Passau, Bavaria, Germany Genealogy

History and Geography


Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is 50,000 of whom about 12,000 are students at the local University of Passau. It is renowned in Germany for its institutes of economics, law, theology, computer science and cultural studies.


 * In the 2nd century BC, many of the Boii tribe were pushed north across the Alps out of northern Italy by the Romans. They established a new capital called Boiodurum by the Romans (from Gaulish Boioduron), now within the Innstadt district of Passau.
 * Passau was an ancient Roman colony of ancient Noricum.
 * In 1662, a devastating fire consumed most of the city. Passau was subsequently rebuilt in the Baroque style.
 * During World War II, the town housed three sub-camps of the infamous Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp: Passau I (Oberilzmühle),[9] Passau II (Waldwerke Passau-Ilzstadt) and Passau III (Jandelsbrunn).

Online Records

 * This link takes you to the Family Search Catalogue where there is a list of what records are on microfilm from this city. They can be viewed at Family History Centers and will eventually be digitized and available online.
 * There is some Passau information at Find A Grave
 * Bavaria, Germany, WWI Personnel Rosters, 1914-1918 includes information on some soldiers from Passau on Ancestry.com
 * Various records can be found through the Meta-search tool on the website of the German Society for Computer Genealogy.

Civil Registration
Passau City Hall Rathauspl. 1-3 94032 Passau Germany

Passau Website

+49 851 3960

The Standesamts (Civil Registration Offices) at the Rathaus (Town Hall) in most of Bavaria has records back to the late 1800's. If you are seeking information concerning your family prior to that time it is necessary to go to church records

Catholic Church Records
There are several Catholic Parishes in the city of Passau and the surrounding area. It is possible to see the location of all of them and find some information about each on Google Maps The oldest church is St Paul so if there are any records kept on site in this area this would be the best place to begin the search for old records.