# Freistadt

Freistadt is a small town in Upper Austria.

## Get in

Freistadt is well connected to the public transport system. There are good coach connections $^{[deadlink]}$ to get to other villages and cities around Freistadt. Moreover there is a train station a little out-of-town with direct connections to Linz and Budweis.

## Get around

Freistadt with its beautiful historic city center and the colourful nature all around invites everybody to explore the city on foot. For people who want to go to the shops out of town, the train station, the leisure center or to the cemetery there are two so called "city buses" which take you to nearly every place in and around Freistadt. They start their round trips in the morning and drive until 7 o'cock in the evening. The buses reach every stop on the round trip once an hour. There are two lines, one for the inner city and one for the surrounding stops. Here you can find the road-maps of the two lines: http://www.ooevv.at/uploads/pics/Kursbuch/390.pdf $^{[deadlink]}$ http://www.ooevv.at/uploads/pics/Kursbuch/391.pdf $^{[deadlink]}$
Stifterplatz is the biggest bus terminal in Freistadt. There are a lot of coaches leaving for every other city in the region for example Linz (capital of Upper Austria), Pregarten, Hagenberg or others. The trains give you another and sometimes more comfortable opportunity to reach the cities near Freistadt or even go to cities farther away like Vienna, Austria's beautiful capital. If there's no direct connection to a city you can take the train to the central station of Linz from where you can go to nearly every city in Austria and Central Europe.

## See

The Main Square (Hauptplatz) is a rectangular place in the middle of the old town inside the city walls. It was built during the founding of the city in the 13th century. Around the Main Square there are 24 protected buildings as a historic monument, including the parish church and the town hall. St. Mary's Fountain in the middle of the Main Square is a baroque style fountain which was built here in 1704.
* 48.5123514.506261 Freistadt Castle (Mühlviertler Schlossmuseum Freistadt), Schlosshof 2, ☏ +43 7942 72274, info@museum-freistadt.at. M-F 09:00-12:00, 14:00-17:00; Sa Su and holidays 14:00-17:00. Passing a beautiful Gothic styled archway you reach the castle. It was finished in the years 1397/98 and served as a substitute for the old castle. The mighty tower is 50m high and gives rooms for the native museum. In the former chapel of the castle there is also a rich collection of pictures painted on glass. €4 (adults), €3 (concessions), €1 (children 6-15)`.
* Linzertor. The “Linz Gate” is 28 meters in height and the landmark of Freistadt. You can still see the hangovers from the draw-bridge. A painting of the royal double eagle, a loophole and a picture of the patroness of Freistadt (Saint Catherine of Alexandria) is on the “Linz Gate”. Moreover the earlier writing of the name of the City “Freystadt” can be seen there.
* Bohemian Gate. nearly as old as the city. The shape of the side walls shows you that there once were three wooden floors inside. These floors as well as the wooden roof were damaged by the last town fire in 1880. But the existing walls give you an impression of the strength of the fortification.
* Liebfrauenkirche. built around 1345, and all around this church there was the cemetery of Freistadt for 300 years. The building next door gives room to a convent school.
* Scheiblingsturm. Back on the promenade, it leads you along a pond. The Scheiblingturm was built to protect the water running in. On the inner side of the tower there is a reconstruction of the rampart walk in a height of 7 metres.
* Bürgerkorpsturm. founded in 1777 and now gives room to an art gallery. You can see the inner side of the „Bürgerkorpsturm“ if you pass the „Linz Gate“ and turn right. The Tower is named after an old but still existing association of the citizens of Freistadt for the defence of the city.
* Weyermühlturm. built as a defense in the fourteenth century between the city and the town moat. In place of the tower there was the “Posttürl” – the small secret third entry to the city which was destroyed by a town fire in 1887.
* Alter Rathausturm. At the southern side of the city there’s the “Old Tower of the Town Hall” in Renaissance-style. It was built very robust because it’s part of the city wall. The way through the town moat leads you to the “Dechanthofturm” – our next sight.
* Parish church Katharinenmünster. The church of Freistadt is the only five-aisled basilica in Austria. The star-vaulting in the choir of our church is very impressive and a masterpice of gothic style. The tower of the parish church is in baroque style and 67 m high. It also gives room for a war-memorial.
* Salzhof. The oldest building of the city. Its name stands for the admission to embed and trade salt in the Middle Ages. Now a lot of concerts and exhibitions take place in the “Salzhof”. A few years ago it was completely restored and now mainly gives room for the music school.
* Dechanthofturm. This tower was built for defense of the city wall too. It’s one of the most picturesque parts of the city and includes the “Dechanthof” which is along with the tower a very impressive building in baroque style.

## Do

In your free time you can do a lot of things in Freistadt. The in- and outdoor swimming pool called „Moby Dick“ which has a great chute is near the bus stop „Stifterplatz“ and next to the sports field where you can also play beach volleyball. On the sports field you can watch some football and fistball matches. If you want to relax you can go to the beautiful big park near the Schlosshof, where there are a lot of benches to sit down, a beautiful stream and a lot of flowers and trees.
Outside of the city centre you can go skiing or skating. You can go shopping in different shops or go sightseeing.

## Buy

Although Freistadt is a very small city you can find a lot of different shops, where you can buy books, clothes, food etc. In the city centre there are most food and other shops like Bipa (Industriestraße 3 4240 Freistadt) which is a perfume shop where you get make-up, creams for your body, jewellery and so on. It’s very practical that the pastry shop Poißl is near Bipa. So you can buy lots of different things nearly at the same time because you don’t have to go a long way to buy things.
On the Main Square there are a lot of shops like café Lubinger which is an ice cream parlour too.
* Billa, Eisengasse 14 (near the Main Square). grocery shop
* Unimarkt, Pragerstraße 2 (near the Bohemian Gate). Fruits, biscuits and household articles like brushes. There are also magazines or newspapers on sale.
* Wolfsgruber, Pfarrgasse 16 (not far away from the Main Square). In the shop you find different kinds of books, such as children’s books, adventure stories, action books, history books and so on. They also offer gifts and stationery.
* Intersport Pötscher, Makovskystraße 2. A sport shop in which you can buy sport articles. But the shop also sells jackets and other street wear.
* Pharmacy, Hauptplatz 16.

## Drink

If you want to go for a drink, you find some bars, discos and cafes in Freistadt. First we start at the Main Square.
* Acanto, Hauptplatz 13. Tu-Sa 17-04.
* Foxi´s Vinothek, Samtgasse 8. M-Sa 11-14.30 & 18-22, Su 11-22.
* Kern, Eisengasse 8. Café and bakery
* Kupferdachl, Zemannstraße 21. M-F 8-22, Sa 8-02.
* Latino, Eisengasse 10. M-Sa 18-04. a bar
* Lubinger (at the Main Square). M-Sa 8-19 (Tu closed), Su 9-19.
* Poisl, Eisengasse 3. Tu-Sa 8-19, Su 9-19. A café
* Rockford, Samtgasse 7. M-Th 18-04, F-Sa 19-04.
* Sailor´s Bar, Dechanthofgasse 1. M-Sa 10-02.
* Snoopies, Salzgasse 11. a pub where you can bet
* Suchan. M-Sa 9-13 except F 9-18. A café and coffee roasting house
* Tanz Tenne Amadeus, Lasbergerstraße 4. a night club for dancing. Wespennest one the same address is a pizza pub
* Vis á Vis, Salzgasse 13. M-F 9-02, Su 17-02.

## Sleep
### Budget

There’s one youth hostel and a few private rooms:
* 48.51214.5061 Youth Hostel Freistadt, Schloßhof 3, ☏ +43 7942 74365. €14. (updated Feb 2017)
* Familie Rechberger, Kubinstrasse 4, ☏ +43 794274463, rechberger@epnet.at.
* Truffner, Vierzehner Straße 27, ☏ +43 794277713, fewotruffner@aon.at.
* Dr. Würl, Obere Hafnerzeile 1, ☏ +43 6763838841, ultramarin2000@yahoo.com.

### Mid-range

In Freistadt there are four types of accommodation you can choose from, The most comfortable opportunity is staying at hotels - here are some suggestions:
* Gasthof Hotel Goldener Adler, Salzgasse 1, ☏ +43 7942 72112, goldener.adler@hotels-freistadt.at. Singles from €49, Doubles from €78.
* Hotel Deim – Goldener Hirsch, Böhmergasse 8-10, ☏ +43 7942 72258, goldener.hirsch@hotels-freistadt.at. Singles from €54, Doubles from €88.
Another type of accommodation is farmhouses:
* Tonihöh, Sonnberg 7, ☏ +43 794276616.
* Lainschübl, Trölsberg 12, ☏ +43 794272022.

## Go next

Freistadt is well connected to the public transport system.
There are good coach connections to get to other villages and cities around Freistadt.
Moreover there is a train station a little out-of-town with direct connections to Linz and Budweis.