Passau

Another small town with a claim to fame. Two, actually. For many yearn, in the early days of the Hapsburgs, Passau was the seat of the most influential bishopric in the RC church, and the bishops were really princes, effectively governing huge areas of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Today, Passau is better known as the home of Europe's largest organ. This behemoth is actuary 5 organs arranged in different parts of the Dom (cathedral), but can be played together from a single keyboard. The cathedral is excessively Baroque, meaning that the builders subscribed to the practice of "leave no surface undecorated" except in this case the structural columns.

We were able to attend a recital in the cathedral. At some points in the music, you could feel the rumble of the bass notes through the entire structure.