Passau (Germany)

Passau is an old market town in Bavaria, located at the point where the Inn and Ilz rivers flow into the Danube (or Donau, in the local parlance). It's so close to the Austrian border that if you drop a handful of change in Passau town centre, not all of the coins will land in Germany.

Passau is well-connected by road and rail to Munich in Bavaria, and Linz and Salzburg in Austria. This makes it easy for tourists to reach by car from ...
...them) in 21st century Europe, Passau these days derives much of its income from tourism, especially as the terminus for Danube river cruises, as it's the furthest navigable point upriver. From here you can board a boat and motor down to Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade or even all the way to the Black Sea. Alternatively, you can do as we did and take a 1-hour, "three river" cruise which just takes in Passau and its immediate environs. It's the ... more

Passau is an old market town in Bavaria, located at the point where the Inn and Ilz rivers flow into the Danube (or Donau, in the local parlance). It's so close to the Austrian border that if you drop a handful of change in Passau town centre, not all of the coins will land in Germany.

Passau is well-connected by road and rail to Munich in Bavaria, and Linz and Salzburg in Austria. This makes it easy for tourists to reach by car from Munich airport, which is the nearest international air terminus. Language is the Bayern (Bavarian) dialect of German, although many people speak English as MTV and Hollywood get everywhere these days. The locals are on the whole polite and cheerful, and patiently listened through my attempts to speak German without laughing too much (except for one waitress who had such a fit of the giggles that she had to retire to the kitchen to compose herself while her colleague took our order - but then again that occasionally happens when I'm speaking English too, so I'm not going to read too much into it).

As there's not much call for market towns (or at least, not as many of them) in 21st century Europe, Passau these days derives much of its income from tourism, especially as the terminus for Danube river cruises, as it's the furthest navigable point upriver. From here you can board a boat and motor down to Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade or even all the way to the Black Sea. Alternatively, you can do as we did and take a 1-hour, "three river" cruise which just takes in Passau and its immediate environs. It's the best way to see much of the town, as many of the historical buildings are river-facing - in days past the Danube and Inn rivers were a far more reliable transport link than what few primitive coach roads existed at the time.

Boarding the boat on the South bank of the Danube, the first thing you notice is that just about every scrap of available land has been used to build on. The North bank of the Danube here is a steep-sided rocky hill, and yet a row of houses and a road have been built on the narrow strip of land between the rock and the river. Indeed, there are a handful of houses built on precarious-looking ledges on the hillside, and the road leading North from Passau goes through a tunnel bored through the base of the hill. The top of this hill is dominated by the Veste Oberhaus fortress (of which more later).

As the boat heads East, first the small Ilz and then the much larger Inn rivers feed into the Danube, and you can also see where the term "Blue Danube" originated: on a sunny September day like this one was, the water is a beautiful azure and very unlike the dull grey the river has become by the time it reaches Budapest. We momentarily cross the Austrian border before turning round and heading up the Inn. From here you can see the town hall, St. Peter's Dom and St.Stephen's Cathedral, all built on the triangular wedge of land between the Inn and the Danube. The very tip of this triangle is a small public park, where you can sit on the benches under the trees and watch the rivers flowing by. Neat, beautifully maintained apartment buildings line the riverbank and if it wasn't for the fact that winters here are bitterly cold, I could almost imagine myself living here (aside from minor details like finding a job and speaking the language well enough!)

Back on dry land, the town hall tells some interesting stories even before you set foot in it. The outside is decorated with an ornate fresco, depicting various local historical figures, each of whom played an important rôle in the town's history during the days of the Holy Roman Empire. Also marked on the side of the town hall is the high point of the Danube during flood years. As this was 2003, the 2002 flood was faithfully recorded on the wall. Shockingly, it seems that the 2002 floods (which devastated vast areas of central Europe) were only half as bad as two such floods in the 16th century; the 2002 flood mark is 7 feet up the wall of the town hall - those of 1501 and 1595 are closer to 15 feet!

A short distance away along a winding alleyway, the 11th century St.Stephen's Cathedral is in the style which seems very popular in Bavaria - it has three onion-domed towers (a large one at the rear and two slender ones at the front), and statues in alcoves just about anywhere you look. Inside, it's even more striking; statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary in gold, gilt archways, and more frescos. Maybe it's because I'm an atheist from a mostly-Protestant country, but I'm always surprised at just how ornate Catholic churches and cathedrals are, and St.Stephen's is no exception.

At this point, someone suggested crossing the Danube and climbing up the hill to the Veste Oberhaus fortress. It sounded far too much like hard work to me - I wanted to sit on a bench under a tree and watch the rivers flowing by - but I was outvoted, and so across we went, and I'm glad we did. The Oberhaus sits in a position commanding all three river valleys, and was built at a time when relations between central European countries were a lot less cordial than they are today. It's the most decorated fortress I've ever seen, multi-coloured mortars and yet more frescos make the place look at first glance like a palace - until you notice the arrow slits, castellations and murder holes. It was difficult enough walking up the road to the fortress carrying nothing heavier than a camera, so what it must have been like as a soldier in the middle ages trying to storm the place hardly bears thinking about. Once you've reached the top though you can literally see for miles on every direction. To the East the Danube sits between heavily forested hills as it disappears into Austria. To the South, the Inn curves back on itself and also disappears over the Austrian border. To the North the Ilz flows through a narrower, rockier valley, and the town of Ilzstadt is visible on a bend in the river. To the North-East are the wooded hills that mark Germany's border with the Czech Republic. And to the West are the endless rolling hills of Southern Bavaria, beyond which lie Munich and the Black Forest.

There's nothing like climbing steep hills to work up an appetite, so an early dinner back in the town centre was called for. By all accounts you've got to work hard to find a bad restaurant* in Passau, and since we were knackered by this point we decided not to put in the effort. This meant we had to settle for excellent food at reasonable prices. It's a tough life sometimes!

*naff burger chains not included

Most of the Passau's restaurants are on the main shopping streets. These are neat, clean and totally pedestrianised. Since this was only one year on from the bad floods of 2002, I was left wondering whether the clean-up had simply restored the town centre to its pre-flood state, or if the town had used the repair of the flood damage as an opportunity to improve things. I'm inclined to think it was probably the latter, as the paving in the main shopping street looked very new indeed. The shops themselves are much the same as those you can find anywhere in Western Europe - large department stores flanked by Macdonalds, overpriced mobile phones and sports shops selling Manchester United shirts. It's the only bit of the town where it's not immediately obvious what part of the world you're in, and for that reason it's the only bit that's at all disappointing.

But I can't end a review of such a lovely place on a disappointment. If you're looking for somewhere pleasant to spend a few days, or if you're fond of scenery, river cruises, good food or giggly waitresses, than Passau is the place for you. And in these days of cheap air travel and open EU borders, what's to stop you? 

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