April 8, 2018 ~ Passau, the City of Three Rivers

April 8, 2018 ~ Passau, the City of Three Rivers

We floated down the Danube to Passau.  As we approached the city and tied up at our dock, I was once again captivated by the reflection of these houses along the river.

Passau is located at the confluence of the Inn, Danube, and Ilz Rivers and is the last major German city on the Danube.  Tomorrow, we will be in Austria!  It was originally settled by the Celts who called the city Bojodurum.  Later it was the site of a Roman fort, Castra Batava.  An English Celtic monk, Boniface, founded the diocese of Passau which was the largest of the Holy Roman Empire for many years.

Passau was an important medieval center for the salt trade.  Salt was called "white gold" and was transported from the salt mines of the Alps to Passau where it was processed by the Salzfertiger.

The city of Passau was destroyed by fire in the 17th century and was rebuilt in the baroque style.

We met our guide, Jean-Marie, and began our tour of this charming and beautiful town.

We visited the local parish church, St. Paul's.  The first St. Paul's was built about 1050, but fires in 1512 and 1662 led to the construction of the current church, seen below, in 1678

St. Paul's Church

St. Paul's with the Dom in the background

The interior of the church is black and gold with a sparkling white stucco ceiling.  I truly did not expect such opulence in a parish church, but have come to understand that this was the norm in the baroque period.  Both Jeff and I have marveled at the cost of first building these churches and then maintaining them over the centuries.  Our Quaker/Methodist sensibilities are sorely challenged when we view church buildings that cost 1.5 million guilders (back then) when a worker, putting in 60-80 hours per week to construct them was earning less than 1 guilder!

Altar Flowers

The Altar

Organ in the balcony

The First Holy Communion Class for 2018

The beheading of St. Paul

The bright white ceiling contrasted with the shiny black and gold decorations - truly a magnificent church.

From there, our guide took us on a meandering walk through Passau, passing residences and shops along the way.  Again, everywhere we looked were flowers and all the signs of Easter and spring.  The sun was warm and bright, and we both were happy to be able to experience such beauty in our world.

I love the old doors and have begun to snap pictures here and there when one particularly captures my fancy.  The picture on the right is of a window with a photograph of that same window under the water of the Danube.  Several building have marked where different floods have left their marks (see photos below).

High water markings on this corner building

Love these window boxes

Veste Oberhaus, a Fortress overlooking the city of Passau

Veste Oberhaus, a fortress on the left side of the Danube, lies opposite the town of Passau.  It was founded in 1219 and was the castle and residence of the prince bishop of Passau.  There is a large inscription 1499 on the facade, but the castle continued to be constructed until as late as 1800.

The town hall (Rathaus) and clock tower.  You can see the yellow trimmed glass museum to the right of the clock tower.

Hotel Wilder Mann, which also houses the glass museum

Here we are in St. Stephen's Cathedral Square.  The blue building above is one of the residences associated with the Dom.

I love the portico of this building and the delicate bronze "drapery work"

The doors to the cathedral

The interior of the church was very white with gold touches everywhere.  The flowers on the main altar were magnificent!

The organ pipes are located in the rear of the church.  We stayed for mass - mostly so that we could hear the organ play.  They say that this is the largest pipe organ in the world.

Opulence - again this is the word to describe this cathedral.  Beautiful to look at; difficult to imagine in terms of the cost to maintain it.


After Mass, we returned to the square to get a bit of lunch.  We shared a plate of bratwurst and kartoffelsalat (potato salad).  I had a glass of gruner veltliner, an Austrian wine that is very light and fruity.  I enjoyed it very much.

I loved these two photos that Jeff took.  On the left is a grandfather holding his granddaughter as they looked at the fountain in the square; on the right is our waitress.  She looks so serious!

Jeff walked further downriver and got some great shots of local folks having a great time by the river and in the parks that line the river.

Statue of Emerenz Meier

It's hard to read this plaque, but here's what it says:
"If Goethe had had to prepare supper, salt the dumplings;
If Schilier had had to wash the dishes
If Heine had had to mend what he had torn, to clean the rooms, kill the bugs -
Oh, the menfolk, none of them would have become great poets.
                                                                                 (Emerenz Meier)

The innkeeper's daughter, Emerenz Meier, born 3 October 1874 at Schiefweg in the Bavarian Forest, became known beyond her regional boundaries through her narratives and poems.

In 1902/03, she was proprietress of the artist's pub "Zum Koppenjaeger" located at Passau.  For financial reasons, she followed the rest of the family to Chicago in 1906.  There she was twice married.  A son resulted from the first marriage.  The artistic work of the poetess suffered under the difficult conditions of earning her bread.  Emerenz Meier died 28 February 1928 in Chicago.


Tomorrow ... Melk and Krems