Wolfstein, Rhineland-Palatinate
Wolfstein was founded in 1275 on Habsburg King Rudolph I's orders, which called for a “fortified and free” town near his castle, “Woluisstein”, now known as the "Alt-Wolfstein" (“Old Wolfstein”) ruin. Rudolph forthwith granted the new town the same town rights and freedoms as the town of Speyer. As an “everlasting marketplace”, it was to be a sanctuary for commerce, trade and dealing. The first townsmen and -women came from the surrounding, much older villages.
Königstein im Taunus
Besides the town's landmark, the Königstein Castle ruins, other buildings are worth seeing, such as the historic Old Town with its Old Town Hall (Rathaus), and Falkenstein Castle, and the Old Town also found there. Also of interest is the "Villa Andreae", located at the top of a small wodded hill. Built in 1891 by Frankfurt Banker Albert Andreae de Neufville, it was transformed into a boarding school (Schülerheim) in the post-war years (1957–1987). Thoroughly restored, it became famous as Jürgen Schneider's headquarters from 1987 until his multi-billion-Deutsche-Mark bankruptcy in 1994.