Passau (district)

Archaeological findings prove that the area was settled more than 7000 years ago. The city of Passau's name in Roman times was Batava (also known as Batavia). 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 the Baroque style. Massive cathedrals such as the St. Stephan's Dom (Dom means "cathedral" in German) survive and impress visitors from all over the world. St. Stephan's Dom houses the world's largest church organ outside the United States. In 1971 the Passau district was created by merging the previous districts, Wegscheid, Vilshofen, Griesbach (Rottal), and parts of the districts of Pfarrkirchen and Eggenfelden. ==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 meters tall. 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==