Passau (district)

Passau
District
Country  Germany
State Bavaria
Adm. region Niederbayern
Capital Passau
Area
 • Total 1,530.28 km2 (590.84 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2015)[1]
 • Total 188,336
 • Density 120/km2 (320/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Vehicle registration PA
Website http://www.landkreis-passau.de

Passau is a district (Kreis) in the southeast of Bavaria. It encloses the city of Passau geographically from two sides. Neighboring districts are (from the east clockwise) Rottal-Inn, Deggendorf, Freyung-Grafenau. To the south it borders Austria.

History

Archaeological findings prove that the area was settled more than 7000 years ago. In 1971 the district was created by merging the previous districts Wegscheid, Vilshofen, Griesbach (Rottal) and parts of the districts Pfarrkirchen and Eggenfelden. The city's original name was Batava (also known as Batavia) in Roman times. Passau survived three major fires, the biggest one being the all-destructive fire from 1662. After much of the city had burned down, bishops rebuilt it in Baroque style. To this day, massive cathedrals such as the St. Stephan's Dom (Dom means "cathedral" in German) stun visitors from all over the world. St. Stephan houses the world's largest church organ.

Geography

The district consists of two geographically different parts, separated by the river Danube. In the north is the southern part of the Bayrischer Wald (Bavarian Forest) mountains with hills up to 1000 meter. In the south of the Danube river the landscape is only hilly with plains between the valleys of the Inn and Ilz river.

Coat of arms

The bottom of the coat of arms show the blue-and-white checkered symbol of Bavaria. In the top part is a red wolf and a red panther. The wolf represents the abbey of Passau (Hochstift Passau), which is now the central part of the district. The panther is the symbol of the Wittelsbach family, and it represents the area of the former districts Vilshofen and Griesbach.

Towns and municipalities

Towns Verbandsgemeinden Municipalities
  1. Bad Griesbach (Rottal)
  2. Hauzenberg
  3. Pocking
  4. Vilshofen
  1. Aidenbach
  2. Rotthalmünster
  3. Tittling

Markt

  1. Aidenbach
  2. Eging am See
  3. Fürstenzell
  4. Hofkirchen
  5. Hutthurm
  6. Obernzell
  7. Ortenburg
  8. Rotthalmünster
  9. Tittling
  10. Untergriesbach
  11. Wegscheid
  12. Windorf
  1. Aicha vorm Wald
  2. Aldersbach
  3. Bad Füssing
  4. Beutelsbach
  5. Breitenberg
  6. Büchlberg
  7. Fürstenstein
  8. Haarbach
  9. Kirchham
  10. Kößlarn
  11. Malching
  12. Neuburg am Inn
  13. Neuhaus am Inn
  14. Neukirchen vorm Wald
  15. Ruderting
  16. Ruhstorf an der Rott
  17. Salzweg
  18. Sonnen
  19. Tettenweis
  20. Thyrnau
  21. Tiefenbach
  22. Witzmannsberg

References

  1. ↑ "Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes". Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung (in German). June 2016.
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Coordinates: 48°30′N 13°20′E / 48.5°N 13.33°E / 48.5; 13.33

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