Named after Stephansplatz, the square around St Stephen’s Cathedral.
The cathedral is named after Saint Stephen, regarded as the first Christian martyr and patron of the mother church in Passau. Until the late 18th century a cemetery, a chapel and other buildings surrounded it. ‘Stephansplatz’ appears in 1385 for a few houses; the whole square has borne the name since 1792, when money meant for triumphal arches for Franz II was spent on redesigning it.