Bell Tower

In 1588, Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria had a free-standing bell tower built next to St. Thomas Chapel. The bell called ‘Liesl’, which was made by the Saxon founder Martin Hilger, hangs in the belfry. The tower, which is 38 metres high, was built in the context of the Styrian Counter-Reformation, during which the then predominantly Protestant estates were perse¬cuted, forced to convert to the Catholic faith, and expelled from the country around 1600. The Bell Tower itself contained prison cells including the so-called Bassgeige (bass violin) in the basement. The burghers of Graz saved the Bell Tower from imminent razing in 1809. In the 20th century, the Schlossberg Museum was temporarily accommodated in its rooms.