Passau

Donaulände and Old town

Coat of arms

Passau

Coordinates: 48°34′0″N 13°28′0″E / 48.56667°N 13.46667°ECoordinates: 48°34′0″N 13°28′0″E / 48.56667°N 13.46667°E

Country

Government

• Lord Mayor

Jürgen Dupper (SPD)

Area

• Total

69.58 km² (26.86 sq mi)

Population (2015-12-31)

• Total

50,566

• Density

730/km² (1,900/sq mi)

CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)

94001–94036

0851

Website

Passau (German pronunciation: [ˈpasaʊ]) is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north.

Passau's population is 50,415, of whom about 11,000 are students at the local University of Passau. The university, founded in the late 1970s, is the extension of the Institute for Catholic Studies (Katholisch-Theologische Fakultät) founded in 1622. It is renowned in Germany for its institutes of economics, law, theology, computer science and Cultural Studies.

In the 2nd century BC, many of the Boii tribe were pushed north across the Alps out of northern Italy by the Romans. They established a new capital called Boiodurum by the Romans (from Gaulish Boioduron), now within the Innstadt district of Passau.

Passau was an ancient Roman colony of ancient Noricum called Batavis, Latin for "for the Batavi." The Batavi were an ancient Germanic tribe often mentioned by classical authors, and they were regularly associated with the Suebian marauders, the Heruli.

During the second half of the 5th century, St. Severinus established a monastery here. In 739, an English monk called Boniface founded the diocese of Passau, which for many years was the largest diocese of the German Kingdom/Holy Roman Empire, covering territory in southern Bavaria and most of what is now Upper and Lower Austria. From the 10th century the the bishops of Passau also exercised secular authority as Prince-Bishops in the immediate area around Passau (see Prince-Bishopric of Passau ()).

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Wikipedia