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.
Schloß Wolfsgarten
Schloss Wolfsgarten is a former hunting seat of the ruling family of Hesse-Darmstadt, located in the German state of Hessen, approximately 15 kilometers south of Frankfurt am Main. The hunting lodge was established between 1722 and 1724 by Landgrave Ernst Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt. Ernst Ludwig's purpose in establishing Wolfsgarten was to pursue his passion for hunting with dogs which he introduced into Hesse in 1709. The original building corresponded to the usual pattern for hunting seats of that era with a rectangular yard around which was grouped housing for gentlemen, the stables for the houses, and kennels for the dogs. After Ernst Ludwig's successors abandoned hunting with dogs in 1768, Wolfsgarten was abandoned until the 1830s when the grand ducal family began to restore and expand the property. From 1879, Wolfsgarten became a favorite country retreat for Grand Dukes Ludwig IV and his son Ernst Ludwig.