St. Stephen's Cathedral () is a

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

church from 1688 in

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, dedicated to

Saint Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...

. It is the seat of the Catholic

Bishop of Passau The Diocese of Passau (; ) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

History

Since 730, there have been many churches built on the site of the current cathedral. The current church, a baroque building around long, was built from 1668 to 1693 after a fire in 1662 destroyed its predecessor, of which only the late gothic eastern side remains. The cathedral's overall plan was made by

Carlo Lurago Carlo Lurago (also spelled Luraghi) (1615 – 12 October 1684) was an Italian architect who was active in Prague. He was born in Pellio Superiore in the Val d'Intelvi, near Como. At the age of 23, as an already an accomplished plasterer, he ...

, its interior decoration by

Giovanni Battista Carlone Giovanni Battista Carlone (1603–1684) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Genoa. Biography Carlone was born and died in Genoa. He came from a family of artists: his father Taddeo, uncle, and cousins were sculptors, ...

, and its frescos by

Carpoforo Tencalla Carpoforo Tencalla (or Tencala) (10 September 1623 - 9 March 1685) was an influential Swiss-Italian Baroque painter of canvases and frescoes. He is little studied and has come only recently to the attention of art critics and historians. He introd ...

Bells

The cathedral has eight large bells in the bell rooms in the north and south towers. The largest bell or bourdon is named,"Pummerin" at 7550 kg cast in 1952. It alongside "Sturmerin" weighing 5300 kg cast in 1733 hang in the south tower. The other six bells hang in the north tower. They include: the second bourdon "Misericordia" weighing 6000 kg, the Angelus bell, "Predigtglocke", "Elfuhrglocken", the Choir bell, and "Dignitar". A ninth bell, the "Zeichenglocke" hangs near the sacristy door. 3 of the 8 bells serve as clock bells; the Elfuhrglocken chimes every quarter hour while Predigtglocke and Stürmerin in succession chime each the number of a full hour. In Germany, the bells are always numbered from largest to smallest, Bell 1 is always the

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

or bourdon.

Pipe organ

Passau Cathedral's used to be the largest organ in the world. It still is the largest church organ outside of the U.S. Over time, it has been outgrown by more recent instruments, including Wanamaker's organ in the U.S. The organ currently has 17,774

pipes Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circu ...

and 233 registers, all of which can be played with the five-manual general console in the gallery. Portions of the organ have their own mechanical-action or electric-action consoles, for a total of six consoles. The organs at this cathedral have continually been added to over the years. The "organ" is really several separate organs of different tonal styles, all accessible from one or more consoles. The organs of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, California, U.S. have also grown over the years and play from twin consoles; together, the two organs have 346 ranks and over 20,000 pipes. By contrast, the Cadet Chapel Organ of the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York is a single organ. It has also been added to continuously over the years and is larger still with more than 23,500 pipes. It plays from a single console. In 2017,

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

was allowed to play the cathedral's pipe organ, a "childhood dream" according to the actor. File:Passau st stephan kanzel.jpg, Chancel File:St. Stephen's Cathedral Central Organ.jpg, Main west Organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Passau File:Dome paintings.jpg, Dome paintings

Recordings (selection)

* Die Passauer Domorgel : The most beautiful organ in the world Passau Cathedral Helga Schauerte-Maubouet, (Syrius, 141310) 1995.

References

External links

Passau Cathedral Organ

St. Stephen's Cathedral

{{Authority control

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...