only be visited during a 35-minute guided tour. There are also special guided tours that focus on specific topics. In the peak season from June
