During Wednesday afternoon and thru the night, the River Princess cruised the Danube towards the German border and the town of Passau. Since river boats glide along rather than speeding and it was a fair distance to our next stop, we spent the evening looking at delightful vistas on both sides, until well after sunset. We then went to bed soothed by the gentle motion of our ship. We would not arrive at Passau until early afternoon on Thursday.
The Ramblers had visited Passau twice before. On our previous Danube cruise, it was our last stop, because of low water between Passau and Regensburg. In fact, we were bussed to Passau as the Maria Theresa slowly made her way through the very shallow water and then could go no further. However, our first cruise, Christmas Markets on the Danube in 2014, ended in Passau and we then flew home from Munich. This was only a year after the 500 year flood that hit the area in 2013.
The Rhine floods on an average, every 5 years, tho most times, it is not disastrous. Passau is especially susceptible to flooding as three rivers meet within its boundaries, the black Ilz, the green Inn and of course, the blue Danube! A marker every guide points out is the flood chart painted on the wall of city hall in the historic district near the river. The 2013 flood came in just under the historic flood of 1501. As you can see, the water came up to the third story of many buildings close to the Danube,
The reason many river cruises either begin or end at Passau is because cruising that part of the Danube is both scenic and popular. As a result, the docking pontoons are usually full. Most cruises last for a week, and it takes a week to get from Budapest to Passau or the reverse, so this makes sense. Passau was a very popular destination in early July of 2019. Of course, July is a also the vacation month for many Germans and Austrians and other Europeans. Thus there was a constant stream of busses loading and unloading tourists on the plaza facing the historic district in front of the Danube while we were there.
Before we got to Passau, the River Princess made another technical stop at Englehartzell, to drop off the cruisers who were going to bicycle along the river. Not the Danube this time, but mostly along the River Inn which would also take them to Passau by a different and very scenic route. The River Princess like all Uniworld ships, has excellent bicycles available for those who want a more active tour. In this case, they would cycle for about 28 km/18 miles and eventually meet the Princess in Passau. Their guides were waiting when the ship arrived and the group was away by 9 AM.
Another small group also left at Englehartzell for a much different experience, a Bavarian Country Cooking Class. This was a fairly pricey Masterpiece Collection experience at $250 Euros a person. Being familiar with German/Austrian country cooking, the Rambler had no desire to try this one, but Jean, one of our Aussie friends, took it and enjoyed it very much. Of course it wasn’t just any cooking class, it was taught by Michelin chef Erwin at the beautiful Hofgut Hafnerleiten. Chef Erwin and his wife have created a small hotel and cooking school in the beautiful Bavarian countryside. Researching it for this blog entry, it looked like a very lovely spot.
The rest of us continued on to Passau where we would meet our guide, Elizabeth, next to the dock. We were fortunate to have her, as not only was she an excellent guide but she led us gentle walkers at a sedate pace through some beautiful places. And, at end of our tour, we learned that she was a singer and actress, and happily serenaded us with the”Sound of Music!” It was a great treat. But before that she led us through a beautiful garden, we got a look at the amazing ceiling in the Bishop’s Palace and learned alot about St. Stephens.
St. Stephen’s cathedral is a beautiful baroque edifice, famous for its magnificent organ which has 17,974 pipes. It was once the largest in the world but is still the largest in Europe and has a marvelous sound. The Ramblers had enjoyed a concert of organ music on our last visit, but no concert was scheduled that afternoon. Yet, in some ways, this was a good thing as we got to walk around and admire the interior and learn about St. Stephens construction when it was not full of people. And believe me, the concerts draw a crowd.
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Finally we regrouped outside the cathedral where Elizabeth sang for us and then bid us adieu to much applause. We gentle walkers then had a relative short downhill stroll back to the Danube and the River Princess. It is hard to get lost in the Passau historic district; if you walk downhill, you will eventually get to the river. On the way back, the Rambler stopped at Simon’s bakery one street over from the river to buy some of their amazing gingerbread to bring home.
While we were taking in historic Passau, yet another group had a much more strenuous experience; a hike to the Veste Oberhaus, a 14th century fortress that overlooks the town on the other side of the river. They would then cross back over to the historic district. Obviously not all the people on our cruise were slow movers, as quite a few opted to hike up to the fortress which must have had an amazing view. They then had a chance to explore the town as we would not set sail for Regensburg until 6 PM.
However, before ending this blog, after much thought, the Rambler felt she must add something about Passau’s dark history in the recent past. I learned about it after our second visit, and this time, there is no way I can avoid writing about it. With all the turmoil in 2020 about how to address unpleasant aspects of a country’s history, Passau has decided to simply forget about what happened there during Hitler’s Third Reich.
Passau is a lovely town and a delightful place to visit but it has ties to Hitler and his policies. As Hitler had lived in Passau as a boy, it became a pilgrimage site during the Third Reich. There were certainly quite a few Nazis living here as well as two small concentration camps nearby. When Anna Rosmus discovered and wrote about Passau under Hitler as a high school student, most of the townspeople were very angry. This was not the image of their town they wanted to display.
Rosmus went on to research and write about Passau under Hitler and published a well-received book about the period called, “Out of Passau.” For her efforts, she has been reviled and even received death threats but this has not stopped her. In 1990, her work was featured in a movie called “The Nasty Girl.” The book is readily available if you are interested. Rosmus continues to work against the Neo-Nazi movement in Germany. She is not welcomed by many in her home town.
Of course there is much more good in Passau’s past than evil, and the Bavarians’ who live there would obviously prefer it was forgotten. In truth, there is little left to see of these dark days, but should it be entirely glossed over?
This cruise will take us to at least one other city that has had to deal with its past under Hitler. Nurnberg took quite a different path. I leave it to you to decide which way is best. I expect that the only time Nazis might be mentioned in Passau today would be on a Jewish tour of the city, but not on the many tours led by guides from the various river cruise companies.
PS. Looked to see if there were any Jewish history tours of Passau; the only one I found had nothing about Passau under the Third Reich in it’s description.