Germany - Passau, Dom St. Stephan

The Dom St. Stephan (St. Stephen’s Cathedral) in Passau is located on the highest point of the old city between the rivers Inn and Danube. Other churches have stood on this place: already around the year 450 a church in the ancient city of Batavis is testified. The bishop's church was first mentioned in a document in 730 and has been the cathedral of the diocese since 739. A previous gothic church building was largely destroyed by a devastating town fire in 1662.

The present cathedral has baroque architecture and was built between 1668 and 1698 by the famous Italian architect Carlo Lurago. The elaborate stucco works and wonderful frescos in the interior were done by other Italian artists. The beautifully gilded pulpit dates from 1726 and was made in Vienna. Between 1947 and 1953 a new high altar for the cathedral was created; like the ceiling fresco it depicts the stoning and the vision of St. Stephen.

The Cathedral - one of the largest north of the Alps - is 102 meters long and 33.5 meters wide; the dome reaches a height of 69 meters. The octagonal upper parts of the two towers - 68 meters high - date from as far back as 1896.

The Dom St. Stephan has one of the largest organs in the world. From 1924 to 1928 a large organ was built, which was rebuilt and extended at the end of the 20th century. The organ currently has 17.974 pipes and 233 registers; the largest organ pipe is 11 meters high and the smallest 6 millimeters.