Liebfrauenbergkirche, Parish church on Liebfrauenberg hill in Rankweil, Austria

The Liebfrauenbergkirche is a fortified church standing at 502 m on the Liebfrauenberg, about 45 m above Rankweil's centre. East of the church lies a churchyard enclosed by defensive walls with covered walkways, firing windows and a row of loopholes along the wall crown, plus a gate tower projecting beyond the wall line. A round bastion-like tower of the fortification, rebuilt around 1500, carries an octagonal tent roof.

No remains survive of the castle of the Counts of Montfort. From 1470 an existing fortified church was renewed and enlarged, and a churchyard with defensive walls, covered walkways and a gate tower was added to the east. In 1657–1658 Michael Beer built the Loretokapelle as a side aisle, and in 1985 the church was raised to a basilica minor.

The pilgrimage centres on a limewood figure of Mary with the Child, carved around 1470 by Hans Rueland of Opfenbach; the Child holds a golden walnut, whose green husk, wooden shell and hidden fruit stand for Christ's suffering, the cross and his divine nature. Since 1757 the figure has stood in a gilded Rococo altar in the Loretokapelle, built 1657-1658 by Michael Beer. A silver cross reached the church in 1233.

The church sits on a hill and can only be reached by climbing stairs or sloped paths, so sturdy shoes are a good idea. From the top, there are open views over the surrounding landscape that make the walk worthwhile.

A quartz marble stone in the Fridolin chapel carries visible marks left by worshippers kneeling there over many centuries. These impressions show how intensively this spot was visited across generations.