Passau

After breakfast this AM, we had a guest speaker that told us of the German Christmas traditions. Afterward, we went on a walking tour with a local guide. Passau is known as the city of three rivers. The Inn & the Ills rivers join the Danube at Passau.

In the 2nd century BC, many of the Boii tribe were pushed north across the Alps out of northern Italy by the Romans. Passau was an ancient Roman colony of ancient Noricum called Batavis, Latin for "for the Batavi." The Batavi w

ere an ancient Germanic tribe often mentioned by classical authors. During the second half of the 5th century, St. Severinus established a monastery here. In 739, an English Celtic monk called Boniface founded the diocese of Passau and this was the larges diocese of the Holy Roman Empire for many years. During the Renaissance and early modern period, Passau was one of the most prolific centers of sword and bladed weapon manufacture in Germany. Passau smiths stamped their blades with the Passau wolf, usually a rather simplified rendering of the wolf on the city's coat of arms. Superstitious warriors believed that the Passau wolf conferred invulnerability on the blade's bearer, and thus Passau swords acquired a great premium. As a result, the whole practice of placing magical charms on swords to protect the wearers came to be known for a time as "Passau art". Other cities' smit

hs, including those of Solingen, recognized the marketing value of the Passau wolf and adopted it for themselves. By the 17th century, Solingen was producing more wolf-stamped blades than Passau. In 1662, a devastating fire consumed most of the city. Passau was subsequently rebuilt in the Baroque style. From 1892 until 1894, Adolf Hitler and his family lived in Passau. The city archives mention Hitler being in Passau on four different occasions in the 1920s for speeches.

After our walking tour, Maxie, Tracy, Mom & I went exploring on our own. Here is what we found for lunch.

We sailed and docked for the night at Aschach.