The beginning of a particular devotion in Freystadt is dated 1644, when two peasant boys built there a small clay chapel and they positioned an image of Mary in there. Hoping they would have been possibly paid for it, they put a small collection box. They actually got some money, so they started to build another chapel, a little bigger however, that they called "Help Mary" (Maria hilf). All of that happened during the Thirty Years War in Germany, which took place between Catholics and Protestants. The war caused that many people looked for help through a devotion to Mary. That is why more and more people begun to come to Freystadt. Because the number of coming people was still increasing, these two men with a help of some friends started to build a bigger stone chapel. At that time, however they did not receive permission from the local authorities and besides that, they were working on weekends. That is why the local pastor suspended the works. Unfortunately, the unfinished chapel has been ruined soon.

About 20 years later, Hans Friedrich Kreichwich, the mayor of Freystadt, built a church on that very place where the ruined chapel was. Bishop Ludwig Benz, bishop of Eichstätt consecrated the church in 1670. An anonymous artist donated a statue of Mary with child to the church (that statue can be seen today in the church). From that time on there have been numerous causes of healings by the intercession of Mary. The most famous wonder took place one day when the local guardian was preaching. He was saying about Mary, the Star of the Sea. At that time, everybody saw a star that remained visible until the end of the sermon. After that, many witnessed to the fact that just had taken place. There have been collected more statements that report singing and ringing bells at night. Many pilgrims have witnessed the church enlighten inside at night and many healings as well. All these circumstances and political factors have caused that more and more pilgrims begun to travel toward Freystadt making that place even more known.

Among political reasons that have been related to Mary, the Help of the Faithful, one has to point out to the Vienna victory (1683). The Polish king John III Sobieski led the Christian soldiers. The Bavarian soldiers, who took part in that battle, had banners with the name of the Holy Mary, the Help of the Faithful. That is why that victory was related to the intercession of Mary. Because of it, many churches and chapels were later devoted to the name of Mary (Maria Hilf) as a kind of thanksgiving. One of them is actually the Maria Hilf church in Freystadt.

Because of the increasing number of pilgrims, the stone church which had been consecrated in 1670, became too small. Unfortunately, the church could not be expanded due to weak base and wet ground underneath the church. That is why baron Ferdinand Lorenz Graf von Tilly, who owned Freystadt, wanted to build a new magnificent temple. He hired Giovanni Antonio Viscardi, a well-known Italian architect. The corner stone was laid down August 28, 1700. They used the very same stones that remained from the ruined church and Franciscan friary on the Möningerberg hill. In 1708 George Asam and his sons Cosmo Damian and Egidius Quirinius signed a contract for painting frescos inside the baroque church. Today one can see 33 frescoes (out of 50) that were painted. Because most of them were almost destroyed, George Lang from Dening repainted them between 1877-79. Later they hired Pietro Francesco Appiani, an Italian stucco-worker. He made the beautiful ambo enriched by stucco crowned with a pelican – the symbol of love and sacrifice of Christ. He made also several frescos frames, magnificent stuccos, mainly plant-shaped (acanthi, lily, rose also oak and palm leaves), figure-shaped (caryatides and putties), vases full of fruit, shells, and cartouches as well; especially interesting are garlands of flowers and arcades. September 3, 1710, bishop Johann Adam Nieberlein of Eichstätt consecrated the temple, at the presence of thousands of the faithful who were astounded by the beauty of the new "Italian" baroque church.

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Since 1681, the Franciscan friars have been guardians of that holy place. The first three friars came to Freystadt from Dietfurt November 21, 1681, and were very heartily and solemnly welcomed by the inhabitants of the town. Their first friary was a newly built house, which was especially dedicated to church-like activities. From the very beginning they offered many religious services, mostly Sacrament of Reconciliation. That is why the house later on has been called Confession house (Beichthaus). The current friary however, was built between 1711 and 1715, according to plans of Bro. Fillip Plank, a Franciscan architect. The contributions of the faithful financed the whole project. Because of it, the newly built friary has been upgraded from "hospice" to the actual "friary" that gathered a community of 10 priests and 3 lay friars. One of the priests, called Stadtoperarius was a vicar at the Freystadt parish. The other friars were available at the confessional box, as guides preachers and were just saying masses. In the eighteenth century they were about six thousand pilgrims coming to Freystadt at one pilgrimage. Of course, the friars supported with their services many parishes in the neighborhood.

The blooming time of Freystadt sanctuary in the eighteenth century was suddenly interrupted by the annulment of the friary in 1803, at the time of napoleon wars. In the beginning, the friary has become a meeting point for the friars who had been expelled from other friaries. That is why in August 1803 they were 22 priests and 8 lay brothers at the Freystadt friary. However August 29, 1803 the friary was completely dissolved. All friary’s belongings, including brewery, and the friary itself were sold out. The temple was considered useless and was about to be turned down. Thanks to baron Nicolas von Griesenbeck, who in this very church had found a grave plate of his uncle Johann Balthasar von Griesenbeck, the church was saved. After more than 30 years of absence, the friars came back to Freystadt (1836). The town council members helped a lot in terms of their agreement to Franciscans’ comeback at a meeting with king Ludwig I. Since that time on the Franciscans from the Bavarian Province have been serving in Freystadt and neighbor parishes until 1999. In that year however, the friary, and parishes in Freystadt, Thannhausen and Sondersfeld undertook Franciscans from the Silesian Province of Katowice, Poland.

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