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Passau, Germany

This morning we are still in Vilshofen an der Donau. After a leisurely breakfast we took a brief walk through the town. It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and puffy clouds, but it was about 40 degrees, so coats were in order. Vilshofen is a small city on the Danube that was officially recognized as a city in 1206, although there is mention of it in 776. It is known for breweries, particularly for the brewmaster who brewed the first Pilsner beer, Josef Groll. They have a town square with a city hall that reportedly includes portions of a Roman structure in it’s walls. They also have a quaint Church of St John the Baptist.

Around lunchtime the ship set sail. We went through our first lock on the Danube and ported in Passau.

Passau is known as the city of 3 rivers as it has the confluence of the Danube, Inn, and Ilz. Passau was a Roman city, at the edge of the Roman Empire. A few centuries after the Romans were gone a monastery was established Much of Passau was destroyed in a fire in 1662. Because of this, most of the city is Baroque in style. Passau was known for sword-smithing and many knights wanted blades with Passau’s wolf stamp.

Above Passau is Veste Oberhaus, a fortress founded in 1219 which mostly served as the residence of the bishop of Passau. The city also has multiple beautiful churches. On the site of the current St. Stephen’s Cathedral there have been churches on this since 730. The current building was built from 1668 to 1693. It has the 2nd largest pipe organ in the world with 17,774 pipes and 233 registers. St Paul’s is a baroque church that is pink on the outside, but largely black and white on the inside. The first church here was established in 1050. The current church is a post-fire rebuild from 1678.

We did a walking tour through Passau and then spent some additional time walking around the town. The area is known for flooding with the last major flood being 2 years ago. There are some water-level markers around town and it really was under-water, well into the 2nd story level. There are still buildings under repair from 2 years ago.

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