Danube River Cruise #53: Color-Coded Buildings, Deadly Garden & Bizarre Face

the garden of death

As we near the end of our Danube River Cruise, we're still in the final city of the tour:
 Passau, Germany. One thing we noticed was businesses were color coded. We also visited the "deadly garden" and saw a bizarre face sculpture. Today you'll learn about all of those things in the blog>>>

THE GARDEN OF DEATH - As you walk up from one of the rivers to the elevated street level (where St. Stephen's is located), you'll find a beautiful garden. We were surprised to learn that this garden was planted over a mass grave of bubonic plague victims! 

The bizarre face

WHAT WAS THE BUBONIC PLAGUE? - The Black Death was also called the bubonic plague, It was caused by Yersinia pestis, a flea-borne bacterial disease of rodents jumped to humans. After people vomited blood they died within three days.  


THE BIZARRE FACE- To the left of St. Stephen's church (if you're facing it, pun intended) is a sculpture of a giant and ancient face. No one knows what happened to the rest of the sculpture, but the face was discovered intact, so it was preserved and propped up across from the church. The face is a remnant of what is believed to have been a full statue that dates to around 1400.

COLOR CODED BUILDINGS - In the old town, they were pretty organized in the middle ages. That holds true today, too, because different types of businesses are color coded. Here's how they break down:
1) Pink - breads or food stuffs
2) Red - butcher shop
3) Green - pharmacy or doctor's office
4) Yellow - supermarkets
 - It's really pretty clever when you think about it!  Just like I always think Dunkin' Donuts whenever I see orange and pink - but alas, there were no Dunkin' Donuts in Passau.

NEXT: A True Highlight: The Dachshund Museum!