Tourist attractions
The one of a kind three-river-city Passau offers a wide number of different tourist attractions and it worth visiting at any time of the year. Make your stay in Passau an unforgettable experience by booking a tour with an insider like the “Passauer Stadtfuchs”. Various possibilities to design day-tours are at your disposal, like a cruise on the river Danube and Inn called “Donauschifffahrt” or a visit of the national reserve “Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald”. Moreover, a visit of the theatre “Stadttheaters” or the festival “Festspiele Europäische Wochen” or the “Museum Moderner Kunst” provides beautiful cultural pastimes. Information about events in Passau can be found here: “Events calendar”.
“Veste Oberhaus”
The construction of the “Veste Oberhaus” on the mountain St. George, 105 meters above the valley, started in 1912 at the desire of Passau’s prince-archbishop Urlich II. In the course of many centuries the castle was enlarged and had to withstand several failed besiegements. One of Europe’s mightiest constructions arose with around 65.000 square meters. The castle was used as a state prison and military institution for almost one century. Since 1932 the building is owned by the city Passau. A museum with precious both historical art and cultural collections was established in the castle. In 1962 structural measures enforced as well the restoration of the baroque façade design. Today the head of Passau’s famous figure of fun, called “Tölpel”, can be found there.
Cathedral organ – the biggest organ in the WORLD
The origin of the five organs can be traced back to 1688 and were rebuilt in the following years. Die biggest organ pipe in the St. Stephan cathedral weighs 306 kilos and is more than 11 meters long. Nowadays a total of 17.774 pipes and 233 registers in five organs are available to be played. This makes Passau’s cathedral jointly the biggest organ of Europe and the biggest papist church organ worldwide.
Passau’s St. Stephan cathedral
The baroque St. Stephan cathedral of Passau was rebuilt from 1668 until 1693. After a fire in 1662 only the late Gothic eastern wing of the former building could be preserved. Carlo Lurago planned the cathedral, its interior design carried out by Giovanni Battista and Carpoforco Tencalla painted the frescos. One of the biggest cathedrals with the largest baroque church interior north of the Alps is located 13 meters above the Danube and 303 meters above sea level, on the highest elevation of Passau’s historic city. For further information please refer to the following homepage: http://www.bistum- passau.de/statisch/dom.html
Danube boat trip
Passau’s uniqueness with its three rivers Danube, Inn and Ilz offers an ideal possibility to spend a few beautiful hours on the water. It is not for nothing that Passau is frequently called “German Venice”. If you fell like exploring Passau by water, how the crusaders and former salt carriers did in the past, a boat trip would be just the ticket for you. Everything you might want to know can be found here.