Ried

Ried im Innkreis grew as a market in the Innviertel, between Bavaria and Upper Austria. Its name refers to reeds growing on wet ground near the streams that meet by the old town. For much of the early modern period Ried belonged to Bavaria. Border conflicts returned during the War of the Spanish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession; the Innviertel passed to Austria in 1779 under the Treaty of Teschen. Ried was also home to the Schwanthaler family of sculptors, whose workshop began when Hans Schwanthaler came to the town in 1632. Thomas Schwanthaler made works for the parish church of Saints Peter and Paul, which was remodelled in Baroque style between 1720 and 1734. Local guilds endowed many of its side chapels, reflecting the place of crafts in the market community.