Mad
King Ludwig bankrupted Bavaria building Neuschwanstein and
his other castles, but when I went there thirty years ago (seems like tomorrow), the locals thought he was a frickin'
genius because of all the tourism bucks it brings in. btw Neuschwanstein (new
swan castle) is what the Disney castle is based on. So, yes I think it can be argued that while it is a bunch of old walls, it is a bunch of old walls that people come from all over the world to look at, and pay
good money to do so. Businesses make
money off of them, and governments tax them, and people go
home with memories and are changed (usually for the better) by the experience.
Would Rommell have spared
Paris if it was not such a cultural center? Would
Alexander have spared
Athens, or would he have destroyed it like he did for Thebes, if _it_
had not been such a cultural center? (I would say cultural Mecca, but Mecca is not a cultural Mecca.)