Christmas Market Cruising – Passau, Germany

As we slowly made our way down the Danube, edging closer to Vienna, our last stop in Germany was the tow of Passau.

St. Stephan’s Cathedral

Passau is the home to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. St. Stephen’s is the mother church of the Danube East. While there is a market in Passau, our main reason for visiting was to attend an organ concert in the cathedral. 

The organ is the largest in Europe. There are five parts to the instrument, each placed in different areas of the church: front, back and sides. Because there are five different organs that make up the instrument in the cathedral, the sound is spectacular. I’ve heard a great deal of organ music throughout my lifetime and nothing compared to this. It was beautiful.

The ambo at the front of the sanctuary reminded me of something out of Harry Potter – it was gorgeous. I can just imagine sitting and listening to the mass readings as someone stands behind this beautifully carved structure.

Gingerbread Making

From the organ concert we went to a gingerbread making demonstration at Cafe Simon. 

We learned there are actually very few ingredients in gingerbread – the sweetness comes from honey or molasses. 

We also saw a woman make an advent wreath using floral wire and evergreen.  I had never thought about making one using wire.  She also showed us how to heat up the end of a nail so the nail could be placed into the bottom of the candle and then stuck inside the wreath.

Passau was a wonderful treasure to fill out our time in Germany. As we continued our journey toward Vienna, we would leave Germany behind and enter the picturesque villages of Austria.

See my additional posts on Nuremberg, Regensburg, Salzburg, Melk Abbey and Vienna!