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The Cathedrals Of Europe

A work in progress, enabled by Viking River Cruises

By CHRIS OWEN

December 10^th, 2014

St Stephen’s Cathedral in Passau, Germany begins our photo storybook all about the great cathedrals of Europe, as seen with Viking River Cruises

St Stephen’s Cathedral is a baroque church from 1688 in Passau, Germany, dedicated to Saint Stephen and the main church in the diocese of the Catholic Bishop of Passau. The current church is 328 ft long and was built from 1668 to 1693 after a fire in 1662 destroyed it.

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven discovered the totality of his deafness when he saw birds flying out of the bell tower as a result of the bells‘ tolling but could not hear the bells. St. Stephen‘s Cathedral has 23 bells in total.

The main part of the church contains 18 altars, with more in the various chapels.

During World War II, the cathedral was spared from destruction at the hands of retreating German forces when Captain Gerhard Klinkicht disregarded orders from the city commandant to “fire a hundred shells and leave it in just debris and ashes.

St Stephen’s Passau Cathedral houses the largest organ outside of the United States. Also the largest cathedral organ in the world, the organ has 17,774 pipes and 233 registers, all of which can be played with the five-manual general console in the gallery.