For Your Consideration: Passau
Although Passau is technically a city in Lower Bavaria, it might as well be in Austria. The border runs through or near the Danube, and the Danube runs through the Passau. It’s also an exceptionally welcoming place, which is very Austrian too. Although it has much to offer, the main thing that brings tourists to the city are river cruises. The good thing about cruising tourists is that they run on a strict schedule, so lunch tables are probably a pain to book, but dinner should be fine.
Passau University students make up about a quarter of the city’s population, and almost everywhere you get a university, you get English-speakers. The Danube, the Inn, and Ilz all come together at Passau, which is why it’s known as the City of Three Rivers. That makes it the Pittsburgh of Germany but with a better baseball team.
Every German city worth its salt has a cathedral. And since Passau’s main trade was salt in the ancient days, its cathedral, St. Stephens is a good one. It known for its magnificent pipe organ, the largest in the world. I’m sure Chevy Chase would have a joke for that, but I don’t.
I know what you’ve been thinking. Europe is too expensive. I could never live there. According to Numbeo, rent is 52% less than Atlanta, a good dinner is 36% less, and a decent bottle of wine is 65% less. Think of that next time you see a $30 burger on the dinner menu. You’d expect the quality of life to be low, but Passau scores quite high on that with great arts and culture and low crime.
The city has a vibrant dining scene with local producers at its heart. Dairy is particularly strong, so there’s a good cheese culture, but the area doesn’t have much of a wine scene. As you might expect from Bavaria, it’s got the beer thing going on, though.
It' also has one of the best old town sections in the region. Lots of flaneuring to be had in Passau. All in all, it has a lot in common with other German college towns like Heidelberg or Freiberg, but is much more laid back and costs less.
The downside is that it’s not easily accessible. The closest major airport, Munich, is two and a half hours away. Passau is not a major hub on the train system either, so it’s not a great location to explore the continent from.
So lets take a look at the numbers:
Overall score: 3.72
An aside
I’ve eschewed politics and the more dreadful parts of history here because lately politics brings much anger, despair, and little hope. But just because I don’t write about the worst aspects of Germany history doesn’t mean I’m not aware of them. If you are in Germany, you can’t help but be aware. As a nation, Germany does not look away from its Nazi past. I encountered mournful markers of what this country did under the Third Reich in most towns I’ve passed through. To travel through Germany is to see a country continue to confront its own crimes. But the atrocities of Passau are worse than the other places I’ve looked at so far in my survey. Three subcamps of the Mauthausen concentration camp were located in this city. Visiting Passau, or living there, involves being face-to-face with that history. For me, Passau’s history would overwhelm the blinders I wear to make it through this world. This is not a stance based on some sort of moral high ground. I don’t pretend to be that pure. Passau simply wouldn’t let me look away. But I think Passau would be a very fine place to live.
Song of the Week
Let me not cast aspersions on Green Onions. It was my ringtone for years—it is a perfect cut. Flawless.
But Steve Cropper’s run at Stax is stacked and I thought I’d surface another perfect cut, written by Cropper and his pal Eddie Floyd one dark and stormy night at the Lorraine Motel. Yeah, that one. I like thinking of these two legends, one White, one Black, young friends working together, crafting this timeless song together and laughing.
How stormy was it? It was like thunder. Lightning. It was frightening.
They wrote it for Otis Redding, but Stax boss Jim Stewart didn’t think it was a good fit and Floyd recorded it instead. Stewart was wrong and Redding recorded it later. But Floyd’s version is still the best.