Freyung () is a town in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

and capital of the

Freyung-Grafenau Freyung-Grafenau () is a Districts of Germany, ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of Passau (district), Passau, Deggendorf (district), Deggendorf and Regen (district), Regen, ...

district. It is situated in the

Bavarian Forest image:Zell-bayerischer-wald.jpg, The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest The Bavarian Forest ( or ''Bayerwald'' ; ) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany, that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech Republic, C ...

mountain range, near the border with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Geography

The town is situated on the southeastern rim of the

Bavarian Forest National Park The Bavarian Forest National Park () is a national park in the Eastern Bavarian Forest immediately on Germany's border with the Czech Republic. It was founded on 7 October 1970 as the first national park in Germany. Since its expansion on 1 Aug ...

near the confluence of the Saußbach and Reschbach creeks. The town centre is located about north of

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

and just west of the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

to Czechia. Freyung is divided into 27 different settlements.

History

First start

The first known settlements in the area of today's town of Freyung are from the 13th century. The inhabitants settled in a clearing village near the old Wolfstein Castle, which Bishop Wolfger von Erla had built around 1200. Before that,

Emperor Henry VI Henry VI (German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sic ...

had ceded the land to some of the bishops of Passau in 1193. At that time, Freyung was not yet a place name, but referred to an area. The later name ''Freiung'' denoted the fact that the first settlers were exempt from taxes (cf. ''

Freihaus A Freihaus (German for "free house") was a house that, although physically within the city walls of a medieval or early modern city, was legally outside it. That is, the residents of a Freihaus legally lived in the surrounding countryside and were ...

''). In 1301, this place was first mentioned in documents as ''Purchstol zu Wolferstein'', with a forest attached to it. As early as 1354, the neighboring town of

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Berlin-Mitte, Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in ...

, which had been founded at the beginning of the 14th century, was granted market rights, which were transferred to Freyung in 1523.

19th century

When the Prince-Bishopric of Passau was dissolved in 1803 with the Imperial Deputation Act, Freyung first fell to the Austrian Duchy of Salzburg and two years the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

with the Peace of Pressburg. 535 people were living in the town in 1811, however, in a devastating town fire in 1872, 39 of the approximately 70 houses were destroyed. A settlement was laid out beneath the castle which in 1301 was mentioned as ''Purchstol zu Wolferstein''.

20th century and after

On December 3, 1953, Freyung was elevated to town status. After the incorporation of , Freyung was part of the Wolfstein district from April 1, 1954, to June 30, 1972. After the district was merged with the Grafenau district, it became the district town of the Freyung-Grafenau district. Freyung had received the oppurtunity to host the yearly Bavarian

Regional Garden Show A ''Regional Garden Show'' (; ) is an exhibition on horticulture that takes place on a regular basis in several German and Austrian states. In Germany, a state horticultural show at the state level is the smaller counterpart to the Bundesgartenscha ...

in 2022, however had to move it to 2023 because of

Covid Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. The event was also visited by

Markus Söder Markus Thomas Theodor Söder (born 5 January 1967) is a German politician from Bavaria, Germany serving as List of Ministers-President of Bavaria, Minister-President of Bavaria since 2018 and Leader of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, lead ...

Population

Politics

City council

Mayors

* 1946–1952: Josef Haas * 1952–1956: Ludwig Heydn * 1956–1972: Josef Lang * 1972–1978: Otto Fink * 1978–2002: Fritz Wimmer * 2002–2008: Peter Kaspar * 2008–present: Olaf Heinrich

Infrastructure

Public facilities

* Freyung District Hospital * Freyung

Surveying Office Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

* Freyung

District Court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

* Freyung-Grafenau

District Office A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

Health Department A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entity, Subnational entities, such as State (administrative division), states, county, counties an ...

Library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

* Municipal Waterworks * State Veterinary Office * Volunteer

Fire Department A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...

* Weekly Market * Barracks on the Goldener Steig, location of the 8th Reconnaissance Battalion.

Education and science

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

* Child day care * Forest kindergarten *

Primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

Mittelschule ''Mittelschule'' is a German term literally translating to "Middle School" (i.e. a level "intermediate" between elementary and higher education). It is used in various senses in the education systems of the various parts of German-speaking Europe, ...

Realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

* Gymnasium *

Montessori School The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...

* Support center * Catholic adult education * Adult education center *

Music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

* Technology Campus, branch of the Deggendorf University of Applied Sciences with three Chairs for geoinformatics, embedded systems and bionics. * Folk Music Academy *

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or to o ...

Twin towns

Freyung is twinned with *

Vimperk Vimperk (; ) is a town in Prachatice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,300 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Historically Vimperk has bee ...

, Czech Republic *

Seewalchen am Attersee Seewalchen am Attersee (Central Bavarian: ''Seewoicha ban Ottasee'') is a municipality in the district of Vöcklabruck in the Austrian state of Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its cap ...

, Austria

Notable people

Severin Freund Severin Freund (born 11 May 1988) is a German former ski jumper and current TV expert. He competed at World Cup level from 2008 to 2022, and is one of the most successful ski jumpers from Germany, having won the overall World Cup title in 2015, ...

(born 1988), ski jumper * Shkemb Miftari (born 1993), footballer

References

{{Authority control Freyung-Grafenau