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, Rhineland-Palatinate
Before the Reformation, Wolfstein belonged to the parish of Zweikirchen, whereas Roßbach belonged to the parish of Tiefenbach. Only about the middle of the 15th century did Wolfstein get its own church in the town centre (on Wassergasse). This church, called "St. Georg" (“Saint George’s”), was the successor to the like-named chapel at Neu-Wolfstein Castle, where church services had been held until then.