Liebfrauenkirche Freistadt, Gothic church building in Freistadt, Austria
The Liebfrauenkirche is a Gothic church building in Freistadt, situated outside the medieval town walls near Bohmertor. Its structure features a three-aisled basilica with slender columns, a wide central nave, and characteristic pointed arch windows in Gothic style, while narrow upper windows between the side roof and main roof reveal its historical origins.
The church was first documented in 1345 and suffered a major fire in 1422 when Hussite forces passed through the region, after which it was rebuilt in Gothic style. Construction continued over decades, with the eastern section completed by 1447 and the main hall added later, while the building remained largely untouched by Baroque modifications that altered other structures in town.
The church gave its name to the nearby Frauenteich pond by the Böhmertor. From 1608 to 1624 it served Freistadt's numerous Protestants as their church before being returned to Catholics during the Counter-Reformation. The south portal is called the "Totentor" because the dead were carried through it from the church to the cemetery until 1855.
The church is entered through the west portal, which is half hidden by the raised street and reached by steps down; the tall pointed window above is blocked inside by the organ. The south portal, known as the Totentor, was used to carry the dead to the cemetery. No regular services are held, so visitors can examine the 9 by 9 by 6 metre choir and its surviving stained glass at their own pace.
The south portal is called the "Totentor" (Gate of the Dead) because coffins were always carried out through it into the cemetery around the church, which was used from 1345 until its closure on 14 September 1855. A small remnant of that cemetery survives under heritage protection, enclosed by an arcaded wall with a late-Gothic shoulder-arch portal and a loggia above the deans' crypt (1620–1855), whose cross-vaulted interior holds a wall painting of the Last Judgment from around 1620.
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