Picturesque Bavaria takes me by pleasant surprise. Watching blue skies, crystal-clear lakes and passing through small medieval towns, I reach Passau on a rainy morning. It is the ‘town on three rivers’, located at the confluence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz.
Armed with umbrellas, my guide Sonia and I set out on a walking tour. Passau is dominated by large squares, romantic promenades, winding lanes and majestic bridges. The fine drizzle makes the distinctive ambience all the more alluring, lending the city a rare beauty. In the heart of Passau rises the iconic Cathedral of St Stephen’s, with its three characteristic green onion-domed towers. After a great fire in 1662, the Italian masters rebuilt Passau with a Baroque flair. Close to Austrian and Czech borders, it was once a Roman provincial town, later ruled by prince-bishops. It became a Bavarian city in 1803.
Sonia throws light on the architecture, the building style of the Baroque era begun in late 16th-century Italy. It took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church. The aristocracy also saw the dramatic style of baroque architecture and art as a means of impressing visitors. My knowledge thus enhanced, I am now equipped to appreciate the town better. The walk takes me to the following highlights:
The Old Town is dominated by church spires and monuments. First we enter the Jesuit church of St Michael, which dates back to 1677. Reflecting early 18th-century architecture, the simple exterior contrasts with a rich interior filled with pilasters, paintings and large statues of angels. The barrel vault is decorated with impressive stucco work, while the chapel dedicated to Francis Xavier, on the southern wall, is in early rococo style. Most notable is the high altar with a painting of the fallen angel. The side altars, pulpit and the organ casing look splendid in black and gold.
St Stephen’s Cathedral
Located at the Old Town’s highest point, it is Passau’s pièce de résistance, rebuilt after the great fire by the famous Carlo Lurago.
The cathedral consists of a Gothic choir and transept (an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform-cross shaped building in Romanesque and Gothic church architecture), while the towers and nave are Baroque. The main altar is Expressionistic (modern 1952) with the statues carved out of poplar and covered with silver foil. The scene represents the stoning of St Stephen. The golden pulpit is another highlight from the 18th century. The central cupola, flooded with light, has a depiction of the Christian heaven with God the Father seated on the throne, surrounded by the heavenly hosts. Here two angels dangle their feet out of the picture and into the room.
With 17,974 organ pipes, 233 stops and five individual organs, St Stephen’s has the largest cathedral organ in Europe. All five organ parts can be played from the main console, individually or simultaneously, making for an acoustical delight.
Bishop’s Residence
The new residence of the bishop is connected with the old residence and the cathedral. The facade has bishop’s coat of arms. The bold balcony portals, the circular balustrade, both richly decorated with cast lead figures, reliefs, and ornaments, take away the geometrical bleakness of the facade, and lend an early-Classical aura. The Diocese Treasury, a palace with an interesting staircase, has elaborate rococo lattice and a shaft-type stairwell. The magnificent ceiling painting — The Gods of Olymp worshipping the eternal town of Passau — shows some charming cherub groups.
Old Town Hall
Passau’s Gothic Rathaus (Old Town Hall), with its colourful wooden beamed ceiling, dates back to 1393. The exterior has a handsome neo-Gothic tower while the Baroque Great Assembly Room has beautiful stained glass windows depicting scenes from Passau’s history and huge paintings by Ferdinand Wagner. A smaller room has a magnificent ceiling fresco of the Danube, attended by water nymphs.
Veste Oberhaus
The fortress stands at the confluence of Ilz and Danube rivers. Curiously, its 800-year-old buildings have a modern look. Built in 1219 by Passau’s prince-bishops as residence, it has played a significant part in the city’s history. Due to several changes over the centuries, today’s castle consists of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque parts, its location above the city offering a panoramic view.
We then get into a boat and pass by the many more churches and monasteries. The raindrops on the boat’s glass windows add a strange character to the view. At the confluence, I see three distinctively coloured rivers.
That evening at the 600-year-old Heilig- Geist-Stiftsschenke, a restaurant which was once an infirmary, as I sip a fine rosé from their vineyards, everything around looks magnified in grandeur, including my grilled catfish and pine fritters with dollops of vanilla ice-cream.
TRAVEL LOG
Get there : Fly Lufthansa directly from Mumbai or Delhi to Munich. Travel by road to Passau.
Stay : Weisser Hase is a family-run fourstar hotel in the Old Town, steps away from the Danube cycle-path and river-cruise piers. The building is both historic and quaint. www.weisser-hase.de
BL ink Tip : With five breweries, Passau can be called ‘beer city’, and the Wachau monastery wine makes it a ‘wine city’ as well. Both beer and wine go perfectly together with the typical dishes of the region, from roast pork to freshwater fish
Vijaya Pratap is a Hyderabad-based travel writer and documentary filmmaker