Ringing without cause

Church bells too loud! Styrian goes to court

The Maria Freienstein pilgrimage church towers above St. Peter.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

Five years ago, the Maria Freienstein pilgrimage church got a new bell. Not only is it bigger than the old one, it also rings more often. A resident of the Styrian community can no longer stand the noise and is now taking the parish to court.

Quiet and tranquil - that's probably how most of its residents would describe the market town of St. Peter-Freienstein. But for a while now, the bell of the well-known Maria Freienstein pilgrimage church, which is located a little way above the village, has been clouding the rural idyll.