Veste Oberhaus Fortress

From Passau's old town you see it all the time: high above the left bank of the Danube stands Veste Oberhaus, its façade marked with a large 1499, written with the medieval "half eight" for the four. The castle sits 105 metres above the valley on the Georgsberg between the Danube and the Ilz. Climb up and you get the city's most famous view: the old-town peninsula and the confluence of the Inn, Danube and Ilz.

History: the prince-bishops' stronghold

The castle was founded in 1219 by Ulrich II, the first prince-bishop of Passau, around an existing chapel of St George. It was meant to display the bishops' new rank as imperial princes and to protect them from their own citizens, who wanted a free imperial city. The fortress withstood five sieges between 1250 and 1482, two of them uprisings by the people of Passau. Expanded again and again, it grew from a Gothic castle into a Renaissance residence and finally a Baroque state fortress.

Between 1535 and 1540 many Anabaptists were imprisoned in its dungeon. During their captivity they wrote the "Ausbund", a hymnal the Amish still use in their services today. After secularisation in 1802 the Bavarian army used Oberhaus as a fortress, military prison and jail for political prisoners, earning it the nickname "Bavarian Bastille" until 1918. The city took over in 1932 and opened the Oberhaus Museum.

What to see

• Batterie Linde: The walled terrace overlooking the Three Rivers corner, where the different colours of the three rivers are clearly visible.
• Lookout tower: An 18th-century tower with views all around.
• Castle church of St George: Older than the castle itself, with early and High Gothic frescoes.
• Schachner wing and Knights' Hall: Home of the big 1499 coat-of-arms fresco.
• Oberhaus Museum: Exhibitions on the Middle Ages and city history, including armour and Hedwig's votive crown.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

From 15 March to 15 November 2026 the museum is open Monday to Friday 9:00–17:00 and at weekends and on public holidays 10:00–18:00, plus daily 10:00–16:00 from 25 December 2026 to 6 January 2027. Admission is €7, reduced €5, family ticket for two adults €14, children under 6 free. The ticket covers all exhibitions, the tower, the chapel and the Batterie Linde. A valid train or shuttle-bus ticket gets you the reduced price.

Getting there

Walk up the Ludwigsteig from the north end of the Prinzregent-Luitpold bridge in about 15 minutes. A shuttle bus runs every 30 minutes from Rathausplatz during museum hours. Free parking is at the end of Rennweg above the castle. Dogs are not allowed in the museum, and most of the site is not step-free.

Tripto tip

Walk up and take the shuttle back. Allow two to three hours, and photograph the castle itself from the Danube bank at Rathausplatz in the late afternoon.