Passau

Passau (previously Latin: Batavis or Batavia) is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north.

Passau's population is 50,415, of whom about 10,000 are students at the local University of Passau. The university, founded in the late 1970s, is the extension of the Institute for Catholic Studies (Katholisch-Theologische Fakultät) founded in 1622.^[2] It is renowned in Germany for its institutes of Economics, Law, Theology, Computer Sciences and Cultural Studies.

History

In the 2nd century BC, many of the Boii tribe were pushed north across the Alps out of northern Italy by the Romans. They established a new capital called Boiodurum by the Romans, now within the Innstadt district of Passau.^[3]

Passau was an ancient Roman colony of ancient Noricum called Batavis, Latin for "for the Batavi." The Batavi were an ancient Germanic tribe often mentioned by classical authors, and they were regularly associated with the Suebian marauders, the Heruli.

During the second half of the 5th century, St. Severinus established a monastery here. In 739, an English Celtic monk called Boniface founded the diocese of Passau and this was the largest diocese of the Holy Roman Empire for many years.

In the Treaty of Passau (1552), Archduke Ferdinand I, representing Emperor Charles V, secured the agreement of the Protestant princes to submit the religious question to a diet. This led to the Peace of Augsburg in 1555.

During the Renaissance and early modern period, Passau was one of the most prolific centres of sword and bladed weapon manufacture in Germany (after Solingen). 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. 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." (See Eduard Wagner, Cut and Thrust Weapons, 1969). 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 Bavaria and Salzburg in 1803. The portion belonging to Salzburg became part of Bavaria in 1805.

From 1892 until 1894, Adolf Hitler and his family lived in Passau. The city archives mention Hitler being in Passau on 4 different occasions in the 1920s for speeches.

During World War II, the town housed three sub-camps of the infamous Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp: Passau I (Oberilzmühle), Passau II (Waldwerke Passau-Ilzstadt) and Passau III (Jandelsbrunn).

On May 3, 1945, a message from Major General Stanley 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."

It was the site of a post World War II American sector displaced persons camp.

Subdivisions

The City of Passau is subdivided into eight statistical districts, which in general coincide with formerly separate municipalities.

Main sights

Tourism in Passau focuses mainly on the three rivers, the St. Stephen's Cathedral (Der Passauer Stephansdom) and the "Old City" (Die Altstadt). With 17,774 pipes and 233 registers, 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 at First Congregational Church, Los Angeles, which was expanded in 1994. Organ concerts are held daily between May and September. St.Stephen's is a true masterpiece of Italian Baroque, built by Italian architect Carlo Lurago and decorated in part by Carpoforo Tencalla. Many river cruises down the Danube start at Passau and there is a cycling path all the way down to Vienna. It is also notable for its gothic and baroque architecture. The town is dominated by the Veste Oberhaus and the former fortress of the Bishop, on the mountain crest between the Danube and the Ilz rivers. Right beside the town hall is the Scharfrichterhaus, an important jazz and cabaret stage on which political cabaret is performed.

Twin cities

• Hackensack, NJ, USA, since 1952
• Dumfries, Scotland, UK since 1957
• Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, since 1973
• Krems an der Donau, Austria, since 1974
• Akita, Japan, since 1984
• Málaga, Spain, since 1987^[6]
• České Budějovice, Czech Republic, since 1993
• Liuzhou, People's Republic of China, since 1999
• Veszprém, Hungary, since 1999
• Montecchio Maggiore, Italy, since 2003

Notable people

• Michael Ammermüller (* 1986), a racing car driver.
• Alfred Dick (1927–2005), a Bavarian politician.
• Hans Fruhstorfer (1866–1922), explorer, insect trader and entomologist, was born in Passau.
• Albert Ganzenmüller (1905–1996), served from 1942—1945 as the state secretary of the Reich Transportation Ministry, was born in Passau.
• Adolf Hitler and his family lived in Passau for two years from 1892–1894
• Nicolaus A. Huber (* 1939), composer.
• Bruno Jonas (* 1952), a cabaret artist and actor.
• Joseph Maximilian Ritter von Maillinger (1820–1901) Bavarian General and War Minister was born in Passau.
• Gottlieb Muffat (1690–1770), organist and composer.
• Anna Rosmus (* 1960), controversial German author, Third Reich historian.
• Ludwig Schmidseder (1904–1971), composer and pianist.
• Heidi Schüller (* 1950) a West-German athlete.

See also

• University of Passau

References

External links

• Official website (German)
• Passau Wiki (German)
• Passau at Flickr
• Passau Cathedral, which is famous for its organ with 17774 pipes and 233 registers - the biggest church organ on Earth - Zoomable map and satellite overview (Google Maps).