Passau - nightlife info for English-speakers

Since there usually aren't actually that many native English-speakers in Passau, I probably won't get any replies.. but it'll make it to the search engines for those who are looking for a little information about it.

Passau is a town of ~50.000 people in Niederbayern, located right on the Austrian border and only 35km from the Czech republic. It is known as the 3-River-City (Drei-Flusse-Stadt) because the Danube (Die Donau), den Inn and den Ilz meet here, continuing into Austria as the Danube. It is quite touristic because of its location on the Danube (but the tourists tend to do the tourist things and leave the rest of us alone), and is one of the most picturesque cities in Europe - but I am biased. Aside from just being pretty, it also has a quite active nightlife, due to it having a 9000-student University located right in the city.

If you like pubs, there's Shamrock Irish Pub and "Prince" (yeah, the name's gay, but it's straight) and a few others in/near the Fußgängerzone. Prince is a cafe/bar with a nightclub "Sausitas" on the side. The nightclub targets students. Shamrock's good for everyone, in typical Irish-pub style. There are also a couple of student pubs around, which serve cheaper drinks. The Christian Bar in the Uni's Nikolakloster serves €1,80 half-liters and is open from 6pm, and every Tuesday and Thursday the Kapfinger Wohnheim (11 Hans-Kapfinger-Straße) turns the common room into a pub with €1.50 half-liters and long-drinks, along with free billiards, darts, and table-fußball. You'll often find me in Kapfinger or in Shamrock - you can ask after Australian Rob in Shamrock and if I'm there, come and chat.

There are two dedicated nightclubs in town - "GO" and "Plan B". GO is chinese-themed, and attracts a lot of students as well as locals from around Passau. You can spot the locals, as they're the ones the students are generally ignoring. Plan B is more modern, has 3 bars, and if you're over 30 you'll feel like a grandpa - I felt old being in my 20s.

In Innstadt (5-10 minutes walk, over the Inn river) there are a few nice pubs, restaurants, and beer gardens. "Blue Notes" is a cocktail bar with a great beergarden out the back, where you can bring/buy food and cook it yourself. It opens about 6pm in Summer.

There are in fact lots of other places to go out in Passau - far more than a town of 50,000 deserves - but I've just listed my favourites, or at least the easy-to-find ones.

Almost every student at the University can speak reasonable English, and most speak it exceptionally well. Most of the people working in the cafes/bars/clubs are students from the Uni. German's not required to enjoy Passau.

So, if anyone is in Passau (or visiting) and wants to meet up, just get in touch with me on here.. or ask after me at Shamrock on a Thursday, or Kapfinger on a Tuesday/Thursday.

I'll surprise you by replying to your post.

I'm not actually in Passau, but living in the Bavarian Forest it's my nearest "metropolis". Passau's great and well worth a visit. It definitely seems bigger than its 50,000 population, presumably because of the university, the 3 rivers, the cathedral, the fortress, and the many places where you can eat and drink well. I'm more familiar with Passau by day; I like Cafe Duft on Theresienstrasse - dark and vaulted inside but with a garden out the back for sunny days.

Admittedly I'm only here for a couple of months more at most, but if we could get a Passau & Bavarian Forest English speaking group together that would be good.

Passau's a great town; a long way from anywhere though, although some people like that. I had to double-check the population because I thought it was quite a lot larger than that, but apparantly 50,000 is right.

It's well worth a visit; you can do it in a day from Munich with a Bayern Ticket. The cathedral houses the world's largest organ, you'll be interested to learn. There's lots of info available online at Rough Guides...

I am soooo glad, I found this site. I was raised in Passau and lifed there for 15 years. The last time I visited was in 2001 and I was very suprised as to what has developed in my town. I life in Florida and do not get to visit Germany very often. But anytime I go, I make sure, Passau is my main stop. During my last visit I found the merry-go-round at the Innpromenade. I spoke to the owner and his father used to run the "Karusell" 35 years ago, when I used it last. it was also great to see, how the "altstadt" was kept the way I knew it. Here in the Staates everything changes so fast. Well, I will be checking into the Passau stuff since i'm really interested. Petra

I realize no one has posted in this thread for quite some time, but I wanted to add that Passau is easily one of my favourite places that I've visited. I attended an intensive German program at the Uni in the summer of 2005 and just fell in love with the place. I can't wait to go back!

I am a native English speaker (If you can call us Americans "Native English Speakers"...?) who has (relatively) recently moved to Passau. I just moved here in April '06 from N.Y.C. Passau is beautiful.

Hi everyone,

I have just arrived in Berlin with the intention of studying an intensive german course to get fluent in the language. Berlin is a kool place but a bit overwhemlimg for me as I am generally not a big city person. I have seen pics of Passau and it looks like a place that I am better suited 2. Hopefully someone can answer a few questions 4 me.

How much is the average room to rent?
Is it a reasonably safe city?
Are there pretty girls around? (sorry but I had to ask!)

I am 25 so I do want to socialise a bit but very determined to learn the language. Also is it easy 2 find work? I would be looking to teach English at a language school or even as an au pair.

Thanks and I would appreciate any info and would be keen 2 meet up with other English native speakers there - Matt

1. See studenten-wg to get an idea.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. The words are "to" and "for". Numbers are used for counting.

Just be aware that although Passau is very pretty, it's a LONG way from anywhere.

Thanks for the information it is appreciated. Thanks for the grammar advice also, I'm sorry if the numbers bother you...any other comments on passau would be great to hear as well - Matt

Yes, Passau is lovely. Keep in mind though that it is a University town and therefore you would most likely be competing against uni students who are looking to pad their allowances doing the 400 euro jobs, and also probably living in the cheaper apartments. On the other hand, it should be alive and not too boring.
Passau floods on a regular basis - so if you look for a flat, keep that in mind, ie not basement too near the rivers, and have a look to see if any rooms seem a bit damp.

Passau has a good station and is on main lines to most places, ie Frankfurth, Austria, Berlin, Munich etc etc, so you are not totally at the back of beyond.

Passau is four hours away from Frankfurt and six and a half hours away from Berlin, so you're not exactly going to be popping up there for a beer. By central-European standards, Passau is very cut off. The nearest large-ish city is Linz (200,000 inhabitants) and this is still an hour and a half away.

OK all things that I didnt know, so thats useful information. Thanks - Matt

Hi everyone, just writing on the off chance to see if anybody has done the four week German language programme available at University of Passau for international students? It was mentioned earlier in this thread. I am considering doing it in August 2009 and would be grateful for any feedback on it anybody can give? Thanks!

Passau and Umgebung is the nicest place you can go to learn German,you might even get an Austrian accent as it is right on the border. Beer is better than anywhere else even Minga! It got a brand new shopping palace and food is better than anywhere as you have the choice of Austrian food. The best Spa in Germany (Fuessing)is close by and if you like golfing, plenty of opportunity for it too.If you like bicycle riding , a tour to Schaerding would be a nice break and a Kapsreiterbier at the Bumsn would be a never to forget occasion.If you like castles and old city surroundings, you picked the right place. Excellent rail connections and an hour to the Munich airport via the autobahn, or a boat trip to Wien.

P.S.this is not a paid ad,it is was my home town.