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PassauGermany
Passau is a town in Niederbayern, Eastern Bavaria, Germany, known also as the Dreiflüssestadt (City of Three Rivers), because the Danube River is joined there by the Inn River from the South, and the Ilz River coming out of the Bavarian Forest to the North. Its population is 50,415, of whom about 10,000 are students at the local University of Passau. The university, founded in the late 1970s, is the extension of the (centuries old) Institute for Catholic Studies. Passau was an ancient Roman colony of ancient Noricum called Batavis, Latin for "for the Batavi". The Batavi were an ancient Germanic tribe mentioned often by classical authors, and they were regularly associated with the Suebian marauders, the Heruli. Tourism in Passau focuses mainly on the three rivers, the St. Stephen's Cathedral (Der Passauer Stephansdom) and the "Old City" (Die Altstadt). With 17,774 pipes, the organ at St. Stephen's was long held to be the largest church pipe organ in the world and is today second in size only to the organ at First Congregational Church, Los Angeles, which was expanded in 1994. Many river cruises down the Danube start at Passau and there is a cycling path all the way down to Vienna. It is also notable for its gothic and baroque architecture. The town is dominated by the Veste Oberhaus and the former fortress of the Bishop, on the mountain crest between the Danube and the Ilz rivers. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details). About Wikipedia Disclaimers Hui Chin and I went to visited Passau for many reasons and 95% of it is to do because we are devout Catholics and I was born in Hungary. Let me explain the 5% of the answer first. Passau is another city, during our trips we visit many cities, including German cities, Passau is one of them. The 95%'s explanation will take me a little longer, so please bear with me. I have already hinted at my Catholic belief and Hungarian origin, they both have major bearing on our visit. The first Hungarian King, Saint Stephan married Gisella, sister of Saint Henry, emperor of Germany. She was born in Passau and was the First Queen of Hungary. After a life of using her position for charity, she retired to the convent at Passau in modern Germany, where she died c.1095 of natural causes.
It worth mentioning here, that the party attending the Mass and Celebration for the home coming of Saint Gisella's remains to Veszprém included the College of Cardinals head and delegate, Cardinal Ratzinger, our reigning Pope Benedict XVI, who has very close association with Regensburg and Passau. (As far as I can remember, he can also speak some Hungarian. Don't quote me on this though.) Another distinguished person at the High Mass, Celebration was Otto Habsburg-Lothringen, (Also known as Archduke Otto of Austria, or Crown Prince Otto of Austria, or simply, Habsburg Ottó to Hungarians, the pretender to the Hungarian throne since the age of ten. Habsburg Ottó, who speaks perfect Hungarian, did confirm that he still a 'pretender' at this Celebrations and he is ready to be King anytime the Hungarians want him. (In 1961 Otto Habsburg-Lothringen renounced all claims to the Austrian throne and was eventually allowed to return to his home country in 1966. An early advocate of a unified Europe, he served from 1979 till 1999 as a Member of the European Parliament for the conservative Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) party. He is also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society and president of the International Paneuropean Union.) Excerpt from the Veszprém Home page: The beginning of May is a special time of the year for us who are living in Veszprém: Around the 7th May, which is the name-day of Gisela, we remember the wife of our first king, Saint Stephen, Blessed Gisela of Bavaria. Our city had been the property of the Hungarian Queens since thousand years, when King Saint Stephen had donated the town to his Queen, Gisela. Passau is a very beautiful city.
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