Freistadt Castle, Medieval castle and museum in Freistadt, Austria.

Freistadt Castle is a medieval structure in the town of Freistadt with a striking tower that rises above the surrounding rooftops. The building houses multiple exhibition rooms across different levels, including a substantial collection of reverse glass paintings from the region.

Duke Rudolf IV the Founder ordered the castle built from 1363 to reinforce Freistadt's fortifications; after his death in 1365 his brothers Leopold and Albert continued the work, and the castle with its bergfried was finished in 1397/98. It replaced the old castle in Salzgasse, the Altenhof, and served as the administrative seat of the lordship of Freistadt. In 1626 rebel peasants captured and plundered it, locking the governor and three Capuchins in the chapel.

The castle now houses the tax office and the Mühlviertel Castle Museum, whose collections cover the region's history and crafts. The name Freistadt refers to the town's medieval status, and the castle replaced the older Altenhof in the Salzgasse, today's Salzhof. Visitors can still trace the two historic entrances, one from the Hauptplatz and one from the Schlossgasse.

The castle is entered through two gateways: one off the Hauptplatz into the main courtyard, and one at the end of the Schlossgasse from the Böhmergasse into the outer courtyard. The tax office and the Mühlviertel Castle Museum share the building, so check which entrance applies before setting out.

A bricked-up "Hintertürl" in the walls once let the castle's residents leave Freistadt unseen via the zwinger and town moat. In 1584 Hans Christoph von Gera asked to reopen it, citing the lack of escape routes during the town fires of 1507 and 1516, but the prince sided with the town and it stayed sealed.