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Freistadt

Freistadt (Czech: Cáhlov) is an Upper Austrian municipality in the Lower Mühlviertel and since 1849 the seat of the district administration of the Freistadt district. The city is located about 38 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital Linz and about 17 kilometers south of the state border with the Czech Republic.

Freistadt was laid out according to plan from 1220 and experienced its heyday between the 14th and 16th centuries. After the Thirty Years' War Freistadt lost all privileges from the time of its foundation. This resulted in an economic downturn and in the 19th century the development into a school and administrative town. During the two world wars, no military conflicts took place in the Freistadt area. After the end of the Second World War Freistadt was in the Soviet occupation zone.

Freistadt is the educational, cultural, medical and economic center of the district of the same name. The Gothic old town with its medieval fortifications, fortified towers and the Baroque facades of the town houses are among the sights of the town. Freistadt is one of the few towns in Austria whose fortifications have been almost completely preserved.