Janice Cruises Europe 2017

Did You Know? - Passau (German pronunciation: [ˈpasaʊ]' Bavarian: Båssa) 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 50,000 of whom about 12,000 are students at the local University of Passau. It is renowned in Germany for its institutes of economics, law, theology, computer science and cultural studies.

Did You Know? - Veste Oberhaus is a fortress that was founded in 1219 and, for most of its time, served as the stronghold of the Bishop of Passau, Germany. It is currently the site of a museum, a youth hostel, and a restaurant, as well as an open-air theatre dating to 1934.

The location of the fortress is the St. Georgsberg mountain, 105 metres (344 ft) above the valley floor between the Danube and the Ilz.

The fortress is located on the mountain crest (St. Georgsberg) on the left side of the Danube between it and the Ilz, and dominates the old city of Passau, which it faces across the Danube. Below Oberhaus on the promontory between the two rivers is Veste Niederhaus, part of the fortress system.

Did You Know? - The Passau Glass Museum is the world's largest glass museum dedicated to Bohemian glass. It is located on the town hall square in the historic patrician house "Wilder Mann" in the old town of Passau . It was opened in 1985 when Ehrengast was present, the US astronaut Neil Armstrong. It is registered in the list "National treasures of cultural interest".

The collection includes over 30,000 glasses of the famous "Bohemian Glass", of which 13,000 are exhibited. The glass history is documented in 25 rooms from 1650 to 1950. The exhibits include Baroque , Empire , Biedermeier , Classicism , Historicism , Art Nouveau , Art Deco and Modernism.

Did You Know? - On June 2, 2013 the old town suffered from severe flooding as a result of several days of rain and its location at the confluence of three rivers Peak elevations of floods as early as 1501 are displayed on a wall at the Old City Hall. Flood water reaches the base of that wall on average once every 5 years.

Did You Know? - The town hall is located in the Old Town of Passau at the Rathausplatz, near the river Danube . The Passau town hall complex consists of three buildings on the Rathausplatz: the Old Town Hall , the New Town Hall and the Old Town Square.

The 38-meter-high tower was added from 1889 to 1892 by Heinrich Freiherr von Schmidt as a substitute for the predecession demolished in 1811. Originally, the tower had a roof rack, which was removed in 1938 due to dilapidation. After two devastating floods at the end of the 19th century, high water markers were introduced at the Rathausturm, which were supplemented by other historical floodwaters, which were preserved in the urban area, before 1890 - partly flawed. The defective marks are corrected in larger time intervals if necessary. In 1991 an automatic bell play with 23 bells was installed in the tower, which can be played as Carillon since 2007.

Did You Know? - St. Stephen's Cathedral (German: Dom St. Stephan) is a baroque church from 1688 in Passau, Germany, dedicated to Saint Stephen. It is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Passau and the main church of his diocese.
Since 730, there have been many churches built on the site of the current cathedral. The current church, a baroque building around 100 meters (328 ft) long, was built from 1668 to 1693 after a fire in 1662 destroyed its predecessor, of which only the late Gothic eastern side remains. The cathedral's overall plan was made by Carlo Lurago, its interior decoration by Giovanni Battista Carlone, and its frescoes by Carpoforo Tencalla.

Did You Know? - The cathedral has eight large bells in the bell rooms in the north and south towers. The heaviest,"Pummerin" at 7550 kg cast in 1952 and "Sturmerin" weighing 5300 kg cast in 1733 hang in the south tower. The other six bells hang in the north tower. They include: "Misericordia" weighing 6000 kg, the Angelus bell, "Predigerin", "Elfuhrglocken", the Choir bell, and "Dignitar". A ninth bell, the "Zeichenglocke" hangs near the sacristy door.

Did You Know? - The organs at this cathedral have continually been added to over the years. The "organ" is really several separate organs of different tonal styles all accessible from one or more consoles. Likewise, the organs of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, California, USA have grown over the years and play from twin consoles; together, the two organs have 346 ranks and over 20,000 pipes. By contrast, the Cadet Chapel Organ of the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York is a single organ. It has also been added to continuously over the years and is larger still with more than 23,500 pipes. It plays from a single console.

Did You Know? - Over time, the Passau Cathedral has acquired the largest organ outside of the United States. It is also the largest cathedral organ in the world. The organ currently has 17,774 pipes and 233 registers, all of which can be played with the five-manual general console in the gallery. Portions of the organ have their own mechanical-action or electric-action consoles, for a total of six consoles.