The Trip That Keeps Growing: Danube River Christmas Market Cruise

11 December Passau

Passau, just across the Austrian border in Germany, is located at the confluence of the Inn, Ilz, and Danube Rivers, where it got its nickname Dreiflussestadt (City on Three Rivers). The smallest of these rivers, the Ilz, which is not much more than a small mountain stream and is black in color, flows into the Danube from the left (looking downstream toward Vienna). Just a little below the Ilz, the Inn, originating in the Alps by Salzburg, flows into the Danube on the right and is green in color. Surprisingly, while the Danube River is the second longest European River (after the Volga), it is not the largest of the three rivers in Passau – the Inn River has more water flow than the Danube (in fact the more powerful stream of Inn River’s green water pushes aside the blue water of the Danube). Once these three rivers are combined, they are called the Danube as it is the longest of the three.

The first mention of Passau was as a Celtic settlement called Bojodurum, that later became the site of a Roman camp (Camp Batava), and finally became an Episcopal see (the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction) in 739 AD. The city was further developed by the bishop of Passau, who made Passau the royal residence and capital of the largest Danube diocese. Finally. in 1217, the bishops became princes of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled Passau until 1803. The city was heavily damaged by fires in 1662 and 1608, and the rebuilding gave the town its Baroque character you see today. Its location at the junction of three rivers made Passau an important medieval trade and shipping center. Salt, via the Inn River, was one of its most important commodities.

It was a beautiful morning as we sailed into Passau. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and you could see where they had recently had a little snowfall. After breakfast, we departed on a walking tour of this beautiful city with our guide Stefan. Just on the other side of the Danube from where our ship was docked is the is the Veste Oberhaus Fortress (Upper Fortress), built by the Bishops of Passau, who were independent of the Roman emperor, and as such had amassed a great deal of wealth and power. The date that you see in the picture of the Fortress was the date it was constructed – 1499. While the second number is not a character used in our numeric system, it is a “4” as that is how they wrote it back then – it is half of an eight.

From the dock we walked toward the Old Town of Passau. Our first stop was to the Rathaus (Old Town Hall) dating back to 1298. The paintings on the front side of the building are of Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian and four Flag bearers of Kursachsen, Kurtrier, Kurkoln, and the Duchy of Bavaria (four of the highest-ranking electors or princes of the Holy Roman Empire). The Town Hall tower stands 124 feet high and was added to the building in the late 1800s. Along the front side of the tower is a chart showing water levels of the flooding that has occurred over the years.

Next to the Rathaus was the Executioner’s House which was built around 1200. Today it is a jazz and cabaret stage.

From here, we walked up narrow streets to the Bishop’s Residence, the former home of the prince bishops, which was built on a square that once contained the city’s big warehouses. In 1662 and 1680, the town was destroyed by fires. During the reconstruction to restore the Old Town, a new Bishop’s Residence and St. Stephen’s Cathedral were built. There is actually an enclosed walkway between the Residence and the church for the Bishop to use. The square is one of Europe’s most beautiful baroque squares and is lined with pastel-colored buildings. As most people could not read, the colored buildings acted as house addresses. In the center of the courtyard is a beautiful fountain – the Wittelsback Fountain. There is a statue of Mary in the middle with three angels at her feet that symbolize the three rivers of Passau. The angel with ears of wheat in her hair is the Danube, the angel with pearls is the Ilz, and the angel wearing a Tyrolean hat is the Inn.

Originally built in the Gothic style in the 17^th century, the cathedral received a make-over and is now Baroque in appearance. Perhaps its most striking feature, aside from its organ, is its octagonal dome that sits over the intersection of the nave (where the congregation sits) and the transept (which runs perpendicular to it).

While the Cathedral holds the title as having the largest organ in Europe, the organ is actually a system of five organs which are connected to a key desk in the western loft of the church with 75 miles of wiring. While each organ can be played individually, when connected and played as one, they have 17,774 pipes, 4,000 settings, and 231 stops, thus becoming Europe’s largest organ. The main organ, built in 1733 sits above the main entrance, while the other four are located in the choir area, the western gallery (2 organs), and the smallest in the nave. The smallest organ is known as an “echo organ,” whose notes are sounded through ceiling holes known as the “Holy Ghost Opening.”

It was a Sunday morning when we were in Passau and there were services going on inside St. Stephen’s so we did not go in. Instead, we enjoyed the Christmas market that was in front of the church. It was not as large as others we had seen. However, while they did not have a white wine glühwein, they did have a glühwein made with hot spiced pineapple juice that was delicious. One of the more unique booths I saw was one where they were smoking salmon.