Aerial image of Passau showing the old town and the confluence of the rivers Inn, Danube, and Ilz (from left to right)
Passau (German:[ˈpasaʊ]ⓘ;Central Bavarian:Båssa(u)) is a city inLower Bavaria,Germany. It is also known as theDreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers"), as the riverDanube is joined by theInn from the south and theIlz from the north.
Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom about 12,000[3] are students at theUniversity of Passau, renowned in Germany for its institutes of economics, law, theology, computer science and cultural studies.[4]
In the 2nd century BC, many of theBoii tribe were pushed north across the Alps out of northern Italy by the Romans. They established a new capital calledBoiodurum by the Romans (fromGaulishBoioduron), now within the Innstadt district of Passau.[5]
Passau was anancient Roman colony calledBatavis, Latin for "for theBatavi". TheBatavi were an ancient Germanic tribe from area of the Rhine delta who frequently served in the Roman army as auxiliary troops.Batavis (Passau-Altstadt) was a Romancastrum in the province ofRaetia, while another late Roman castrum,Boiotro (Passau-Innstadt), was in the province ofNoricum.
During theRenaissance andearly modern period, Passau was one of the most prolific centres of sword and bladed weapon manufacture in Germany (afterSolingen). Passau smiths stamped their blades with the Passau wolf, usually a rather simplified rendering of the wolf on the city's coat-of-arms. Superstitious warriors believed that the Passau wolf conferred invulnerability on the blade's bearer, and thus Passau swords acquired a great premium. According to theDonau-Zeitung, aside from the wolf, some cabalistic signs and inscriptions were added.[8] As a result, the whole practice of placing magical charms on swords to protect the wearers came to be known for a time as "Passau art".[9] Other cities' smiths, including those of Solingen, recognized the marketing value of the Passau wolf and adopted it for themselves. By the 17th century, Solingen was producing more wolf-stamped blades than Passau was.
In 1662, a devastating fire consumed most of the city. Passau was subsequently rebuilt in the Baroque style.
Passau was secularised and divided between theElectorate of Bavaria and theElectorate of Salzburg in 1803. The portion belonging to Salzburg became part of Bavaria in 1805.
Passau 1892
From 1892 until 1894,Adolf Hitler and his family lived in Passau.[10] The city archives mention Hitler being in Passau on four occasions in the 1920s for speeches. In addition,Heinrich Himmler spent some time there.
In November 1933, the building ofNibelungenhalle (Hall of the Nibelungs) was announced. Intended to hold 8,000 to 10,000 guests, and another 30,000 in front of it, in 1935 the hall also became quarters for a unit of theAustrian Legion.[11] Beginning in 1934, these troops had occupied a building that belonged to Sigmund Mandl, a Jewish merchant. That building, in turn, was referred to asSA barracks.[12]
During World War II, the city also housed three sub-camps of the infamousMauthausen-Gusen concentration camp: Passau I (Oberilzmühle),[14] Passau II (Waldwerke Passau-Ilzstadt) and Passau III (Jandelsbrunn). From January to May 1945, refugees fromEast Prussia andSilesia passed the city, after May, as the result ofethnic cleansing of neighbouringBohemia andMoravia of their German populace, further waves of refugees arrived in the city.[15]
On 3 May 1945 a message from Major GeneralStanley Eric Reinhart’s 261st Infantry Regiment stated at 3:15 am: "AMG Officer has unconditional surrender of PASSAU signed by Burgermeister, Chief of Police and Lt. Col of Med Corps there. All troops are to turn themselves in this morning."
High-water scale 1501–2024 at Passau as of September 2, 2024
On 2 June 2013, the old town suffered fromsevere flooding as a result of several days of rain and its location at the confluence of three rivers.[16] Peak elevations offloods as early as 1501 are displayed on a wall at the Old City Hall.[17] Flood water reaches the base of that wall on average once every 5 years.[17]: 19
Until 2013, the City of Passau was subdivided into eight statistical districts, which in general coincided with formerly separate municipalities. Since 2013, the city is divided in 16 so-called areas of open council (German:Bürgerversammlungsgebiete).
Many river cruises down the Danube start at Passau and there is a cycling path all the way down toVienna. It is on a designated heritage route, theRoute of Emperors and Kings [de].[18]
Passau is notable for itsgothic andbaroque architecture. The city is dominated by theVeste Oberhaus and the Veste Niederhaus, both parts of the former fortress of the Bishop, on the mountain crest between the Danube and the Ilz.
Tourism in Passau focuses mainly on the three rivers,St. Stephen's Cathedral (German:Der Passauer Stephansdom) and the "Old City" (Die Altstadt).
With 17,774 pipes and 233 registers,[19] the organ at St. Stephen's was long held to be the largest church pipe organ in the world and is today second in size only to the organ atFirst Congregational Church of Los Angeles, which was expanded in 1994. Organ concerts are held daily between May and September. St. Stephen's is a true masterpiece ofItalian Baroque, built by Italian architectCarlo Lurago and decorated in part byCarpoforo Tencalla.
Among many other churches are theJesuit church ofSt. Michael, the oldest parish church of St. Paul and the pilgrim church Mariahilf on the hill south of the rivers Inn and Danube.
Before the cathedral is a large square (Domplatz) with the Lamberg-Palais, where thePeace of Passau was concluded.The medieval Old Residence south of the cathedral and the baroque New Residence further west at Residenzplatz were the palaces of the Prince-Bishops within the city. Right beside the 14th century Gothic city hall with its neo-Gothic tower and the big 19th-century formerHauptzollamtsgebäude (Main Customs Office) at the Danube is theScharfrichterhaus, an important jazz and cabaret stage on which political cabaret is performed.
Due to its location on the German–Austrian border, and in the south-east of the country, Passau has become a major migrant entry point into Germany.Refugees andeconomic migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa who have reached Europe, often entering either overland via Greece or across the sea via theMediterranean (seeOperation Triton), then head north and sometimes enter Germany. In 2015 theBBC reported that traffickers drive migrants and refugees through Austria and leave them on the side of theautobahn. The migrants and refugees then often walk unaccompanied into Passau, the first German town northwards. This situation has caused the government of Passau to divert funds from flood prevention to housing and feeding the refugees and migrants, around 10% of whom are unaccompanied children.[20]
The nearest airport isLinz Airport which is located 104 km (65 mi) south east of Passau. However, the airport only provides flights to limited destinations. Generally, residents would useMunich Airport as it provides more domestic and international flights. The airport is located 158 km (98 mi) south west of Passau and it is easily reached by car, bus and train.
^abEychaner, James H. (2015).Lessons from a 500-year record of flood elevations(PDF) (Report) (Technical Report 7 ed.). Madison, Wisconsin: Association of State Floodplain Managers. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 27 June 2015. Retrieved28 September 2018.
