History of the city of Freistadt

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Coat of arms of the city of Freistadt

Freistadt is a small town in Upper Austria in the lower Mühlviertel , which was planned in the early 13th century . The city's heyday was between the 14th and 16th centuries, when the free city was an important trading town between the Danube region and Bohemia . During this time the only permitted route from Linz to Budweis was through the city (road compulsory). The Thirty Years' War and the Counter Reformation and its consequences changed the importance of the former border town, which gradually lost all privileges from the time it was founded.

In the course of enlightened absolutism in Austria , Freistadt briefly became the district town of the Mühlviertel at the end of the 18th century. Since 1850, the city seat of the district administration of the same district and became the university town. An upswing has been visible again in Freistadt since the end of the 19th century, among other things through the development and expansion of the infrastructure. In the two world wars, there was no fighting in the Freistadt area. Today Freistadt is the economic, educational and cultural center of the district.

First settlement and city foundation

Floor plan of today's old town

Until the high Middle Ages , an extensive forest area, the northern forest, extended in the Freistadt area (as in the entire Mühlviertel ). North of today's Freistadt is the Kerschbaumer Sattel , with a height of 714  m above sea level. A. the most favorable transition from the Danube valley to southern Bohemia and at the same time a European watershed (North Sea – Black Sea). A trade route ( Goldener Steig ) in the form of a mule track led over this saddle from Enns along the Aisttal ( Feldaistsenke ) over the Freistadt area ( Freistädter Becken ) to the north ( Budweis ). Early Bronze Age finds in the Freistadt area, such as the find of a ridge ax near the Pregarten pond, bear witness to this traffic route.

Before the city was founded, the trade route passed a castle (today's Salzhof ) and a street village that, like the rest of the Lower Mühlviertel, was inhabited by Slavs. The settlement was probably called Zaglau (Slavic: Zahlow), but was not yet a free town. The Slavic name of the settlement lives on in the Czech name for free town -  Cáhlov  - to this day. The extent to which Freistadt was oriented towards this trade route shows that today's street course Johanneskirche – Zemannstrasse-Linzertor– Eisengasse –Salzgasse should largely correspond to the trade route.

Freistadt was founded on a square near the castle, which is protected on its south and east sides by a steep rock slope.

There are only theories about the exact time when the city was built, as documents have either been lost or give too little information. It is assumed that Freistadt was founded around 1225 by Leopold VI from Babenberg . the Glorious (Duke of Austria) was planned by expanding the existing settlement. Cities in the Middle Ages used the coats of arms of the founders as their city arms. The older theory, meanwhile rejected as wrong by historians, states that the Lords of Perg and Machland founded Freistadt around 1140.

Evidence for the planned layout of the city are:

  • the streets, which were relatively wide for the 13th century,
  • the large, rectangular market square (= main square),
  • the layout of the city with a rectangular network of streets,
  • the church at the highest point at the intersection of the most important streets (today: Pfarrgasse and Böhmergasse ).

The young city was initially given numerous privileges to ensure its existence. The first-time documentary mention was in 1241 and in 1277 was the German King Rudolf von Habsburg , the Niederlags- and staple right confirmed. The right of residence applied to all goods in trade with Bohemia (a special feature at the time) due to the founding of Budweis (1265). In the documents of that time the city was called Frienstat or Vreinstat . Until 1482 (city elevation Steyregg ) Freistadt was the only city in the whole of today's Mühlviertel. After 1491 (town elevation Grein ), further town elevations in this part of Upper Austria only followed in the 19th century.

The first residents to settle were free people who had no possessions, each of whom received part of the town's land for building houses and part of the surrounding land ( castle keep ) for management as free castle rights .

Rise and heyday as a border town from 1277

Seal of the city around 1437
Freistadt around 1550

Economic development

The privileges granted quickly made Freistadt a rich and prosperous city. Due to the right of deposit and stacking, all goods to Bohemia had to be offered to the Freetown merchants for three days at a fixed price. In addition to the stacking right, the street was compulsory : the merchants were only allowed to use certain streets. One of these streets led through Freistadt and was thus the basis of life and source of wealth.

These rights were guarded like a treasure and so the people of Freiberg sometimes took on armed conflicts with neighboring towns, in particular with Leonfelden or Pregarten . The prince, as the last instance, always decided the disputes, some of which were long-term (over 100 years), in favor of Freistadt. The most frequent points of contention at that time were: disregard of the compulsory road, calculation of a toll that was too high, independent trade relationships and the production and sale of goods, which reduced the city's earnings.

In 1363, Duke Rudolf IV. Granted the founder the right to miles , with which only citizens of the city are allowed to trade and trade within a so-called ban mile (= 7.586 kilometers) .

Equipped with these privileges, Freistadt became an economic center in the Mühlviertel. Around 1460 there was a mint in Freistadt, which was owned by Duke Albrecht VI. had been set up, but only produced inferior embossings ( Schinderlinge ) on his instructions . The main trade goods to the north were iron and iron goods from the Steyr area , as well as salt from the Ausseerland and the Habsburg Salzkammergut . At that time there were four ironworking plants in Freistadt between the Graben and the Thurytal, so that the city itself produced iron goods. Today's street names in Freistadt's old town, such as Salzgasse and Eisengasse, bear witness to its time as a trading town. The residents of Freetown knew how to seize the monopoly in the salt trade over the Goldener Steig to Bohemia and booted the up-and-coming city of Linz . This led to a violent dispute between the two cities in 1380 and 1450. The old castle was renamed the Salzlager and Salzhof . Since Emperor Maximilian I , the lucrative salt trade has increasingly become a monopoly of the princes and ultimately the state. Although a Salzkammeramt was created in Linz and Freistadt in 1563, Freistadt lost this monopoly a few decades later to the regional princes (1628).

Another important commodity was beer . Every citizen in Freistadt who owned a house within the city wall had the right to brew beer. The amount was determined based on the appraised value of the house. The magistrate regulated and monitored this according to the brewing regulations. Brewing and selling beer was one of the city's major sources of income. Beer was sent as a gift of honor to the state government and the court chamber in Vienna. In 1525 there were a total of twelve breweries in the city, which went back to five by 1637 and later to two breweries.

Also twine from Freistadt yourself canvas from Wels and Venetian goods (glass, silk and cloth) from Venice and fish from Bohemia were among the more important commodities. The high point of economic life from 1465 was the big fair , the Paulimarkt, which lasted 14 days in January / February. At that time the market was as important as an international trade fair. Around 1490 the trade in Freistadt reached its greatest expansion.

An expression of the increasing trade was the establishment of an own post office (post office) in 1626 in today's Böhmergasse 9 (formerly: Stadt 100 ). Around 1891 the office moved from Böhmergasse to Waaggasse 14 (in the former barracks building), since the 1990s the post office has been located outside the city walls, between the Marianum and the brewery.

City walls

Former moat

Freistadt was probably built as a bulwark against the bishops of Passau . The city had both an economic and a military and strategic function.

With the establishment of the city began to secure. The rock plateau offers natural protection to the south and east, which is why only the easily accessible west and north sides were protected with an earth wall. As early as the 13th century, Freistadt was secured by stone buildings to protect trade goods and wealth.

Between 1363 and 1396 this first city ​​wall was significantly reinforced. This was followed by the erection of the outer moat wall (mantle wall) and the construction of the moat that is still present today . Furthermore, the city ​​fortifications were expanded with the outer and inner city walls and the Zwinger to avert danger. The inner city wall was also equipped with a battlement five to seven meters high, some of which can still be seen today. The city wall was equipped with loopholes and machicolation , which can also still be seen. From 1363 onwards, Duke Rudolf IV., The founder, had a new castle built in the northeast corner outside the city wall , which offered additional protection against attacks.

The most important part of the defenses of Freistadt were the city ​​towers . The oldest are the Linzertor in the south and the Böhmertor in the north. Back then, these were the only ways to get into the city with horse-drawn vehicles over drawbridges. Around 1390 the Weyermühlturm and the Petringerturm (also tower in the corner) were built. The castle keep was also built at this time. The citizens of Freistadt could feel safe after the completion of all defenses. When the Hussites came to Freistadt in 1420/30 , they could not harm the city. Instead, they burned the suburbs and moved on. After the Hussite incursions, some structural defects were corrected. The fortifications were finally completed in 1444 with the erection of the Scheibling Tower in the northwest corner of the city and the Dechanthofturm tower in the southeast. In 1522 the former town hall (today: district court ) was provided with a tower that was only used to demonstrate force. Between the town hall and the Weyermühlturm there is a third entrance to the city, the so-called Posttürl near the Weyermühlturm. This gate was used more for passenger traffic and was not passable for cars. At that time, Freistadt had nine defense towers , seven of which are still preserved.

  • Linzertor

  • Boehmertor from the inside

  • Keep at the castle

  • Dechanthofturm (and Dechanthof)

Self-management

The economic rise of Freistadt was reflected in the political self-government. From 1286 there was a city ​​judge , in 1354 the council and the unity of the citizens were mentioned, a city ​​clerk can be proven in 1371 and in 1388 there was Jakob Megerlein, the first mayor of the city. (See also: List of Mayors of Freistadt ).

As in all other cities, there was the Inner Council, the actual city council. The eight members were trade citizens and met twice a week under the chairmanship of the mayor. Later the Outer Council was added, the representative body of the whole citizenship. The craftsmen who had won political power sat on the Outer Council. This also included the first known workers' strike in Upper Austria, carried out by journeyman bakers in 1397.

The most important city offices were the City Chamber Office, Ungeltamt, Spitalamt, Spentamt, Mautamt, St. Katharina-, St. Peterkirch- and Divine Corpus Christi Office and provisional school office. In Freistadt, the social tasks were taken seriously, as can be seen from the number of city offices. There was an infirmary for sick and helpless citizens and a hospital , first at the Liebfrauenkirche (until the Hussite invasion in 1423), later at the Johanneskirche in the southern suburb. A new hospital was built around 1790 and served until 1938. The Spentamt including the Spenthaus for poor and needy citizens was located in Samtgasse.

School system and church

Johanneskirche, the oldest church in the city
Church in St. Peter

The school system in Freistadt was not neglected. The traders and craftsmen wanted their children to learn to read, write and do arithmetic. A schoolmaster was mentioned in a document as early as 1371, a schoolhouse was named in 1404 and a Latin school was mentioned for the first time in 1543 . The Latin school was very closely associated with the Church.

The piety of the citizens of Freetown was above average for Austrian standards. Foundations were supposed to ensure a sufficient income for all clergymen who had to read mass. Most of the foundations in the form of houses and yards stood between the parish church and the rectory . The following foundation houses are known: Frühmess-, Leonhard-, Gottsleichnahm-, Dreikönig-, Apostel-, Margareten-, Barbara-, Johannis-, St. Peter- und Paul-, Thomas-, Hl. Kreuz-, Allerheiligen-, Leopold- , Georgsstift, the Priestly Brotherhood Foundation House and the Michaelsstift (Salzgasse No. 85).

In addition, the citizens of the city also took care of the churches . The parish church was mentioned for the first time in 1288, was Gothicized in the 14th and 15th centuries and received a fourth and fifth aisle (today the only five-aisled basilica in Austria). At first it belonged to the parish of St. Jakob in Neumarkt, which was first mentioned in 1185. Due to the two big city ​​fires in 1507 and 1516, nothing is left of the lavish furnishings at that time. In the baroque period , some furnishings were irretrievably replaced by others.

The Church of Our Lady, first mentioned in 1345, is located outside the Böhmertor and was thus spared from the city fires. Although this church burned down in 1361 and was destroyed by the Hussites around 1422, it was rebuilt in Gothic style from 1440 and has hardly changed since then. Mathes Klayndl created a late Gothic stone column for the Eternal Light as a lamp for the dead in 1484. Today it is in the church and is the only work of art of its kind in town. In 1557 the city cemetery around the church was enlarged, there was never a cemetery within the city walls.

The church in Sankt Peter auf dem Berg was expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries in the Gothic style and the Johanneskirche received a Gothic choir and paintings. In the city itself there was still a chapel in today's Piarist house on the main square and another in the Heiligen-Geist-Gasse near the Böhmertor. The latter was later left to the Protestants.

The Protestant ( Lutheran ) was rapidly adopted in Freistadt on the basis of trade relations. The intervention of the Reformation Commission in December 1597 under the leadership of the Bishop of Passau and the Governor Ob der Enns (name of Upper Austria before 1919) ended the further spread of Protestantism in the city. Nevertheless, around 1610 more than half of the population professed this faith. The question of religion was finally decided between 1627 and 1629. After the Upper Austrian Peasants' War and the victory of Emperor Ferdinand II over the Protestants, all non-Catholics had to leave the city ( edict of restitution ). After paying 10% of their property, 76 wealthy and respected families or individuals were “allowed” to leave Freistadt; Nothing precise is known about their later place of residence. It is believed that most of them found a new home in the Franconian areas of Ansbach - Bayreuth . For a long time the city was unable to overcome this great loss of substance.

Wars, fire and plague

Fire walls from behind (seen from the keep)

In the 350 years of prosperity there were also times of need. The Hussites in 1420/30 damaged the trade and the ongoing disputes between the Habsburgs and Bohemia , especially under Frederick III. , also had a negative impact on business. However, in all of history there has never been any major fighting or destruction of the city.

Freistadt was ravaged by two large city ​​fires in 1507 and 1516 , which destroyed all the houses in the city. Only the castle that stood apart was spared. Emperor Maximilian I then exempted Freistadt from all taxes and obliged them to surround the houses with a raised fire wall ( to build in Insprukerisch (Innsbruckerisch)). This construction method has proven itself and is still visible today. Furthermore, the water supply has been improved and a major city fire has been avoided since then.

The plague and plague-like epidemics each claimed several hundred deaths in 1541 and 1562. Around 230 inhabitants died in 1541 alone, a seventh of the population at that time. In 1593 a doctor (landscape physicist Dr. Sabisch) and a pharmacy were mentioned for the first time.

Turning point from 1627

Freistadt around 1649
View of Freistadt around 1674, engraving by GMVischer
City map around 1743 (with today's names)

Absolutism and mercantilism

The Thirty Years 'War and the Upper Austrian Peasants' War were a turning point in the history of the city. The around 5000 rebellious peasants conquered Freistadt on July 1st, 1626 after a long siege. Freistadt was only defended by 150 soldiers and the townspeople. This was the first and only conquest of the city in its history, assuming that city dwellers had stood by the besiegers to avoid a famine. The farmers looted the castle, but had to vacate Freistadt after a defeat in Kerschbaum in August. The flourishing trade was almost completely ruined and the city could not recover for a long time. The income of Freistadt was in 1623 (despite occupation by troops of the Catholic League ) at 38,985 guilders. In 1626 they fell to 4,547 guilders. Added to this was the emigration of the Protestant population and changes in the borders with Bohemia. Since Bohemia became the hereditary land of the Habsburgs from 1620, Freistadt gradually lost its privileges. With the disappearance of the border, it became economically and militarily insignificant.

After the Counter Reformation, the Habsburgs introduced absolutism in their countries. The political autonomy and independence of the cities did not fit into the rule of law and the city and its guilds continued to lose importance due to mercantilism . The guilds were faced with considerable competition from manufacturers and Freistadt found itself in economic distress. It never regained its importance from the heyday of the 14th and 16th centuries.

The economic stagnation from 1627 and the consequences of the Thirty Years' War were also the reasons that Freistadt lost its importance as an old trading town and bulwark (border town) in the region above the Enns . The six other provincial cities Enns , Gmunden , Linz , Steyr , Vöcklabruck and Wels are larger in terms of population and economically more important.

Loss of independence

City Hall Freistadt

The city's self-government with annual mayor, judge and council elections and regular renewal of the city rules ended in 1600, when the influence of the sovereign princes (Habsburg), represented by the governor and the electoral commissioners appointed by him as inspection and control bodies more and more became more noticeable in the city. Mayors, city judges and council members could only be elected with the approval of the superior authorities. The oath of office had to be taken in Linz or Vienna ; the travel expenses charged the city treasury.

In 1783 Josef II put an end to the disempowerment of the previously independent city. The municipal constitution replaced the old city constitution. The magistrate, consisting of the mayor and councilors, replaced the old city council and the city judge as the authority. The last city judge in Freistadt resigned in 1789. As a result of the constitutional and administrative changes under Josef II. Freistadt briefly became the capital of the then newly created Mühlviertel (= Mühlkreis) district before the district office was relocated to Linz in 1794. The district office in Freistadt was housed in today's town hall.

This municipal constitution remained in place until 1848/49 and was replaced by the still valid municipal code. The mayors and city councilors, freely and democratically elected since 1849, were already representatives of political currents. To this day, the Conservative Party, the Christian Social Party and finally the Austrian People's Party have all been the democratically elected mayors of Freistadt. The universal suffrage of 1908 did nothing to change that.

After 1848, Freistadt became the district capital in the district of the same name. The old town hall was left to the state and housed the district court , the land registry and the district administration . In 1850 the town hall moved to the house of the former district administration on the main square. The town hall is still located in this building today. The gendarmerie (1850) and the imperial and royal army (housed in Freistadt Palace in 1879) and other offices followed later . The trading town had become a school and administration town.

The economic situation

Freistadt around 1798

The economic situation since the end of the Thirty Years War has been very bad. There was no impoverishment, but the income decreased compared to previous centuries. The greatest advantage of Freistadt was its location on an important trade route. The amount of the transported quantities can be read from the records of the city scales: 1599: 12,309  quintals , 1625: 3673 quintals and 1728: 16,601 quintals (the absolute highest measured value).

The salt trade to Bohemia still took the route via Freistadt. When the annual amount of salt was converted to the vehicles used, an average of three to four hundred salt transports crossed the city every day. As a result, the hospitality industry flourished; 20 inns provided board and lodging.

Contract for the establishment of the brewery commune

In the 18th century there was dissatisfaction among the citizens due to the poor quality of the beer, so a new brewery was built between 1770 and 1777. Since then, all 149 homeowners in the city center have been members of the Freistadt Brewery Commune (today: Freistädter Bier ), an amalgamation of the Gmain brown beer house and the magistrate's wheat beer house. First the mayor headed the Commune, from 1835/37 this was done by an elected board. Even today, with a house purchase in the city center, a share with voting rights in the Freistadt brewery is also acquired.

The iron processing companies ( hammer mills ) in the Thurytal on the Feldaist near Freistadt were closed towards the end of the 19th century. The working method can be observed again today in a restored hammer mill.

Between 1832 and 1873 the horse-drawn railway Linz – Budweis passed the city for around four kilometers, an example of how unimportant it had become. Over time, this route took over more and more of the salt transport and only a few horse-drawn vehicles drove through the city. It was only with the construction of the Summerauer Bahn , which originally ran from St. Valentin to Budweis , that Freistadt received its rail connection. On November 6, 1872, the Freistadt – Summerau section was opened for all traffic and the St. Valentin – Freistadt section for freight traffic. On December 2, 1872, the St. Valentin – Freistadt section was also released for all traffic. With the opening of the route from Linz to Gaisbach-Wartberg on December 20, 1873, Freistadt was connected to the state capital Linz by rail. On April 5, 1956, the Mauthausen- Gaisbach-Wartberg section of the main line was shut down and later removed. The train station, which is operated today by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), is located due to the geographical conditions. Freistadt is located in a valley basin, around three kilometers southwest of the city center. The connection planned in 1913 as a local railway to the city center (today's Stifterplatz) was not implemented due to the First World War. The planned railway lines to Bad Leonfelden, Gmünd (via Harrachstal ) and Langschlag (via Liebenau) were also not realized .

The citizens of Freistadt developed initiatives against the economic decline. The upswing should not be made possible through privileges and subsidies , but through own ideas. Agriculture was intensified and industry made easier; higher yields were achieved through competition. This was reflected in the first exhibition of the Obderennsische Landwirtschaftsgesellschaft. So the year 1862 was the hour of birth for the Freistädter Messe (today: Messe Mühlviertel ), the oldest and currently third largest trade fair in Upper Austria. At first the fair was held every four years, later every two years and since 2007 it has been held annually in September.

The listed water supply system from 1890

In 1866 the Freistädter Sparkasse was founded (meanwhile sold to the Sparkasse Oberösterreich) and in 1889 Freistadt began with the construction of the high spring water pipeline, which was finally completed in 1962. The first section of the Kaiser Franz Josef Hochquellenleitung comprised five springs in the Zelletau with an elevated reservoir in the ditch, which is a listed building. The first private swimming pool was built in 1871, which was bought by the city in 1893 and rebuilt after the Second World War. The regulation of the Feldaist in the urban area lasted until the middle of the 20th century. In 1906 an acetylene gas plant, which was set up by the Gumpoldskirchner machine and metal goods factory Richard Klinger, went into operation in Freistadt. The public and private lighting was supplied with 20 kilometers of piping, 1,400 lamps and 74 street lamps.

From today's perspective, the preservation of the medieval core by building a promenade along the city wall was very foresighted. Freistadt also did not let the fortifications fall into disrepair.

School system

Old and new building of the grammar school

In July 1752 the Piarists were called to Freistadt by the mayor of Freistadt, Ferdinand Gottlieb Schiefer. In 1761 they ran a German boys' school and a Latin school , a first grammar school , which, however, had to close in 1787 due to a lack of students. Since 1761, the Piarists lived in a house on the main square, which is still called the Piarist House today. In 1870 the boys' school was closed and in 1875 the Piarists left Freistadt again.

With the help of a foundation, the poor school sisters of our dear woman came in June 1852 to run a children's institution (today: kindergarten ) and an industrial school in Freistadt. In 1881/82 a large school building was built next to the Liebfrauenkirche. The school sisters ran a primary and secondary school there and a boarding school until 1938.

Another foundation made it possible for the Marianists to come to Freistadt in 1900. In the years 1900 to 1908 they had a large school building erected outside the city and ran an elementary school, a secondary school and a teacher training college with boarding school there until 1938.

In 1867, under Mayor Kaspar Schwarz, the lower level of a grammar school was introduced. In 1871 the approval of the upper school followed. At first the school was located on the second and third floors of today's town hall, between 1888 and 1890 a new building was built in front of the Linzertor in the former Thury garden for around 111,000 guilders . On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the emperor's government, the grammar school was renamed Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Staatsgymnasium in 1890 . In 1898 the student convict was opened in the former Kinsky Palace. Since the number of students increased regularly and the old building became too small, the school was expanded in 1965, 1984 and 2003.

Church, art and culture

Church tower city parish church
Marienbrunnen

Freistadt is primarily a Gothic city, as the heyday was during the Gothic period . An example of this is the Church of Our Lady, which has remained largely unchanged since the 15th century. Only a new altar was created in 1640. The parish church was baroque from 1687 and completed with the construction of the magnificent church tower in 1736/37. This Baroque transformation not only included the furnishings (altars, organ, sacristy), but also the building fabric (pillars, windows, columns). Thus, only the vaults and door frames remained of the formerly Gothic church. In 1855, the city's cemetery at the Liebfrauenkirche (outside the city wall) was closed and rebuilt in the south of the city, around two kilometers outside the city wall.

Between 1690 and 1727 the rectory (Dechanthof) was converted into a mighty castle-like building. In 1704 the baroque Marienbrunnen was set up on the main square, Saint Nepomuk has stood in front of the Linzertor since 1723 and Saint Leonhard has stood in front of the Böhmertor since 1748. The Gothic Linzertor was rebuilt with baroque onion domes and numerous town houses were given a baroque street facade.

In the course of the re-Catholicization in Freistadt, the Corpus Christi brotherhood was renewed in 1636 and in 1648 a rosary brotherhood was founded .

On the ancient trade route was one from 1639 Convent of the Capuchins , which was dissolved by Joseph II. ( Josephinism ). Despite the request of the citizens, the 13  fathers and seven  lay brothers had to leave the monastery, only two fathers remained in Freistadt as cooperators . Countess Rosa von Kinsky acquired the former monastery and chapel and converted it into a castle. From 1783, Freistadt had three castles, the Salzhof, the Habsburg Castle and the Kinsky Castle . In 1898 the community converted the latter into a student convict (dormitory for students of the state high school), which existed until 1938.

In the 19th century, the area outside the city walls was built on. Numerous new houses were built in the districts: Linzer Vorstadt, Böhmer Vorstadt, Lederertal and Tanzwiese, Eglsee, Graben and Froschau.

A theater in Freistadt has been available in the form of a hall in the former town hall since the end of the Middle Ages (today the district court's files are located in the theater hall). In 1850 the imperial salt office sold the Salzhof, after which a theater hall was built in the north wing, which moved towards the end of the century to the Gasthaus Kronberger (Linzer Gasse), where theater was played until 1975. A stage was built into the new public elementary school, which opened in 1956. Since 2003, the Salzhof has had its own cultural and event center.

There has been a cinema in Freistadt since 1913. It was opened by Kaspar Obermayr. Today (2008) the cinema is located in Salzgasse 25 and offers three cinema halls.

From 1848 a lively club life developed . In 1849 the male choir was founded (today: Chorgemeinschaft Freistadt), in 1870 the Freiwillige Feuerwehr Freistadt and in 1887 the Austrian Gymnastics Federation (ÖTB) Freistadt. There was also an ice skating club, a swimming club, a beautification club and a cycling club and others. The gymnastics club built a large hall on the Stieranger (Hindenburghalle) in 1887, which was only expanded again after 1975. Currently (2008) there are over 180 clubs in Freistadt.

Wars and fires

The Turkish wars in Freistadt were only known from verbal reports. A bit of unrest broke out only when the 1500 soldiers of the Hagerischen Kriegsvolks marched through the city in 1610 during the third Austrian Turkish War. Maria Theresa visited Freistadt during the Seven Years' War and received a war grant. The Napoleonic Wars between 1805 and 1809 gave Freistadt a period of occupation. In the course of this there were minor skirmishes near the city.

In 1815 a fire broke out in Waaggasse, which destroyed around 50 houses in the western part. The tower in the corner and the tower of the old castle fell victim to the fire and were no longer rebuilt. Instead of the tower in the corner, the city built a bridge, the fourth access to the city. In 1880 a fire broke out in the castle courtyard and around 40 houses and parts of the Böhmertor were destroyed by flames in the northern part. In 1885 the post door burned down and was replaced by a staircase.

First World War and the interwar period

POW camp 1914–1918
Emergency money in 1920

During the First World War , a prisoner-of-war camp for Russians was set up in Freistadt . Construction of the camp began in October 1914 and the first prisoners arrived in November of the same year. In 1915 the camp was expanded; up to 20,000 prisoners were housed in the barracks. The facility was divided into four warehouses totaling 452,000 square meters. After the end of the war, the city sold the warehouse in individual areas and earned around 2.9 million crowns. The 388 deceased inmates were buried in the specially created military cemetery Jaunitzbachtal on the Jaunitz . Several barracks were still visible even 50 years after the end of the war, two of which are still used as cattle stalls at the auction hall or exhibition hall during the Mühlviertel trade fair .

Due to the peace treaty of St. Germain there was again a state border north of Freistadt and the city became a border town again after around 290 years. In contrast to the Middle Ages, this new frontier had no economic significance. In the course of the First World War, 86 soldiers were killed, of which 28 were killed, 18 missing and 40 other war victims.

Between the years 1916 and 1918 the Marianum (school and monastery) was supplied with in-house electrical lighting. The foul-smelling acetylene gas lighting in the streets was dismantled in 1919. From this year on, the brewery supplied the city with a makeshift electricity. Between 1921 and 1927 the local network was expanded and in 1922 the connection to the overland power supply of the Linzer Tramway und Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft (TEG) (today: Linz Strom GmbH ).

In 1920 the city issued emergency money in Heller , and the municipality was liable for the amount printed on it. The emergency money was supposed to alleviate the shortage of change, but became obsolete in a short time due to hyperinflation . The inhabitants were starving; Diseases were rampant and unemployment during the Great Depression shaped the interwar period. As in the rest of Austria, the political parties were radicalized , but no shots were fired during the civil war in 1934.

Numerous attempts have been made to improve the economic situation. Some companies, such as Anton Haberkorn's rope factory, were built on the site of the former prisoner-of-war camp - camp III, while Friedrich Mößböck's woodworks and Anton Zemann's granite works were founded. The public purse promoted the economy and the streets of the inner city were canalized and paved. In 1930 the dairy cooperative was founded. In 1937 the Erzherzog-Karl-Kaserne (since 1954: Tilly-Kaserne ) opened south of the city walls, which was built on the area of ​​the former Camp IV. The city redeveloped the Frauenteich and built parts of the bypass road (today: B310 ). Most of the approximately 4,000 inhabitants lived within the city walls at that time.

In the Jaunitz, two baths were built, separated according to political directions , which reflected the political polarization of the time. A soccer field for the Freistadt sports association was built on the Bahnhofsteig.

Anschluss and World War II

Memorial in front of the Linzertor

After the Anschluss on March 12, 1938, a lot changed in Freistadt. The formerly illegal members of the NSDAP now publicly stood by their convictions. In 1938/1939 the community area was enlarged in the south and south-west to include the districts of St. Peter, Galgenau and Trölsberg. In the north - in the moat - areas near the elevated reservoir of the water supply to the city came.

The private schools were closed at the end of the school year in 1938 and turned into public schools. The Marianum became a public elementary and secondary school for boys, the monastery the counterpart for girls. The federal high school became a high school for boys, which could also be attended by girls. In the autumn of 1944, the school had to stop operating, on February 1, 1945 the remaining schools closed. The student convict was redesigned as a Nazi student residence and the NSDAP district administration also moved into the building. The citizen hospital was closed and sold. The first refugees were housed in the closed schools; they came from all areas of the Greater German Reich - including Vienna and the surrounding area.

After the outbreak of World War II , the garrison was enlarged. Two Wehrmacht barracks were opened on the Stieranger and on the Friedhofsberg. Over 1000 soldiers were stationed in Freistadt, three officers 'houses and several non-commissioned officers' houses were built. A tank school was located on Friedhofsberg. Houses were also built for emigrated South Tyroleans .

As the Soviet forces in the east were getting closer and closer, the Nazi leadership moved the headquarters of Military District Command  XVII from Vienna to Freistadt on April 1, 1945 , before it was relocated to Kirchdorf .

In order to make the administration of Freistadt more difficult for the Soviet Union, the so-called socialist murders were carried out on April 24, 1945 . Four people from Freistadt and a Polish farm worker were secretly arrested by the Volkssturm on April 24th and murdered on the night of April 25th at the Jaunitz Bridge in the south of the city. Only after the end of the war did the truth come out and the perpetrators could be caught. Today a memorial stone commemorates this act. In 1944, some residents of Freiberg joined the resistance group New Free Austria . They were betrayed in October 1944 and the Gestapo arrested a total of 52 people. Between February 26 and 27, 1945, the trial of 27 of them took place, 16 people were sentenced, eight of them to death. On May 1, 1945, the execution of the death sentences of seven people from Freistadt and one from Linz in Treffling by a Volkssturm commando. On May 5, 1995, a memorial for the victims of National Socialism was inaugurated in Freistadt in front of the Linzertor.

During the war not a single bomb fell on Freistadt, which housed three hospitals towards the end of the war . In the last days of the war, the townspeople, including the town commander Hauptmann Bock, were able to prevent a fight for Freistadt by opposing the orders of an SS unit . After the SS unit withdrew to the east, American tanks reached the city on May 7, 1945 without a fight. 289 soldiers fell or went missing in the course of the fighting, most of them in Russia.

Occupation time

Barracks of the refugee camp in 1947

First Free City was occupied by American troops, on May 13th the Red Army joined and shared the city with the Americans until May 23rd, until they withdrew south of the railway line. At first the Summerauer Bahn (Mauthausen – Freistadt – Summerau line) was the demarcation line , from August 1, 1945 the entire Mühlviertel was occupied by the Red Army. Between August 1945 and May 25, 1955 the Soviet command was in office in the city. As a result, there was hardly a house in Freistadt in the winter of 1945/46 in which no Soviet soldiers were quartered. The federal high school was used as a military hospital, the district administration building was the center of the occupying power, until the Hagleitner building on the main square became the headquarters of the commandant's office. On August 16, 1955, the house was cleared and the last Soviet soldier left the city and thus the district.

After the first refugees came to the city in autumn 1944, the influx swelled sharply towards the end of the war. Numerous soldiers and civilians stayed in nine camps in the city after the end of the World War. The camps for civilians were on Friedhofsberg (today the Haberkorn company is located there), on Stieranger in the barracks of the former tank school, in private houses and schools. With around 4,000 inmates, the Friedhofsberg camp was the largest. The camp for soldiers was located on a meadow between the train station and the Jaunitz as an open camp (without permanent structures). The soldiers were handed over to the Soviets, who deported many of them to Siberia. According to a report dated May 24, 1945 by the municipality to the city command, the total number of refugees was 8,212 from 20 countries. This number had fallen to 863 refugees by March 7, 1946. The highest number of refugees was around 12,000 and around 100,000 refugees were smuggled through the camps in 1945 and had to be provided with food and drink. The city itself had around 5000 inhabitants at that time.

The Soviets carried out Stalin's policy consistently and left behind a city that had lagged behind other communities in Austria that were not under Soviet occupation for ten years. The occupation was characterized by uncertainty among the population and little was invested. After 1945 the elementary and secondary school was housed in an emergency shelter. As one of the few public investments made during this period, the former student convict (previously NSDAP district administration) was converted into a hospital .

After the communist putsch in Czechoslovakia in 1948, the Iron Curtain almost completely paralyzed border traffic. Thus, until the turn of 1989 , Freistadt was in an economically dead corner of Austria. In January 1951 the first USIA shop was opened on Mühlviertler Boden in Freistadt.

Development since 1955

Indoor and outdoor pools
Business Academy and Business School
Salzhof cultural center
Exhibition hall interior view

Only after the State Treaty of May 5, 1955, the withdrawal of the Soviet occupying power and the return to the Upper Austrian provincial administration on August 11, 1955, did Freistadt participate in the economic miracle in Austria. This was shown by the fact that the population rose to 6000 and the companies Haberkorn and Moßböck, the brewery and the dairy expanded their capacities and new companies (Mäser, Klinger) came to Freistadt. The residential construction activity was accelerated and the infrastructure  - (1960 opening of Linzer Straße as a bypass), water supply, sewer system and sewage treatment plant  - was renewed, expanded or newly constructed. In the 1960s, the former gas works building (acetylene gas lighting between 1905 and 1919) was demolished and the building of the Freistadt District Commission was erected in its place.

The occupation time was favorable for the medieval townscape, as nobody wanted to invest in structural changes. As investments made sense again, it came in Freistadt to rethink - the old town has been preserved to the tourism promoting. In 1967 the parish church was renovated and the Gothic origins were largely restored by removing the baroque alterations. In 1968 the Jaunitzbachtal military cemetery was expanded. In the extension part, 2365 war dead from 14 nations of the Second World War were put into bed. The facade campaign since 1972 and finally the new building regulations from 1979 helped to preserve the building fabric of the town houses in the old town. The large squares - the courtyard and the main square - were paved, the lighting improved and the towers and gates of the city wall renovated. The swimming pool and the sports facilities were renewed and a new indoor swimming pool and a ski lift (1974) were built. In 1977 the city was used as the setting for the film Holocaust - The Story of the White Family .

From 1955, Freistadt developed more and more into a school town. In 1956 the new primary school building was opened and in 1972 a separate main school building was moved into. In 1964 one was business school and 1971 a commercial college founded. A polytechnic school , a commercial vocational school (for bricklayers, carpenters and roofers), an agricultural school, a state music school and a higher education institution for economic professions are available for training the next generation. A school for health and nursing with a diploma completes the offer of the city.

As a result of the Chernobyl catastrophe , the annual mean gamma dose rate rose suddenly from 93 to 145 nSv / h in 1986 . It was not until around 20 years later that the original value before the disaster was reached again.

In 1988 the international Heimatfilmfestival took place for the first time in the cinema, which opened in 1984 (move from Badgasse to Salzgasse), during which the film prize of the city of Freistadt is awarded. In 1991 the new building of the outdoor pool opened next to the indoor pool. The former outdoor swimming pool was then converted into a tennis court with a tennis hall (a musicians' barn was held there in 1992 ). In 1992, the state hospital moved from the old building in Zemannstrasse to the new state hospital in the south of the city, which has four specialist departments and 176 beds. In 1994, two city ​​bus lines were set up that supply the entire city area every hour. A 110 kV substation has existed in the south of the city since 1997 , as the previous double 30 kV line could not fully cover the energy requirements. The biomass cogeneration plant has been burning wood chips from 153 farmers in the region since 1999 and primarily heats the city's public buildings. In 2008 the capacity will be expanded. 1999 restored the club revitalization Thurytal in Thurytal to 141 years old, the second Thury-Hammer , shown at forging demonstrations.

In the late autumn of 1997, a very important silver treasure was found near the castle-like Fuchsenhof farm while plowing over a field . This treasure was buried there around 1270 and consists of more than 6,700 coins as well as hundreds of silver objects and pieces of jewelry. It is believed that a goldsmith buried his property here during the chaos of war between Ottokar II Přemysl of Bohemia and Rudolf von Habsburg . It was not until 2004 that the find was published after a scientific investigation. The treasure is exhibited today in the Schlossmuseum Linz .

In 2002, during the flood of the century, parts of the city along the Feldaist were flooded up to one meter, 138 of 1530 buildings (around 9%) in the municipality were damaged. On August 7, 2002, 172 liters of rain per square meter (= 172 millimeters) fell in Freistadt. Between August 6 and 13, 2002, four times the normal monthly amount fell. With 367 millimeters of precipitation in this period, the previous maximum of 259 millimeters in July 1910 was far exceeded.

The Salzhof (former old castle) was converted into a culture and event center in 2003. Concerts, theater performances, balls and congresses take place here. Also in 2003 the exhibition and event hall was built with up to 6000 standing or 3000 seats. Exhibitions, fairs, balls and music events are regularly held in this hall. In 2004 a new multifunctional sports hall was opened between the two primary schools and is used by the local sports clubs.

Free Radio Freistadt has been broadcasting a full 24-hour program since March 1, 2005 . In June 2001 the radio was operated as a media project for two weeks. A school radio (Radius 106.6) has been broadcasting after class at the Freistadt grammar school since March 2003. The two radio stations work together on the youth program. The Free Radio Freistadt also takes on programs from the youth internet radio ICM from Krumlov .

The new waste material collection center opened at the end of November 2008 , as the one built in 1989 was too small for the amount of waste incurred and traffic chaos regularly arose at the old location. On August 29, 2009, the completely renovated sewage treatment plant on the Feldaist opened. Since July 2009 the Fantastika festival has enriched the cultural scene in Freistadt.

In preparation for the 2013 state exhibition, around 50 facades of the old town houses were renovated in 2012 and a new traffic concept was introduced on the main square. A lighting concept for the old town was also implemented. The construction of the northern district heating plant and the residential oasis in the former hospital (Kinsky Castle) began.

The year 2013 was dominated by the cross-border state exhibition entitled Old Ways. New tracks . This event, which was carried out jointly with Bad Leonfelden , Český Krumlov (Krumau) and Vyšší Brod (Hohenfurth), was attended by around 285,000 people, including over 100,000 in Freistadt alone. In Freistadt the medieval trade routes and the role of the cities and markets were presented. In keeping with the location, the way in which beer brewing works was also shown.

Between August 2009 and November 2014, the S10 motorway-like bypass road ( Mühlviertler Schnellstraße ) was built, also in the municipality of Freistadt. On November 15, 2014, traffic was opened between Freistadt Süd and Freistadt Nord, relieving the B310 of through traffic in the urban area.

Current and future developments

The construction of a large retention basin in the Feldaist valley between the Graben and Helbetschlag is planned for the coming years . This basin is a sub-project of the flood protection association Aist and is intended to protect the city from a centenary flood like 2002.

With the project Energie-Zukunft Freistadt 2030 , the city has been trying to gradually replace fossil fuels - oil, coal and gas - in the medium term since 2008. This is also done in cooperation with university institutes from Vienna, Graz and Linz.

The start of construction of the west bypass of the B 38 is planned for 2015. This relocation of the B 38 is intended to relieve the urban area of ​​around 7,000 car journeys from the direction of Bad Leonfelden. Starting at the intersection with the Hirschbacher Landesstraße, the road should lead to the Walchshof roundabout and thus ensure a quick connection to the S 10. Furthermore, an industrial building area is to be created along the new road.

literature

  • Federal Monuments Office Austria (Ed.): Dehio - Upper Austria Mühlviertel. Berger Verlag, Horn / Vienna 2003, ISBN 978-3-85028-362-5 .
  • Gustav Brachmann: On the history of the theater in Freistadt. In: Upper Austrian homeland sheets . Volume 18, issue 1/2 January – June, Linz 1964 ( online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at).
  • Karl Dichtl: The fortification of Freistadt. In: Heimatgaue . Volume 11, Issue 1–4, Verlage R. Pringruber, Linz 1930 ( Part 1, Issue 1/2, pp. 77–97 (PDF) in Forum OoeGeschichte.at, Part 2, Issue 3/4, pp. 171– 184 (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at).
  • Siegfried Haider : History of Upper Austria. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-486-54081-5 .
  • Fritz Fellner: Freistadt in old views. European Library Publisher, Zaltbommel (The Netherlands) 1999, ISBN 90-288-1285-7 .
  • Fritz Fellner: The origin of Freistadt. Self-published by Fritz Fellner.
  • Stadtgemeinde Freistadt (Ed.): Freistädter Geschichtsblätter. Volumes 1–11, Plöchl-Druck, Freistadt from 1950.
  • Ignaz Nößlböck: The emergence of Freistadt in Upper Austria. In: Yearbook of the Upper Austrian Museum Association. Year 80, Linz 1924, pp. 78–114 ( PDF (3.5 MB) on ZOBODAT ).
  • Othmar Rappersberger: Freistadt - jewelry box of the Mühlviertel. Kunstverlag Hofstetter, Ried im Innkreis 1992.
  • Othmar Rappersberger, Peter Knoll: Freistadt then and now in words and pictures. Publication P No 1, 1993, ISBN 3-900878-97-8 .

Web links

Commons : Freistadt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

This article is based on the detailed history of the city of Freistadt on the city's official website, written by Othmar Rappersberger.

  1. ^ Josef Kneidinger: Prehistoric finds from the Mühlviertel. Dissertation, Vienna 1939, No. 23.
  2. ^ On the early history of the city of Freistadt (PDF; 4.6 MB) In: Contributions to the early history of the city of Freistadt. P. 32.
  3. ^ History of the origins of our church. ( Memento from March 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Grünbach near Freistadt, as of July 28, 2008.
  4. ^ History of Upper Austria. P. 140.
  5. ^ Alfred Hoffmann (ed.): Austrian town book Volume 1: The cities of Upper Austria. Vienna 1968, p. 143.
  6. ^ Siegfried Haider: History of Upper Austria. P. 130.
  7. ^ History of the parish. Evangelical Parish Gallneukirchen, accessed May 29, 2009.
  8. ^ Franz Xaver Bohdanowicz: The plague of the pestilence in Freistadt in the 16th century. In: Upper Austrian homeland sheets . Linz 1954, issue 4, p. 299, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
  9. ^ Haider: History of Upper Austria. P. 221.
  10. ^ Railways, water pipes, gas. (PDF; 219 kB) Freistadt City Archive, p. 19.
  11. ↑ On the railway history of the Alps-Danube-Adriatic region: Waldviertel Bahn. ( Memento from July 10, 2012 in the archive.today web archive ) As of July 30, 2008.
  12. ^ History. Mühlviertel Exhibition Center, as of April 8, 2008.
  13. ↑ a b c Elisabeth Kreuzwieser: History of the gas industry in Upper Austria. Acetylene lighting - an alternative to coal gas. Linz 2006, website 526 in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
  14. ↑ Chronicle. Federal High School Freistadt, as of April 19, 2008.
  15. ^ History of the Diocese of Linz. Diocese Linz, p. 108f, online (PDF; 2 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
  16. ^ Associations of the municipality of Freistadt, as of April 4, 2008.
  17. ^ Fritz Fellner: The city in the city. The prisoner of war camp in Freistadt 1914-1918. In: Upper Austrian homeland sheets . Volume 43, Issue 1, Linz 1989, pp. 3–32, online (PDF; 4.4 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
  18. ↑ a b Freistadt-Jaunitzbachtal. Austrian Black Cross, as of July 23, 2008.
  19. ↑ Information by email from an employee of the city administration.
  20. ↑ Railways, water pipes, gas (PDF; 219 kB) Freistadt City Archives, p. 44.
  21. ^ 1945. Province of Upper Austria - Regional History, accessed on September 26, 2008.
  22. ^ Socialist murders. In: Freistädter Geschichtsblätter. Volume 11, pp. 158ff.
  23. ↑ New Free Austria. In: Freistädter Geschichtsblätter. Volume 11, pp. 5-157.
  24. ↑ Reports of the fallen and missing from the municipality of Freistadt to the Black Cross Upper Austria in 1947 and 1988.
  25. ^ Edmund Merl: refugee problem in the border region. In: Period of occupation in the Mühlviertel. OLV publishing house.
  26. ↑ Apprenticeships. Freistadt vocational school, accessed April 24, 2008.
  27. ↑ Radioactivity measurements in Austria. (PDF) Austrian Association for Radiation Protection, p. 30.
  28. ↑ Citybus lines. Municipality of Freistadt, accessed April 3, 2008.
  29. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: District heating plant Freistadt is still being expanded. ) In: What is going on? Retrieved April 25, 2008.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.wasistlos.at
  30. ↑ The treasure trove from the Fuchsenhof: The find. ( Memento of June 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  31. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Collections - Numismatics ) Schlossmuseum Linz, accessed July 21, 2008.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.schlossmuseum.at
  32. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Flood 2002. ) (PDF) Platform Flood, pp. 27, 63.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / zenar.boku.ac.at
  33. ↑ Homepage. Freistadt exhibition hall, accessed April 3, 2008.
  34. ^ Sports hall in the municipality of Freistadt, accessed April 4, 2008.
  35. ↑ About us. ( Memento of August 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Free Radio Freistadt, accessed April 3, 2008.
  36. ↑ Broadcast schedule 2007/08. ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Radio Radius 106.6, accessed April 3, 2008.
  37. ↑ Current from the town hall, No. 01/2007. (PDF; 2.2 MB) Municipality of Freistadt.
  38. ↑ Currently from the town hall, opening of the waste material collection center. (PDF; 1.5 MB) Municipality of Freistadt.
  39. ↑ Currently from the town hall, opening of the sewage treatment plant. (PDF; 1 MB) Municipality of Freistadt.
  40. ↑ Homepage of the festival. Festival Fantastika.
  41. ↑ Currently from the town hall, lighting concept. (PDF; 2 MB) Municipality of Freistadt.
  42. ↑ Currently from the town hall. (PDF; 5.9 MB) Municipality of Freistadt.
  43. ↑ Information on the State Exhibition 2013 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF), accessed on November 17, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at
  44. ↑ a b Current from the town hall. (PDF; 7.5 MB) Municipality of Freistadt.
  45. ↑ Currently from the town hall. (PDF; 7.2 MB) Municipality of Freistadt.
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on May 7, 2008 .