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Neustadt an der Weinstraße
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Founded: 13th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Hohenstaufen Dynasty (Germany)
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The ruins of the Wolfsburg by the western approach to Neustadt an der Weinstraße lie on a rocky crag on the Wolfsberg hill. It was built in the early 13th century by Count Palatine Louis I. During the Peasants' War in 1525 it was conquered and looted two times and finally destroyed during the Thirty Years' War in 1633. Until that it has been ruined.
The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.