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.
Wolfstein (book)
Like Frankenstein, Wolfstein is the name of a German town in southwestern Germany in the Rhine Palatinate district. Just as there is a Frankenstein Castle, there is also a Wolfstein Castle in Germany. "Frankenstein" in German means "Stone of the Franks", a Germanic tribe. "Wolfstein" means "Stone of the Wolf". German names, locations, and characters are a central theme of Gothic horror literature. The Goths were a Germanic tribe. Sir Horace Walpole developed the Gothic horror story with the publication of his novel "The Castle of Otranto" in 1764.