In connection with my last post on Political Ash Wednesday, I would like to present you with Passau. It’s not only the new home for the event where politicians convene to vent out their frustrations. It has a lot of attractions for tourists to see, in a city with 50,000 inhabitants and located at two important junctions: Where the Danube, Ilz and Inn Rivers meet and where Bavaria, Austria and the Czech Republic meet. Have a look from a guest columnist’s point of view.
Passau is in Germany on the edge of Bavaria only a few miles fro Austria. The Danube is joined here by two other rivers–the Inn and the Ilz:
Our first morning was foggy and mysterious–this is on the Inn River:
Passau’s population is 50,000. It principally survives on tourism. Its claim to fame is St Stephen’s Cathedral — in and out of fog:
The bishop of this town used to run the entire region through his army. Yes, I said army. There was a period of time when the pope and his bishops were leaders of armies. This bishop ruled with an iron fist. This is a painting of the bishop and some of his cohorts:
He had a castle across the Danube which he periodically had to retreat to when the townspeople rebelled against his rule. He’d order his troops to shoot boulders and flaming arrows in the midst…
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THE FLENSBURG FILES 