Assessment 2 (Part 1): Summary of Country specific information (Week 12)

Passau


Passau is also known as, 'The City of three rivers' as it is the point of confluence of three rivers; the Danube, Inn and Ilz and is often considered one of the most beautiful cities in Germany (Study-in-bavaria.de, 2014). It is a historic city with both Bavarian and Italian influences such as the Old Town that was rebuilt in the 17th century after a fire by Italian baroque architects (English.passau.de, 2014). Passau therefore, offers a unique romantic townscape with a surrounding area of natural beauty, through being split by three rivers, it's many alleyways, promenades and squares combined with the mixture of Italian and Bavarian influences. 


Location

Passau boasts a great location in south-east Bavaria under two hours from Munich and the last German train station before Austria (Journeys, 2014).  It sits next to the Austrian border which can actually be crossed by foot from the city centre in around twenty minutes by cutting across the River Inn. The border with the Czech Republic is also close-by and you can even drive to Venice in under six hours, making it a prime location for travel.

Photo: http://www.khoffer.com/diario%20pages/all%20trips/germany%202007/GERM07-06/Passau.jpg


History

Passau is a very historic city and it's history began with the Celts as a settlement named Bojodurum. It then fell into the hands of the Roman Empire with the Bishops becoming princes and ruling from 1207 until 1803, despite a large number of revolts from the citizens for freedom. Throughout it's history it was an integral location in the medieval shipping and trade industries. Moreover, the Inn river gave rise to a successful salt industry and trade as well as Porcelain. Sword and knife making were also common occupations. As previously mentioned areas of the city were rebuilt in baroque style after being destroyed by fires in 1662 and 1680.  (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2013)  

 

Current Day

Nowadays, Passau has become known as the communications, culture and economic hub of South-east Bavaria. The main industry's in the area have changed significantly with time and now include; bell foundry, beer brewing, and the manufacture of clothing, bicycles, organs, and electrical engineering products. Moreover, due to lying on the Danube, Passau's tourist industry does well, with passenger river cruise ships passing through regularly. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2013)   


Sights

The majority of the sights are located in Passau's old town, such as the Bishop's residence, the gothic town hall and the museums. Downtown you can visit one of Passau's most striking and well-known attractions: the cathedral of St. Stephen, with it's famous green domes and the largest cathedral organ in the world. One of the sights that shouldn't be missed is the spectacular views of the city seen from the Veste Oberhaus castle fortress and the Maria Hilf pilgrimage church, seated high above the Old Town. (Study-in.de, 2014)
 
Other attractions in Passau include a number of churches, the theatre, town hall and the conjunction point of the three rivers; the site where the three rivers come together (English.passau.de, 2014). Nearby is the Bavarian Forest mountain range that has a National Park where you can take in beautiful scenery and see various animals such as wolves (Nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.de, 2014).
 
 

Living in Passau

The population of Passau is just over 50,000 and 10,000 of this population are students (Study-in-bavaria.de, 2014). It also offers a lower cost of living than the larger cities and is said to have one of the lowest crime rates in Germany (Study-in-bavaria.de, 2014).

Shopping
There are high-street stores in the Bahnhofstrasse as well as a shopping mall called Stadtgallerie and a range of individual shops.




Eating and Drinking

There are many restaurants in Passau that offer decent value for money. Some restaurants such as the Hacklberg Brewery offer typical Bavarian food and beer. Passau has five breweries in total. There are also a variety of bars from an Irish pub called Shamrock to a Cuban cocktail bar called Hossi's Bar.
 
Nightlife
As far as nightlife is concerned Passau has a number of clubs with Go-Danceclub appearing to be very popular amongst the student population (Study-in.de, 2014).
 

Activities

 
Sport
Passau offers the opportunity to undertake a great choice of sports. With hills nearby it is possible to go hiking, skiing or snowboarding (Study-in.de, 2014) and both the Danube valley and the Bavarian Forest National Park are perfect for walking, cycling or climbing (Study-in-bavaria.de, 2014). Furthermore, there are various gyms and fitness centres, swimming pools, areas of lakes you can swim in, a skate park and you can even hire canoes from the nearby village of Neuhaus. There are also designated walking, running and cycle routes throughout the city and surrounding area that are available to view online (meinestadt.de, 2014) as well as the well-known Danube Bike trail that stretches from Passau to Vienna and takes around seven days to complete. 
 

Walking Photo:http://www.guide-to-bavaria.com/UserFiles/image/Ostbayern/Niederbayern_Donau_Inn/Aktiv/passauer_land_wandern.jpg
Cycling photo: http://www.hotelcapri.at/image/medium/en/summer-vienna.jpg


Tours
There are a number of tours to take part in in Passau from walking or cycle tours, guided city tours, Canoe tours and River boat tours to cruises. There are three different river boats to choose from; The Danube Riverboat which offers the choice of three different tours, the Danube Ark which also provides food and entertainment during the tour and the Inn Riverboat Trip which offers beautiful landscapes and nature (English.passau.de, 2014).
 
 
Photo: http://www.donauschiffahrt.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Flotte_Wurm_Koeck_Passau.jpg
 
Events 
Throughout the year there is a range of events that take place in Passau from cultural to sporting and musical. There is a large hall called the Dreilaenderhalle that holds concerts, exhibitions, sporting and other events. Some of the most popular and well-known events include; the “Passauer Saiten” which is an international guitar festival that takes place in March, organ concerts held from May to October at St. Stephen's Cathedral, “PassauJazzFest” in July and August, “Passauer Tanztagen" dance festival in October and November and the International Film festival in November (Study-in.de, 2014). Another popular festival takes place just over the border in Austria in May, and is called the Maypole festival. Many buses leave from Passau in order to see men tarring their feet and hands and climbing a tall pole without harnesses (Trip Factory, 2014). Passau like most other German cities also hosts its biannual Volksfest known in Passau as "Passauer Dulten" for around ten days from the end of April to beginning of May (Maidult) and again around September time (Passauer-dult.de, 2014). During these festivals huge beer tents are put up with long beer banks that provide beer, food and live music, there are also rollercoasters and rides and a large variety of food stands.

 
Maypole photo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/05/02/Interactivity/Images/Austria_May_Day_0cfc7.jpg
Festival photo:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Maidult_Passau_2007.jpg
 

Getting Around

Most places in the city centre are easily reached by foot as it is quite compact. The city also has a bus network run by CityBus that costs €1.50 a trip or €3 for a day ticket and that also links the main train station (Hauptbahnof) to the city centre costing €0.80. The Student Card provided by the University of Passau doubles up as a semester bus pass on VPB buses, providing free travel by bus throughout the city (Uni-passau.de, 2014). It is also possible to hire a Bike at the cost of €11 per day from the Fahrrad-Klinik or take a taxi. (Lonelyplanet.com, 2014)
 
Further Travel
Passau train station sits on the main train line that goes to Nuremberg, Regensburg, Munich and Vienna directly. You can buy a Bayern-Ticket that allows you to travel unlimited throughout Bavaria for a day at the cost of only €23 for one person or the cost can be cut further by travelling as a group (Deutsche Bahn AG, 2014). It is also located near the A3 Autobahn which links with the A92 to Munich. There are Airports in both Nuremberg and Munich but Munich offers direct flights to Edinburgh with Easyjet.
(Lonelyplanet.com, 2014)
 

 

Climate

Passau like other cities in Germany has cold winters and it often snows. Spring is often mild and Summer warm, with temperatures often reaching 30 degrees during the day in high summer.
 
 
 
 
 
 In 2013 Passau suffered the worst flooding in 500 years when its streets were turned into canals and German soldiers had to help with evacuation. The Danube rose to over 12metres causing vast damage to property and power outages (Hengst, 2013).

 
For references see reference page


 

The University of Passau

 
 
Before my classes start on the 6th of October there is a lot to do. As soon as I arrive in Passau I must gain a residence permit by visiting the Ausländerbehörde which is a registration office for foreigners who will be living in Passau. I will have to fill in various forms and provide them with my address in Passau, my passport and evidence I have Health Insurance. Before I leave I will have to return to inform the city I will be leaving.
 
The Winter semester usually begins in the first week of October. The University recommend arriving at least 2 weeks before the start of the semester and have suggested arriving on the 9th of September at the latest. Before the start of teaching are the induction weeks that students must attend which involves receiving tips, general and degree specific information, tours of the campus, city and sports centre and help to create your timetable. All these events take place on campus and will take place from the 10th September and the 5th of October 2014 (Uni-passau.de, 2014).
 
There are various tasks I have to complete straight away with regards to the University.
 
  1. The first and most important is to go to the Student Registration Office for matriculation and to register for my double-degree. They also deal with the fees although there are no tuition fees there is a student services organisation fee of € 52 per semester. They also check your qualifications and language requirements. For Matriculation they will also check if you have Health Insurance and have your residence Permit. Once I have successfully been matriculated I will receive my student ID card which is also my library card for both the University and city libraries (Uni-passau.de, 2014).
  2.  Upon arrival at the University I will need to register with the Welcome Service at University who will provide me with my IT account and a card for the Mensa cafeteria (Uni-passau.de, 2014).
  3. I also have to pay a visit to the International Office that is located on the ground floor of the Administration building to register as they provide various trips and events for International and Erasmus students. I have already joined the International Office Facebook group.
 
The University term times in Germany are very different to that of the UK. The Winter semester begins on the 6th of October 2014 and runs until the 31st January 2015 and Christmas holidays usually take place between the 22nd of December and the 6th of January. The Summer semester begins on the 13th April 2015 and finishes on the 18th July 2015. The Exam periods take place after teaching stops in both semesters and lasts between two to four weeks depending on the modules I have undertaken. The largest break is between the end of exams in the Winter Semester and the beginning of classes in the Summer Semester. There is also a few days holiday for Easter from the Thursday before Easter- Maundy Thursday to the Tuesday after Easter Sunday. (Uni-passau.de, 2014)
 
 
For References please see reference Page


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