Get ready to make history at the Ogau Rookie Fest 2025 happening from February 14th to 16th at the stunning Snowpark Oberammergau in Germany Germany will host this exciting snowboard slopestyle event uniting two iconic circuits: the World Rookie Tour and the Junior Freestyle Tour Snowpark Oberammergau is the perfect location for this unmissable event Known for its welcoming and friendly atmosphere this snowpark provides an ideal playground for riders of all levels: Rookie With its seamless layout and cosy lift experience making it the ultimate spot to hone their skills and have fun the Ogau Rookie Fest 2025 promises an unforgettable experience filled with energy and take advantage of up to €20 discounts on select packages This is your chance to experience Germany’s snowy wonderland while indulging in its iconic pretzels and vibrant culture Secure your spot today and prepare for an action-packed weekend at one of Europe’s most anticipated snowboarding events Too many automated requests from this network Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Imagine a play with 700 people and live animals on stage It was supposed to happen in 2020 as it has for nearly 400 years in the Bavarian town of Oberammergau: a decennial presentation of the passion play which tells the story of Jesus’ last days in Jerusalem and the play was postponed two years to 2022 Recently, I was invited to one of the final dress rehearsals for this spectacular spectacle and had the opportunity to watch a good bit of it, meet the director, and tour Oberbayern, the breathtakingly beautiful region that may be better known for Ludwig II’s Neuschwanstein castle, and where performances began in Oberammergau on May 14 I joined some 500 journalists and travel planners and tried to answer the question: Is this something worth seeing today during the middle years of the seemingly interminable 30 Years’ War a different kind of plague visited the Bavarian village of Oberammergau The village leaders pledged to perform the Passion every ten years if they could be spared further death and suffering and the play’s first performance was staged in the village graveyard in 1633 plays acting out the so-called “passion of the Christ” were common and popular So why did Oberammergau’s become famous the world over With the help of the friars of Ettal Monastery just three miles down the road (not an insurmountable distance even in 1633) the play was written and rewritten over the years always with the oversight of the Catholic church And it was seen by hundreds (and occasionally thousands) of people every year And so things continued until 1840 when the play got its first broad reviews in the press; that year (the 23rd performance) was seen by the Crown Prince of Bavaria and the King of Saxony Plenty of famous people have seen the play: King Ludwig II the composers Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner Crown Prince Edward Albert (later King Edward VII) But the most consequential viewer was likely travel pioneer Thomas Cook He decided that the play had tourism potential Even though the railroad extension to nearby Murnau had increased viewers to 100,000 it was Cook who decided to promote the play to his English-speaking customer base some 500,000 people flock to Oberammergau in any given year to see the play Oberammergau is a small village of about 5,000 you have to be born in Oberammergau or have lived there for 20 years and each of those actors has a backup (they tend to alternate performances) but the whole ensemble includes about 1,000 people you’ll get the gist of what’s going on if you are moderately familiar with the stories from the Gospels there are tableaux of Old Testament scenes (called “Living Images,” including the Garden of Eden There’s also an unusually impressive 64-member choir to sing the choral parts and a 55-member orchestra almost 25% of the residents of Oberammergau perform or participate in the play each decade Although it has been refined over the years the current production dates to 1990 when 24-year-old Christian Stückl took over as director He is still the director (on his 4th performance) and revises the text and production every decade though the music is substantially based on the score composed by Rochus Dedler Some 700 people may be on stage in the biggest scenes the larger crowd scenes had up to 1,000 people on stage) If you are looking for a specific activity to put on your bucket list While the play will probably resonate more with Christians the spectacle is something everyone can relate to it makes the whole thing even more impressive and performers are taught their roles from an early age is the second-youngest to ever play the role The play is performed only in German (no English supertitles) but you can buy the text in English to follow along Some packages include the text with the package because there’s a 3-hour break between acts 1 and 2 for dinner Most viewers dispatch to one of the village’s many restaurants and most packages include dinner (make sure yours does since the village is overwhelmed with visitors on a performance day) the play will be performed from Thursday through Sunday and Tuesday (no performances on Monday and Wednesday) The Passion Theater was built in 1900 (at the behest of Thomas Cook) and the current stage—which dates from 1930—is the largest open-air stage in Europe you won’t get wet even though the theater is “open.” A newer canopy now covers the stage itself Be aware that it can get cold since you’re in the Bavarian Alps here Tickets cost €90 to €180 for tickets alone, but most people buy a package, which costs from €300 to €1200 per person depending on the length of time you say and the fanciness of your hotel and meals. You can buy tickets directly from the Passion Play agency [or by phone at +49 (0) 8822 835 93 30] Or you can purchase from any number of tour companies and travel agencies around the world Most visitors buy a package that includes 1 or 2 nights at a local hotel to avoid the 90-minute trip back to Munich there is a late train back to Munich from Oberammergau Best in Travel is here! Discover 2025’s destinations The 30 best countries, cities and regions to visit in 2025 Plan your trip with Elsewhere, by Lonely Planet See where a Lonely Planet Membership takes you Subscribe to our weekly newsletters to get the latest travel news, expert advice, and insider recommendations Explore the world with our detailed, insightful guidebooks Stay ahead of the curve with our guidebooks Uncover exciting new ways to explore iconic destinations Every month, we release new books into the wild Search Search Close search menu Explore Best in Travel 2024 Africa Close menu Countries Antarctica Antarctica Close menu Regions Asia Asia Close menu Countries Australia & the Pacific Australia & the Pacific Close menu Countries The Caribbean The Caribbean Close menu Countries Central America Central America Close menu Countries Europe Europe Close menu Countries Middle East Middle East Close menu Countries North America North America Close menu Countries South America South America Close menu Countries Oberammergau's Passion Play occurs once a decade and draws on the local community for its cast © Lukas Bezila / Lonely Planet the town of Oberammergau made a promise to host a Passion Play every 10 years to fend off the plague After a different pandemic delayed the latest production When I arrived in Oberammergau on a balmy Saturday evening in May, the town of 5400 in the Bavarian Alps was bustling Security guards in neon vests directed traffic along the main street as pedestrians meandered between packed restaurants souvenir stands and shops filled with handcrafted wood statues and biblical scenes Tour buses shuttled visitors into town from local hotels and guesthouses flowing robes and sorted through piles of prop swords and wooden staffs as they prepared for the second act of the once-in-a-decade Passion Play For a few months every ten years, Oberammergau is home to a spectacle that draws the attention of people around the world. The Passionsspiele is a 5-hour production depicting Jesus’s life between mid-May and early October nearly half a million people are expected to descend on Oberammergau to sit before its massive open-air stage and take in the play On the five nights a week the play is performed the town’s population can be nearly doubled: Hotels here and nearby fill to capacity and locals rent out space in their guest rooms to meet the demand villagers made a pledge to God: If he spared the townspeople from the plague they would perform the Passion Play every 10 years Oberammergauers have kept that promise (and remained plague-free) Back in 2020 should have been its 42nd edition I came to Oberammergau to understand how this town about an hour’s drive south of Munich has managed to maintain what’s become known as the longest-running play in the world—and what it’s been like to get back to it after a two-year delay What I found was a true community effort: Nearly a third of the town’s 5400 residents are in the play in some form and seemingly everyone else plays an indirect role in managing the chaos that descends on the town once a decade from restaurant owners and shopkeepers to ticket collectors and firefighters The play has such an outsize impact on the town that in Oberammergau people measure their lives not in years but in Passion Plays 6 must-do hikes in Germany's picturesque countryside who runs a butcher shop in the center of town that’s been in his family for six generations (He’s quick to note that he’s not actually that old: there have been two special editions of the play that bring up his count.) Gerold starts work before dawn so he can finish in time to play a member of the high council on stage my whole family joins in,” he said when I asked him what the play means to him gesturing to others in the shop lining up sausages behind the glass counter his two sons-in-law and his three grandchildren are all part of the play this year “The youngest is just five months old and was on stage on Sunday,” he told me I found that Gerold’s story is the norm here I eavesdropped on a young man sitting a few tables over I could tell he was in the play from his beard and long hair since play participants are not allowed to cut their hair or shave for more than a year before the play begins He was proudly telling a tourist that he was one of two men playing John When I emailed the main press contact for the play I paused when the name looked familiar—as it turns out he is one of two men playing the role of Jesus Top 10 national parks in Germany The all-consuming nature of the production is part of why the pandemic was so devastating for many Oberammergauers When the news came in March 2020 that Germany was heading into lockdown actors were months into rehearsals and local businesses had stocked up for the massive influx of tourism about to descend on the town “From one minute to the next it was all over—it was very strange,” Ursula Mayr told me when we spoke in her dressing room one rainy afternoon “It took a fairly long time before we were allowed on the stage again.” I spoke with director Christian Stückl at a cafe across the street from the theater where he held court with friends and admirers alike who in non-Passion Play years runs the Munich Volkstheater is something of a local celebrity: Playgoers approached us multiple times during our conversation asking for his autograph “There’s almost nothing like it around the world that an entire town does theater together,” Stückl said This year is Stückl’s fourth time at the helm of the Passion Play When I asked him how he became interested in the play in the first place he told me it’s impossible to say because it’s always been a part of his life: “I was seven years old when I was first a part of it 16 stunning places to visit in Germany Stückl has also sought to balance the tradition of the play—after all it’s nearly four centuries old—with the need to modernize it He worked to rid the script of antisemitism incorporating Jewish traditions and taking top-billed cast members to Jerusalem before rehearsals begin And he has also sought to make the play more inclusive: Protestants Muslims and married women are now allowed to take part a 22-year-old actor who plays Judas in this year’s production is the first Muslim to star in a major role; young children from different parts of the world who came to Oberammergau as refugees in recent years “It’s such a big honor to be able to act in such a traditional play,” Görür told me backstage before the show saying he’s happy to have been accepted by so many people in such a big role “It’s actually a long time coming: Thirty years ago or more not everyone was allowed to be part of the Passion Play.” The 10 best road trips in Germany hanging over the whole production is the fact the pandemic is far from over In the months leading up to this year’s play debut the whole town waited anxiously to see whether it would indeed move forward: Rehearsals started later than usual due to the winter Omicron wave and many worried they’d face another delay there’s always the fear that an outbreak among cast members could take out Each of the approximately 1800 cast members is required to do a rapid self-test before heading on stage (“We would make a pretty interesting study,” quipped Mayr.) I sat in the audience and watched as hundreds of robe-clad townspeople took to the stage clouds floating in the blue sky above them The sheer scope of the production was impressive a choir filled the space with song and at center stage actors stood perfectly still to create a series of “living pictures.” Although I had come to learn about the play’s impact on Oberammergau seeing it from the audience was a reminder of the reason so many residents have devoted countless hours of their time to the play: This is what nearly half a million people travel from around the world to see Knowing all of that – the community aspect and the hard-won chance to host something so central to Oberammergau’s identity – made seeing the production that day feel even more special Locals have the same feeling – that this year’s production is extra special a cast-members-only canteen near the theater normally closes at 11:30 p.m. said this year people are so reluctant to leave at the end of each night that they’re considering extending the hours “You can feel it out there: That there’s a real recovery in society,” he told me regardless of background and regardless of income The Passion Play runs until October 2, 2022. Tickets can be purchased online. the latest iteration of Germany’s most famous Passion Play has returned with spectacle and spirit intact Imagine 42 different revivals of the same six-hour (!) Christmas play at an open-air Radio City Music Hall Now stipulate that each of these revivals is spaced roughly a decade apart from the next with an uncopyrighted script under constant debate by religious scholars worldwide mostly due to the play’s penchant for anti-Semitism Any significant script changes must be voted on by the entire New York City Council and everyone in the play has to have been born in Manhattan or at least been a resident thereof for 20 years Final proviso: More recent productions have required around 2,000 people to people the cast and crew and the 57-person orchestra being double-cast Now you have a rough analogue for the Passion Play at Oberammergau the tiny Alpine village in Germany that has served as a Theatrum Mundi for nearly 400 years It has been almost that long since the villagers made a famous vow in 1633 to present Christ’s Passion every 10 years if God would only spare them further deaths from the Black Plague There have been a few adjustments due to wars (WWI and II) and now—no surprise—due to our new plague of COVID-19 necessitating dozens of re-castings and even more costume alterations (pandemic pounds?) Thanks to steady work since 1990 to maximize the play’s ecumenicism via ever bolder changes in characterizations and design (especially of the reworked Old Testament tableaux vivants so integral to the production) the 2022 edition warrants a higher term of approbation than “revival.” I’d go so far as to call it a “resurrection,” with good old-fashioned theatricality ascendant There’s still a community theatre feel that’s a suitably far cry from the Rockettes But when a minor character tells Jesus (Frederik Mayet at the performance I saw) the city is full of refugees who have left their villages for fear of the Romans,” the audience knows they can mentally substitute “Ukrainians” for refugees and “Russians” for Romans the play is all too pertinent and alive in that sense displayed right outside the theatre at Stückl’s invitation The 2010 edition (which I missed) ushered in even bigger changes, nicely reported in a collection of essays edited by Kevin J. Wetmore Jr Huber and Stückl’s more substantial cuts had evidently been allowed bringing the length of the play down from six hours to about five and a half Also innovative was Stückl’s team’s decision to start the play at 2:30 p.m in the afternoon instead of at the customary 9 or 10 a.m with an intermission for dinner instead of lunch playgoers saw the crucifixion and its attendant signs and wonders in natural darkness rather than light.  The healing spirit of the whole 2022 endeavor was enhanced by a pre-premiere morning ecumenical service in the vast 4,400-seat theatre with separate adult and children’s choruses and a small orchestra some child participants managed to be scene stealers: This time instead of a little girl sneaking onstage to wave a palm at her parents (pre-show 2000) we had a priceless small boy singer in a dark suit who twice ended choruses with an overly enthusiastic “Hallelu-JAH!” Spiritual statements were then delivered by a rare tag team of liberal clerics led by Reinhard Marx who serves as both the Catholic Archbishop of Munich and the Cardinal of Freising and the former head of the German Protestants A common theme of their side-by-side sermons was the strength of the right (meaning the good not the political orientation) over the right of strength After the religious remarks came a full-fledged community ceremony during which Stückl partly to recognize his Abraham-Geiger award presented by a German rabbinical university for his having led the modern charge to cleanse the play of the nasty features Hitler so enjoyed on his visit in 1934 Speaking in a Bavarian dialect impenetrable to me as a lifelong struggler with High German but appropriate for the community occasion Stückl handed out framed certificates to cast members 46 of whom had appeared in 8 revivals of the Passion play and 12 who had participated in 12 productions Community reps (stage left) and religious reps (stage right) were visually bonded as one On the play’s official website, Stückl is frank about his hard-won struggle to modify the play. Oberammergau does, it turns out, have its share of objectors to “Überfremdung” (the same notion as the racist “replacement theory”) and Stückl can claim some degree of influence “Each presentation changes enormously,” he writes “Since the Passion play takes place every 10 years I must always rewrite the text and tell the story anew I am flooded with realizations that I gained at the previous show and it must also reflect the current times and political conditions.” Working with his own multi-seasoned team—Huber as dramaturg Stefan Hageneier as stage and costume designer from Holy Spirit Church in Munich (part of the important Munich church-and-theatre “Mafia” engaged with the play)—Stückl reconceived the role of Judas (played at the premiere by Cengiz Görür a Muslim Oberammergauer acting student) as “the betrayed traitor.” Instead Pilate (Anton Preisinger a hotelier in real life) becomes the true heavy; several Hebrew passages and/or songs have been added; and the Last Supper (as in 2010) is patently also a Last Seder including a period-correct seven-armed Menorah and the familiar question “What makes this night different from all other nights?,” uttered here by the apostle John (Anton Preisinger Jr. Stückl has likewise lengthened the debates among Jewish religious officials and some of Jesus’s most articulate followers also the show’s “second director”) and Joseph of Arimathea (Walter Rutz) about what the Galilean’s presence in Jerusalem might mean for their future under Roman occupation There have even been renovations to the massive stage for 2022 creating a multipurpose but unified “temple of Jerusalem” set with the all-important inner stage still used for the dozen freshly conceived Old Testament tableaux that punctuate (albeit indirectly) the New Testament passion action It is impossible to overstate the importance of the musical oratorio and the choral commentary that begins the play (followed by a short updated prologue) and which accompanies each of the dozen Old Testament tableaux (cut back from 25 at one point) Markus Zwink has expanded and updated Dedler’s early Romantic score so that gifted community soloists now dialogue with the chorus in song to stimulate the audience’s curiosity about just how Adam and Eve plus Moses and everybody (several tableaux feature Moses) relate to Jesus’s story prefiguration—the idea that Old Testament passages foretell Jesus’s advent and life Many critics have noted that the notion that one religion exists merely for the purpose of foretelling another is unpalatable for those in the supposedly superseded religion That’s probably why Stückl seems to suggest with choices in staging and design (including the wildly colorful that one might just as soon see things the other way around—i.e. It is really the power of theatricality itself that contemporizes and valorizes everything onstage Stückl lands a welcome blow against anti-Semitism while also landing one in favor of the notion that Jesus among other great proponents of nonviolence (e.g. It’s at first a bit shocking to learn that his day job is leader of public relations for the Passion play; but soon it becomes somehow fitting Mayet also works with Stückl at the Münchner Volkstheater From silently caressing a child or beggar in the street to inveighing against the hypocrisy of Caiaphas (Andreas Richter) and company The danger is that his lines are all too familiar sometimes giving us the impression of a Greatest Hits of the New Testament performance sometimes divided up and given to an apostle to mention The Lord’s Prayer is likewise apportioned to individual disciples at the Last Supper/Last Seder showing they have clearly already absorbed their master’s teachings One big challenge of the lead role is that Jesus must stand still while the debates about his radical agenda rage on around him and eventually carrying his enormous wooden cross—the chief focus of the whole production—Mayet as Jesus moves slowly and painfully toward his appointed end The stagecraft is simple but wrenchingly effective It is hard to conceive of the actors actually rehearsing the steps: nailing a man’s flesh to wood then hoisting him aloft with searing pain and no visible means of bodily support The deposition (removal) of Jesus’ body from the cross after his traditional cries to God on his own and then humankind’s behalf There are no special effects at Oberammergau no rear stage projections to cheat out missing scenery The only moment somewhat comparable in effect to the crucifixion is Judas’ onstage suicide by hanging made all the more affecting in this 2022 production by the overall rehabilitation of Judas as a tragic character Judas has clearly begun his relationship with Jesus as a close friend and confidant Their political beliefs—radical change for humankind and an end to hypocrisy and deceit—have never really diverged expecting an open revolt against the Romans and their Jewish allies He hasn’t grasped that Jesus will never make war nonviolence being a chief tenet of his beliefs When Judas leads the soldiers to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane he traditionally betrays his master with a kiss also calling him “friend.” Soon after Jesus’s betrayal by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane comes Peter’s (Benedikt Geisenhof) analogous thrice-iterated denial that he even knows Jesus (Real cocks crowing from the farms abutting the theatre had been heard pre-play.) The difference in the cases is merely that Peter seeks forgiveness and Judas does not which he calls a “serpent,” and swings before our eyes onstage using a low-tech but again fully convincing stage effect While Judas has been moved toward the good on a sliding scale of dastardliness clad in a long black leather coat and gloves (shades of a WWII-era SS officer) Only his chest plate of armor designates Pilate as particularly Roman a working breed of the kind a medieval knight might have ridden (The only protesters I saw at this year’s production were three young people holding up placards against the stage use of live animals.) Herod (Benedikt Fischer) arrives on a similar black horse to torment Jesus in a combined scene following a Passion play tradition Chaucer even mentioned in The Canterbury Tales by trying to get Jesus to do some miracle for him Herod comes across like some Vegas talent scout looking for his next headliner her pro-Jesus role enhanced to give more visibility to women with tailoring so simple but smart it might also work (perhaps sleeveless) in Vegas The new outfits look almost Amish in plainness but they fit the production’s sense of “pastoral dignity,” Joshua Edelmann’s still-apt term in Wetmore’s collection on the 2010 production The Jewish citizens of Jerusalem are clad in earth tones with Caiaphas and his ranking supporters wearing brocade and costly garments in similar earth colors but with more elaborate headdresses (fortunately missing the horns that marked the high priests as devils in many long-past productions) Caiaphas and Pilate have a tete à tete in which Caiaphas kisses up to his Roman overlord rather alarmingly Caiaphas seems particularly put out at Jesus for the Galilean’s sheer arrogance (“Who are you to forgive sins?”) which Caiaphas feels endangers not only his power but Jerusalem at large alternating with her own sister Sophie in the role) and Jesus’s mother Mary (Andrea Hecht a salesclerk and wood sculptor in real life) assume increasing importance as the play nears its end From her early-in-the-play warning to Jesus that he’s become obsessed with his heavenly father’s work and should come back home to Nazareth Jesus’s mother moves towards acceptance of her son’s gruesome chosen fate On being informed of Jesus’s resurrection from the tomb reported by a white-clad wingless angel (the tableau angels do have wings) Mary Magdalene is first to believe and to declare “I know that my redeemer lives.” Both Marys set off to inform and convince Jesus’s shaken male followers We see nothing else of Jesus’s resurrection only the characters’ final exit with a small symbolic fire left burning onstage There’s no curtain call at this play’s end and the same chill wind blows down from the nearby mountain on the just and the unjust and especially blood are thematic elements to the end both in the Passion portions and especially in the completely motionless tableaux that are placed in the story of Jesus’s last three days at seemingly random moments with the audience task to draw analogies (though some interpretive help is given chiefly by the choral interlude paired with each tableau) with designer Hageneier pulling out all the stops for Moses parting a very Red Sea crafted from some brilliant red solid substance The same red substance is used to similar surreal effect in a tableau about the Israelites encountering snakes in their 40 years in the desert A gigantic shiny red serpent twists around a central stake while smaller red ones attack their hapless victims “From the poisonous bite of the serpent came liberation to the people.” The connection with Jesus’s suffering is oblique Similar riddles for the audience to solve occur in all the tableaux always revealed on the curtained inner stage one cannot help but look for someone to move early But over the course of five and a half hours evidence of an acting company serious in its intent and the work against anti-Jewish interpretations defies completion as the gospel story cries out for ‘actualization’ in the terms and context of every era.” Marans is joined in his statement by another member of the AJC’s Academic Advisory Group It’s another good example of tag-teaming by liberal clerics The traditional Catholicity of the production has been particularly challenged in recent years by a 2010 sex scandal at the Ettal Benedectine Monastery and by declining church participation throughout Germany Mayet (playing Jesus) and director Stückl consider themselves “inactive members” of the Catholic Church But this hasn’t stopped their team’s relentless efforts to both probe and promote the 2,000-year-old message of the man from Galilee Jesus’s own lines (from the gospel and the script) contemporize his mission: “I was born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth Everyone who is on the side of truth hears my voice.” That’s less a demand for conversion than for truth awareness That’s what this theatrically vibrant “resurrection” of the Passion play can offer the two phrases have always meant the same; this version of the play offers a way for both believers and skeptics to test that idea Page Laws is emerita professor of English and founding dean of the Robert C Nusbaum Honors College at Norfolk State University in Virginia She covers theatre and opera as a correspondent for The Virginian-Pilot newspaper and is a frequent contributor to Cineaste film magazine Support American Theatre: a just and thriving theatre ecology begins with information for all. 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It was the year 1632 when the Bubonic plague broke out in Bavaria did everything it could to keep the plague out a man who was returning home for Christmas managed to enter…bringing the plague with him too many families had known death and so the villagers made a vow to God They promised Him that if He cured the village of the plague they would put on a Passion Play every ten years Those who were healthy stayed so and those who were ill were cured Oberammergau has put on their internationally known “Passion play” every 10 years Over 2000 of the village’s 5000 inhabitants take part The rules are simple: you have to have been born in Oberammergau They spend two years preparing for their performances each of the 21 lead roles are cast to two actors The men spend a year prior to the performance The theatre hosts 5000 spectators who come from all over the world The tourism created by the Passion play has a major economic impact on Oberammergau A local expression “Die Passion zahlt" translates as “the passion play will pay for it” community centre and many other improvements to the village There have been few other postponements of the play then Duke of Bavaria, banned all passion plays and performances were allowed once again in 1780 The 1920 performance was postponed due to post-war economic conditions and the 1940 performance was cancelled due to the onset of the Second World War in 1939 the 42nd edition of the Passion Play scheduled from May to October 2020 has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic all 103 performances were completely sold out as Germany faces lockdown and all large gatherings are banned Health officials have said that even if restrictive measures were lifted in time Thank you for reading our article. 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Just click here Passion Play Oberammergau 2022 / Birgit GudjonsdottirAugust 4 2022 ShareSave It would be hard to choose the most Jewish moment in this year’s production of Oberammergau’s Passion Play the grand spectacle that recounts the story of Jesus Christ’s trial Begun in 1634 and performed roughly every 10 years the play is produced by the inhabitants of this Bavarian village located in the foothills of the Alps Maybe it was the scene where Jesus holds a Torah scroll aloft and leads the congregation in the “Sh’ma Yisrael,” the Jewish declaration of faith in a single God where Jesus and his apostles recite the traditional prayers over the wine and bread in convincing Hebrew is greeted in one scene: “How fortunate we are to have our rabbi’s mother with us!” An audience member might be forgiven for thinking she’s watching a sitcom written by the Coen brothers rather than a play that numbered among modern European history’s most virulently anti-Semitic texts said: “It is vital that the Passion Play be continued at Oberammergau; for never has the menace of Jewry been so convincingly portrayed as in this presentation of what happened in the times of the Romans.” Recognizing the play’s enormous propagandistic value the Nazi leader even considered underwriting a Germany-wide tour “so that the whole country could be inflamed against the Jews,” reported the Jewish Telegraphic Agency at the time The Oberammergau Passionsspiele traces its origin to a purported miracle: The village was spared from a plague after locals vowed to reenact the Passion of Christ in perpetuity its survival after World War II and into the third decade of the 21st century can seem miraculous or puzzling Germany was forced to reexamine many of its national heroes and traditions that had been tainted by anti-Semitism including Richard Wagner and the Bayreuther Festspiele the opera festival founded by the composer it does not seem hyperbolic to say that the single most important factor in the play’s endurance has been the concerted effort to eradicate its noxious depiction of Jews the medieval Passion Play could not be more anachronistic The event has remained very much a curio (which is one of Oberammergau’s main selling points) a step back in time to a quaint past where peasants in a picturesque Alpine village came together to express their simple and pure belief through a performance involving nearly 2,000 participants as well as horses American Express’s sales pitch for travelers to Oberammergau promised a “place on earth where piety and faith will live The town resisted calls from prominent American and European intellectuals to tone down the play’s classic anti-Semitism The Jewish people continued to be portrayed as a bloodthirsty mob and the high priesthood as a sinister cabal with more power over Jesus’s life than the occupying Romans after the Second Vatican Council repudiated the ancient charge of Jewish collective guilt for the death of Christ the Catholic Church urged Oberammergau to make changes to the play But the 1970 Passionsspiele refused to make any significant alteration to the late-19th-century script then in use It remained largely unchanged from the version that the American Reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf saw in 1900 and wrote about in a pamphlet a year later he summed up that while “people are free to believe whatever they choose that freedom does not include the privilege of building up their faith at the expense of another people’s honor.” Read: A 1922 report from Oberammergau After the Vatican withheld its missio canonica the play’s organizers made overtures to the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee inviting them to participate in discussing amendments to the play But while nips and tucks were made here and there (including removing the horned-shaped hats worn by the high priests) was elected by the town council with a one-vote majority that the Oberammergau Passionsspiele began to modernize When I first visited this Alpine Jerusalem for the first time a dozen years ago to see the 2010 production I walked away from the five-hour-long spectacle moved by its fluid succession of drama and music (a full orchestra and chorus performs the oratorio-like score) What the story of the Passion lacks in suspense it makes up for with grandly staged crowd scenes that alternated with more intimate ones that turned these biblical figures into flesh-and-blood characters Roughly 40 percent of Oberammergau’s 5,500 inhabitants take part in the show onstage or behind it; I marveled at the Passionsspiele as a heroic communal undertaking (it is arguably the most spectacular amateur theater production on the planet) rather than a religious experience Passion Play Oberammergau 2022 / Birgit GudjonsdottirFor me this was more of an aesthetic pilgrimage Oberammergau continues to attract the devout (visitors from American Bible Belt make up a significant audience bloc) and the production’s sensitivity to scripture and attempts at historical accuracy are at least partly calibrated to appeal to the faithful But Stückl himself told me that he has always considered the Passionsspiele to be “only theater,” not a religious ritual “Very often those who claimed it should be a church service were just trying to prevent anything new from being done,” he explained when I ran into him at intermission The changes he has pushed through incrementally over the past three and a half decades have been both ideological and dramaturgical Cleaning up the play’s historical anti-Semitism and foregrounding the Jewish milieu of Jesus and his followers has allowed the director to create three-dimensional characters who grapple with human problems this historical grounding of Jesus as a Jewish leader in his time was even more moving to me in some ways than the sound of Hebrew prayer echoing off the stage of the Passionstheater The numerous scenes in which his religious and political tenets are vigorously discussed also deepen the play’s power by bringing the “greatest story ever told” down from impossibly lofty heights We see a Jesus who wants to reform Judaism from within rather than found a new religion all against the backdrop of a repressive Roman occupation The dramatic core of the current production is depicted as emotionally intimate and fraught As Jesus’s grassroots support grows in Jerusalem Judas is frustrated with what he considers Jesus’s reluctance to take a stronger political role This Judas doesn’t so much betray his friend as try to force a meeting between Jesus and the Sanhedrin Judas receives the infamous 30 pieces of silver only after Jesus has been taken into custody Judas barges in on the High Council and accuses them of deception You betrayed and deceived me.” Storming out of the High Council Judas flings the coins back in the priests’ face though; if this Judas is not the villainous traitor that he has been represented as throughout history Stückl emphasizes the bloodthirstiness of Caiaphas Although Pilate comes across as an unsavory thug in this production rather than as the noble protector up against a rabble of unruly subjects I did find it troubling that Caiaphas goes to great lengths in demanding Jesus’s death the American Jewish Committee’s director of interreligious and intergroup relations “I don’t think it is necessary for Caiaphas to appear vengeful towards Jesus I think it’s enough for Caiaphas to be portrayed as protective of the Jewish people of his time under pressure from Pilate,” said Marans who leads the advisory group that was assembled in late 2019 with the purpose of weeding out the lingering anti-Jewish elements from the play Read: Europe’s lessons for the struggle against anti-Semitism which includes Jewish and Christian religious leaders and academics was invited to give feedback on the script as well as the production’s design Marans called Stückl an “unprecedented partner” who is “committed to doing whatever he can” within a problematic genre to address a host of issues with relevance to German-Jewish and Christian-Jewish relations Stückl’s dramaturgical needs are sometimes at odds with the advisory group’s recommendations is a seasoned director willing to make changes up until opening night and sometimes even after Several of the actors I spoke with told me that though the roles they play come laden with centuries of tradition Stückl also gives them a lot of interpretive license told me that he adds his own twist on the “Judas kiss.” On the days he performs it is Mayet who kisses the actor playing Judas in the betrayal scene generally includes very few stage directions The production I saw this summer both looked and felt fresher than it had a dozen years ago Beyond Stückl’s reformist tendencies—he has also made it possible for non-Christians to appear in the play; one of this year’s Judases is a Muslim—he understands the need to renew the Passionsspiele if it is to survive as more than a relic from Germany’s distant past Scrubbing away the long-accrued veneer of anti-Semitism and historicizing Jesus have helped usher the play into the 21st century As the Passionsspiele’s 400th anniversary approaches I wonder how much innovation and passion will be required to sustain this monumental enterprise for another century Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times the world-class Passion Play takes place every 10 years Because the last Oberammergau Passion Play was postponed from 2020 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic Set in this charming Bavarian hamlet roughly an hour's drive south of Munich the Oberammergau Passion Play focuses on the final period in the life of Jesus Christ and is performed on open-air stages river cruise lines tailored sailings and itineraries to allow passengers to take in this extraordinary spectacle Tauck and Viking River Cruises were among the lines offering itineraries While we don't know for sure just yet which lines will offer sailings to the next Oberammergau Passion Play The passion play -- which sometimes runs well over five hours in duration -- has been performed by the villagers of Oberammergau it tells the story of the Passion of Jesus from the arrival of Christ in Jerusalem to his crucifixion Faced with the ravages of the plague that was sweeping Europe the villagers vowed to perform the play every 10 years in the hopes that their tribute to the Passion of Christ would spare them from further suffering The most recent performance saw more than 2,000 actors performers and technical staff bring to life 100-plus performances of the Oberammergau Passion Play the play is a huge economic driver for the region; a local expression "The Passion pays for it." Around 412,000 visitors attended the 2022 rescheduled event from all over the world While the play has faced charges of rampant anti-Semitism in the past modern iterations have strove to present a more balanced performance through the elimination of the play's more controversial elements Revisions to successive performances are common with the 2010 performance being noted for its radical changes People attending independently must secure hotel stays while river cruise lines are taking care of all of the logistic details on behalf of their passengers If you've got a favorite river cruise line chances are good that it will be developing an itinerary that includes admission to the Oberammergau Passion Play Keep in touch with your favorite line; with itineraries released around 18 months - 2 years out which means river cruise itineraries that feature visits to the Passion Play are often combined with an overland tour from the Rhine and the Danube To give you an idea of what river cruise lines might offer for the next Oberammergau Passion Play here's a breakdown of what voyages were available in 2022 Avalon Waterways: Avalon Waterways offered three separate Oberammergau itineraries in 2022 ranging in length from 12 to 13 day river adventures along the Rhine and Danube All itineraries were crafted around the Passion Play with a full visit to Oberammergau available pre-or-post cruise Emerald Waterways: Emerald Waterways tailored a trip to the Oberammergau Passion Play as an add-on to six eight-day river cruise departures on the Danube The extension (which was available as a separate 10-day itinerary) included a one-night stay in both Munich and Oberammergau; a welcome drink; an orientation tour of Munich; breakfast and dinner in Oberammergau; admission to the Passion Play; and transfers to the pier in Nuremberg Scenic: Scenic offered five separate itineraries that included Oberammergau in 2022 In keeping with Scenic's all-inclusive policy these sailings were paired with inclusive transfers and hotels Tauck: Tauck had inclusive visits to Oberammergau and the Passion Play as part of three separate itineraries in 2022 Uniworld Boutique River Cruises: Uniworld Boutique River Cruises offered trips to Oberammergau as a four-night optional pre-cruise extension to select Danube river cruises in 2022 The four-night package included one night in Munich admission to the Passion Play and premium reserved seating Viking River Cruises: Viking River Cruises had four separate river cruise itineraries in 2022 that included a visit to Oberammergau's Passion Play These include the 10-day "Oberammergau The Passion Play" (Munich to Budapest); the 12-day "Oberammergau Innsbruck & the Rhine" (Amsterdam to Oberammergau); "Oberammergau with Salzburg" (Oberammergau to Budapest); and "Oberammergau The Alps and the Rhine" (Munich to Amsterdam) early booking is essential for these voyages Because of the high demand for these special itineraries some cruise lines are requiring additional deposits in order to make a booking requires full prepayment of its Oberammergau pre-cruise add-on at time of booking Because these voyages are so far out in the future a few river cruise lines are still determining the exact ships that will operate these runs Each line is at a different stage for their Oberammergau voyages making it important to check with your favorite river cruise company to see if they are taking bookings at the moment and what (if any) special conditions will apply to these river cruises In 1633 the Bavarian village vowed to stage its play every 10 years if it survived the plague Christian Stückl nods and points to his players above trying to offer them helpful instructions as their dress rehearsal to a half-full house of mainly local people gets under way but apart from a couple of older men forgetting their lines there’s really nothing to complain about,” the director says at the end of the five-and-a-half-hour show Depicting the life, persecution, death and resurrection of Jesus, the 42nd season of what is believed to be the oldest continuous running amateur theatre production in the world will open on Saturday with a 103-performance run until October It is taken for granted that almost every one of the 5,200 residents who is eligible as is anyone who has lived in the village for 20 years or more After being postponed for two years due to Covid the passion play will be performed from 14 May to 2 October Photograph: Lukas Barth/Reuters“The last time we had to delay was 100 years ago as well as deaths and injuries from the first world war after which it was rescheduled for 1922,” Stückl says “Pandemics and the passion play have a certain tradition.” Despite misgivings over whether it would be able to go ahead the usual decree went out on Ash Wednesday last year forbidding male participants from cutting their hair or shaving their beards until the production closed the following October “It was hard for us to believe until recently that it would actually go ahead as the coronavirus infection rate had exploded but most of us stuck to the rules and didn’t cut our beards in the hope it still would,” said Werner Richter a taxi driver who has taken part in every production since 1970 His grandchildren are among the 400 youngsters on stage and his son a former Jesus and a psychologist by profession has one of the lead roles as the high priest Caiaphas About 400 players who had signed up to take part in 2020 were forced to drop out others owing to their refusal to be vaccinated or to take a daily test on whose back Jesus was due to ride into Jerusalem This year the role of the donkey Photograph: Lukas Barth/Reuters“But luckily we have continuity where it matters as most of those in the 42 lead roles have stuck with it,” Stückl says his main challenge ever since becoming director at the age of 24 in 1990 has been to retain the existing but ageing audience while pushing the boundaries of the conservative Bavarian Catholic perspective he has often viewed as limited He describes his biggest mission as trying to rid the passion play of the antisemitic view that Jews were collectively responsible for the death of Jesus for which it was especially instrumentalised in the Nazi era with Hitler visiting twice “We are in constant and deep dialogue with religious representatives now,” Stückl says In 2010 he depicted Jesus lifting the Torah as the choir sang a version of the Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael considered a high point of the play by participants and spectators This year there is a new musical setting in Hebrew of Psalm 22 (“My God Why have you forsaken me?”) by the music director Markus Zwink which is to be released internationally on a recording of the entire two-hour soundtrack for the first time Stückl has said his biggest mission is trying to rid the play of the antisemitic view that Jews were collectively responsible for the death of Jesus Photograph: Matthias Schräder/APThe cast is also more diverse this year than it has ever been including refugee children and Muslim actors in lead roles In the context of the play’s history this is a radical move and Stückl points out the storm that erupted in 1990 when he let a Protestant on to the stage for the first time – triggering a petition by the local priest that 1,800 people signed He is also working on how to boost the role of women (married women over 35 were unable to take part until a court ruling 32 years ago) “The production is very overladen with men,” he admits “But then it is a very male-laden story.” He has considerably expanded the time spent on the stage by Jesus’s mother considered to be his closest female follower and he has introduced the role of Pilate’s wife previously mentioned only by a male servant who voiced her objection over Jesus’s treatment Frederik Mayet the actor playing the character of Jesus Christ outside which is the 90kg cross he must bear Photograph: Lukas Barth/ReutersIn his dressing room backstage at the 5,200-seat theatre who alternates playing Jesus with another actor There is a climbing belt that fits beneath his loin cloth and keeps him fastened safely to the cross during the crucifixion scene and a menacing-looking crown of thorns with blunted spikes is the three-metre grey wooden crucifix itself For Mayet – whose family first participated in the play in 1890 and whose children are with him on stage – the perennial question is how to ensure the play remains relevant “As a community our passion for the play and our courage to believe in it is unabated,” he says “Fundamentally the story for me is less about the theological details and more about emphasising its relevance to our experience of being human.” The crowns of thorns of Frederik Mayet and the actor with whom he alternates the role are hung next to the wardrobe in the theatre Photograph: Lukas Barth/ReutersMayet also played Jesus in 2010 “But now the world is a different place,” he says referring in particular to the effects of the pandemic the increasing displacement of people and mounting ecological disaster This time his Jesus is – under Stückl’s direction – “more political someone looking for social justice.” He has sought inspiration It is thanks to the entrepreneur excursion salesman Thomas Cook who discovered the play for himself in 1880 and began selling passion play package tours Its single biggest set of fans are from the US Frederik Mayet as Jesus carrying the 90kg cross. Photograph: Leonhard Simon/EPABut this year the war in Ukraine has already put off tens of thousands of Americans, who have cancelled their trips to Europe the call has gone out to Germans to come to discover the play Otherwise the focus in the village is on getting through unscathed to October is that both Jesuses go down with coronavirus at the same time Stückl says when it is over he will go on retreat to an ashram in India says she’ll be waiting for the queues of men outside her salon “They are desperate to get their hair cut by then,” she says “They come in and are given a beer and the mood is jovial and festive And those that can’t wait just stand on the street and lop each other’s hair off.” Oberammergau's Passion Play might be pushed back Hundreds of thousands have planned for years to flock to the village of Oberammergau a nearly 400-year-old tradition that takes place every 10 years The 42nd Passion Play will run daily May 16 through October 4 this is a year like no other as the coronavirus continues its global tsunami While new cases of COVID-19 continue to appear events like Oberammergau are in midair while contingency plans are being developed minute by minute emergency scenarios for the Oberammergau Passion Play are being developed for the case of an extension of the ban on major events beyond 19th April 2020 As of today we assume that the premiere can take place on 16th May 2020,” a spokesperson for Oberammergau told TMR.  For the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany the risk has increased after a first case has appeared there is no case in Oberammergau or the neighboring municipalities. The Bavarian State is prohibiting events with more than 1,000 visitors until April 19 a month prior to the first Passion Play performance in Oberammergau.  “If the situation does not calm down by 19th April 2020,” the spokesperson said “the extension of this measure is explicitly not excluded by the Bavarian state government The situation is therefore constantly being reassessed by the municipality of Oberammergau.” Performers who are thought to have been in risky areas in the last few weeks are exempted from rehearsals Germany’s Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn said that although the cases in Italy mean that the corona epidemic has reached Europe in the form of an epidemic “I am convinced that we are as well prepared as we possibly can be.” The German health system is one of the best in the world Regional Manager The Americas and Director of the Foreign Representatives Office USA issued this statement: “We are currently in an unprecedented situation which changes on a daily basis Together with our travel industry partners from the US and Germany we are monitoring the situation closely and agree that everyone’s health and security have utmost priority.” “Oberammergau is a very expensive undertaking and it is not as simple as rescheduling departures as one might do with tours,” says Marion Harbison an affiliate of Brownell Travel “To participate in Oberammergau the players have to be born and raised in there and as actors they dedicate a full year to rehearse so postponing the event maybe for later in the year might work but the scenario is changing by the minute.” Because it takes place once every 10 years there are no compensatory plans in place Harbison is concerned because a single case of COVID-19 has emerged in the district around Oberammergau so she is monitoring this closely Suppliers changing plansUniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection announced the suspension of all European itineraries until April 23rd offering guests an option to rebook travel dates to any 2020 or 2021 cruise or receive a Future Cruise Credit eligible to be used during the next 24 months guests can cancel up to 14 days prior to their cruise and rebook on any 2020 or 2021 cruise without penalty or have the option to rebook with most of TTC’s sister brands – Trafalgar While Insight Vacations is temporarily suspending operations in Europe the UK and the Middle East of all guided vacations commencing from March 13 2020 and is temporarily offering a waiver for the cancelation charges until 30 days prior to departure should guests wish to change their dates or travel to a different destination Although Insight features at least five packages (including two to Italy) that include Oberammergau its compensatory plans do not cover it or other group bookings Insight cancelled all trips to Italy through April 15 2020 while all Discovery trips travelling through Italy will be rerouted wherever possible which wove the Passion Play into existing itineraries has issued a cancellation policy without penalties or fees up to 30 days before departures for cruises departing through August 31 2020 and reservations booked between March 9 and May 1 president of Select International Tours and Cruise a founding member of the Faith Travel Association and former board director at the National Tour Association has had to cancel group tours to Italy and Israel for the remainder of March but clients are not cancelling trips with May departures including Oberammergau “The most important recommendation agents can give clients when booking a trip is to purchase trip cancellation insurance for the protection of their investment and their piece of mind,” said Krunic At luxury travel network Virtuoso advisors are not panicking Travel advisors are keeping track of if or when airlines cruise lines and tour operators have waived change and cancellation fees (many have) “I also recommend clients speak to their personal physician to discuss the risks based on their own medical history Then I let them know I’m here to help no matter what they decide,” said Virtuoso agency executive Amanda Klimak at Largay Travel in Waterbury Likewise agency owner Cristina Buaas with Texas-based River Oaks Travel says we’re letting travelers know we’re here to support them in making the best decision for their family and giving them the facts to help make that decision.” Subscribe to TMR The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday added Aruba to its Level 4: Very High COVID-19 travel list The Cayman Islands’ pre-travel testing time is changing.  “Air travel is the most tested and protected consumer activity in Canada.” A rise in COVID-19 cases is again causing concern among Canadian government officials has been added to the highest COVID-19 advisory list.  The sentencing of Jesus is part of the five-hour Passion Play in Oberammergau performed every 10 years with a few exceptions including this year because of the coronavirus pandemic I was supposed to lead a group of pilgrims from Baltimore to Oberammergau associate publisher and editor of the Catholic Review magazine The odd coincidence — not being able to visit a town literally put on the map by a plague — is not lost on me has felt the pain of this plague — the coronavirus Flash back nearly 400 years to the small Bavarian town and the legend that surrounds it The small town of Oberammergau had escaped it until a local man returned home from working in a nearby village the villagers asked God to spare them and promised they would perform a play on the Passion of Christ every 10 years the story is that no one in Oberammergau died of the plague performed every 10 years (except during some wartimes) since 1634 But not this year; it has been rescheduled for 2022 The Passion Play, an incredible undertaking, draws in about 2,000 of the townspeople (the only people allowed to participate) as actors, musicians, extras in the huge choruses and backstage technicians. Some interesting tidbits: the actors must grow their hair and beards during the previous year; no machinery or noisy work may be done during the plays performed in an outdoor amphitheater from mid-May to early October with an additional three-hour dinner break but they provide a program in several different languages Oberammergau holds a special place in my heart It’s where my husband and I started dating while covering Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to Bavaria in 2006 We were fortunate enough to return in 2010 to lead a pilgrimage that included seeing the Shroud of Turin and the Passion Play two once-in-a-lifetime experiences in the same week Interesting that we all find ourselves in a similar spot to the people of Oberammergau centuries ago — making a prayer-promise to God to be spared from a plague Go to passionsspiele-oberammergau.de/en/home I wrote about finding inspiration and asked you to share where you find it I have sought to keep myself busy by sticking to a routine as much as possible Knowing I would be confined inside our home I decided to tackle the mess that is our basement Cleaning and organizing a basement full of items from my wife and me as well as from our three now-grown daughters is a daunting task “It definitely began as a chore to keep me busy rather than as a labor of love My attitude changed as my time in the basement went on I found so many long-forgotten items that brought me a great deal of joy Our girls got a kick out of some of their old school work and the like that I uncovered and showed them “It really reminded me that these wonderful children have always been such treasures for us They have all turned out to be terrific young adults I am grateful to have them in our lives and I am so very grateful to God for blessing us with them “Your article was enjoyable and I would definitely agree that finding inspiration when you aren’t looking for it is an awesome gift!” who had shared some sage advice for that piece “Our lives have not been as drastically changed as so many have Know each of you are in our prayers always.” Keep looking for the gift of inspiration and thanks for reading the Catholic Herald Augherton, Acting Editor and General Manager, can be reached at [email protected] Arlington Catholic Herald200 N. Glebe Rd.Suite 615Arlington, VA 22203703-841-2590800-377-0511 Website Design and Development by New Target Phone: 216-696-6525 Toll Free: 1-800-869-6525 Address: 1404 East 9th Street, Cleveland, OH 44114   Share this Page Bishop Edward Malesic and Father Dan Schlegel, secretary and vicar for clergy and religious, are journeying with about 60 faithful from the Diocese of Cleveland on a pilgrimage to Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. The trip was organized by the Catholic Community Foundation. Highlights of day 10 are featured in the photo gallery above and in the story below The diocesan pilgrims are among thousands of people who have been able to experience the famous Passion Play at Oberammergau in Germany The production has taken place every 10 years since 1634 as villagers continue to honor their promise to God in thanksgiving after they were saved from additional deaths from the plague The only time there was a break in the production schedule was 2020 The performances were delayed until this year “Today was the highlight of the pilgrimage as we experienced the Oberammergau Passion Play This moving performance will be remembered by all for years to come,” said Deacon Dennis Conrad The production took place in two segments with a dinner break between More than 2,000 participants bring Jesus’ story to life in the open-air play The production includes almost half of the population of Oberammergau The Passion Play recounts the events from Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday through the Last Supper This is the 42nd time the play has been performed It is divided into 12 scenes and includes tableaus or living pictures of paintings portrayed by performers as well as music by a 55-member orchestra and more than 100 choristers Some of the performers have been involved with the show for as many decades while others are in their first production This year’s performances run May 15 through Oct (Photos and information provided by Father Dan Schlegel and Deacon Dennis Conrad.) please contact local law enforcement and: Kathleen McComb Response Services – 216-334-2999 Subscribe! 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How did one German town survive the devastation Published: Nov 22, 2022written by Molly Dowdeswell The plague traveled through Europe at an alarming rate during the seventeenth century it left a trail of devastation from which no one was immune apart from a little town in what is now Southern Germany How did the small town of Oberammergau earn its immunity And how did this immunity lead to a 10-year tradition of staging Passion Plays which has continued with only a few interruptions for the past 30 years Oberammergau is a small village in Bavaria the village is famous not only for its dealings with the plague The town is set in a breath-taking location among the Ammergau Alps which makes it a popular tourist destination for hikers While the town has always been beautiful and peaceful it was not originally spared from the devastation caused by the plague in the seventeenth century The plague had existed in Europe since the 1300s when it had first devastated the continent From that point until the seventeenth century it flared up in waves and remained a great source of fear and unease for many It is now believed that the disease began its long life in China and Inner Asia It then spread to Crimea and then to the Mediterranean port towns via infected ships it began its deadly journey into mainland Europe and Africa It arrived in Sicily in 1347 and then made its way to North Africa The plague arrived in England in the August of 1348 when it was brought by an infected ship from Calais The pandemic in Britain began in Melcombe Regis Dorset and spread through the country at an alarming rate by February where people suffered badly until May East Anglia and Yorkshire were hit the next summer and by 1350 While we have known for a long time that the Plague recurred throughout Europe, we now know that it was reintroduced via trade routes that came in waves from Central Asia The number of deaths per wave and per place varied The plague first arrived in Oberammergau when a villager who had been away returned infected with the disease one in four people were thought to have passed away in the village due to the disease There were a large number of responses to the plague across Europe and the wider world. Some included early public health measures like quarantine and localised lockdowns. Some also, as those in Oberammergau did, turned to religion and prayer in an attempt to find salvation and answers The people of Oberammergau, like many affected by the plague, could see no end to their suffering and sought out God. They prayed to God and asked him for help, promising that if he helped, they would perform the Passion Play (which tells of Jesus’ life While the plague continued to devastate the rest of Europe The town recorded no further deaths after 1633 There are many reasons why the records may have stopped They may have stopped because the villagers’ prayers had worked They may have been deliberately stopped in order to make it appear as though the prayers had worked historians today do not know the motivation Nevertheless, since 1633, when the records stopped, the town has continued to put on the passion play every ten years. The tradition has remained in place for the last 300 years with only a few interruptions, including a world war and COVID-19 The first ever Passion Play took place in 1634 The performance was staged in the cemetery next to the parish church above the graves of plague victims It wasn’t until 1830 that the play was relocated to the spot where it is still performed to this day The Passion Play has remained very much the same for the last 300 years with rules in place that have stood the test of time with a three-hour intermission that involves dinner or have lived there for 20 years; no exceptions have ever been made so many participants take to growing their hair during the year prior to the play While 2,000 villages take part, there are only 124 speaking roles to audition for. Today, you are able to go and watch the play; however, please note the entire play is in German The most recent play was meant to occur in 2020 but was postponed until 2022 because of the Coronavirus pandemic it appears that with the plague outbreak in the 1600s Oberammergau had the same experiences as most of Germany Public health measures may have been attempted and scapegoats targeted what makes Oberammergau stand out in history is their perceived salvation Is it a simple coincidence that they were saved after praying to God and making him a promise to continue the Passion Play every ten years Can we trust the records that simply just stop after the promise was made in 1633 Did they stop because people stopped dying we’ll probably never get any definite answers Molly graduated from the University of Birmingham with a master's degree in early modern history and from Swansea University with a bachelor’s degree in history She has a long-standing interest in the subject and enjoys researching and writing on a broad range of historical topics and is most interested in the history of medicine and disease Molly is currently working as a writer based in Birmingham England and is planning on returning to university to complete a PhD in history the Christian Century has published reporting and essays on the role of faith in a pluralistic society Contact Us   Privacy Policy The preacher’s weekly challenge—What story shall I tell?—is perhaps less challenging in Holy Week than at any other time except Christmas and it demands close attention to the nuances of the telling Over the past three years I worked with the leaders of the Oberammergau Passion Play as they put together the 42nd production for a pandemic-delayed 2022 season The play has been performed in the Bavarian village of Oberammergau every ten years since the early modern period and has grown into a production of global proportions and his team wrestle on a world stage with the same challenge that I face in a local pulpit and classroom how do you “bring it to the people of the day” And how do all of us hear it as the good news it is meant to be One of the challenges is the play’s entrenchment in the history of antisemitism Is there a way to perform the Passion that is sensitive to this history and does not repeat it In a review that Noam Marans of the American Jewish Committee and I wrote together after seeing the final 2022 dress rehearsals Marans suggested that Oberammergau is a “working laboratory” for this question incisive perspectives on telling and hearing the Passion story particularly in doing so with fairness and authenticity to Jews and Judaism This article is available to Christian Century magazine subscribers only. To keep reading, subscribe—subscriptions begin at $6.95—or log in Thank you for supporting our publishing ministry We would love to hear from you. Let us know what you think about this article by writing a letter to the editors Cardinals' homilies before conclave speak volumes African Hebrew Israelites finally see legal victory against Israel's deportation threats Have things changed for women since the time of Mary Magdalene and essays on the role of faith in a pluralistic society.      Contact Us  Privacy Policy more than 300 international travel trade partners and media representatives spanning 34 countries congregated in the charming Bavarian village to network and celebrate the first in-person event since 2020 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic Regarded as the most important fixture for international travel trade the highlight of GTM each year is a two-day The agents met with local German tour operators to better understand the country’s latest tourism products while forging relationships and negotiating deals The conference was hosted in Oberammergau for the first time in its history But the reason for hosting this year was apparent: This village which has been performed every decade since 1634 (except during world wars and during the most recent pandemic) the traditional performance is back — and so are Germany’s international tourists GTM participants were given exclusive access to one of Oberammergau's Passion Play dress rehearsals before the 2022 season begins on May 14 The show highlights the talents of more than 2,000 villagers (you have to be born in Oberammergau or be a resident for more than two decades for performance consideration) as they present the story of Jesus of Nazareth through choir song and acting The five-hour performance takes place in an imposing 4,500-seat open-air theater The play intends to give the world hope and strength and international audiences have flocked to the village to absorb it for centuries the pandemic has created challenges for the Passion Play performance only 75% of tickets have been sold for the 2022 season while 90% were sold before the canceled 2020 season This decline in sales is likely due to uncertainty in post-pandemic travel and the war in Ukraine; as of press time 20,000 American travelers canceled their Passion Play tickets the Passion Play attracts an average of 450,000 visitors each season events currently dominating world headlines namely the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine were of pre-eminent discussion throughout the conference After March 2020’s collapse in global tourism, the United Nations World Tourism Organization recorded a slight increase in international arrivals: 4.6% in 2021 inbound tourism slowed at the beginning of 2021 because of its extended lockdown in the first half of the year The lockdown's end brought an immediate surge in demand from European source markets and the U.S. While the outbreak of war in Ukraine initially caused a fall in short-term bookings from non-European Union countries There is now a more significant percentage of bookings from non-EU countries And while together Russia and Ukraine have accounted for around 530,000 overnight stays in Germany in 2021 experts noted that the rising cost of kerosene may impede travelers during the upcoming holiday season the year of the restart following a pandemic pause in travel "embracing German nature." While air travel has decreased by 5% over the last year there has been a 14% increase in rail travel e-mobility is significantly increasing within Germany notes is a positive development for sustainability Hedorfer also shared that the most in-demand German travels are sun and beach holidays which complement the country's tourism initiatives She said that nature is Germany's most significant capital so there remains a focus on sustainability and conservation "After two challenging years of the coronavirus pandemic global tourism looks poised for a period of recovery," Hedorfer said "Despite a brief period of uncertainty immediately after the outbreak of war in Ukraine the desire to travel remains high among Europeans as does interest in Germany as a travel destination.” According to the GNTB Industry Expert Panel from April 2022 a survey of top decision-makers in the international travel trade 32% of respondents feel optimistic about the levels of bookings to Germany More than half (68%) even anticipate growth in their German tourism business in the next six months Germany's tourism providers have spent a great deal of time and effort creating innovative products and sustainable offerings to ensure that the restart of tourism to the country is a success The Details German National Tourist Board  Copyright © 2025 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 301 Route 17 N, Suite 1150, Rutherford, NJ 07070 USA | Telephone: (201) 902-2000 As international audiences flock to Oberammergau to see its famous passion play portraying the last week of Jesus’s life join us to learn how the production has changed since the Holocaust and costumes reflected and promoted the deep-seated anti-Judaism of European Christianity Hear from the play’s director and a pastor who specializes in the history of Jewish-Christian relations about how dialogue and changes in Catholic teaching about Jews and Judaism affected the play This program is free and open to the public Register to receive a link to view the program For more information, please contact Julia Liden at jliden@ushmm.org How did Christians and their churches in Germany respond to the Nazi regime The Nazis built upon centuries of anti-Jewish sentiment—religious and political—and viewed Jews as a separate and dangerous “race.” The National Cathedral and the Museum hosted this 2021 webinar exploring the history of antisemitism and Christianity Speakers reflect on the origins of antisemitism and educators address these legacies today.  Registration RequiredLocation: This event will be livestreamed.Co-presented with: I thought I’d escaped the pain through nihilism This is a helpful take on why the progressive distaste for the Biblical account of the Passion The "offensive" parts are just that: offensive to our self-sufficient sensibilities The two streets comprising the small Bavarian village were almost completely abandoned but by the early hours of the next morning swarms of fanny-packed travelers trotted behind priests perspiring under white collars in the unbearable summer humidity Brightly colored flags on little sticks bobbed above the sea of people announcing various tour and pilgrimage companies We were all here to witness the same once-a-decade spectacle an all-day theatrical production of the passion put on by local residents is thought to be the oldest continuous amateur theatre production in the world Men who wish to participate are instructed to stop shaving after Ash Wednesday so that by summer they sport bushy (and one can only imagine uncomfortable) beards for the production A local donkey is prepared to carry this year’s Jesus Elaborate tableaus of Biblical scenes are painstakingly constructed A choir of over one hundred local participants diligently practices the five-hour passions setting by the composer Rochus Dedler (1779–1822) Two thousand costumes are dusted off and tailored The shopkeepers prepare for an influx of tourists seeking a hand-carved Jesus or Mary as a memento of their trip It all began in 1633 when the plague tore through the small village the villagers vowed that if God would spare them from further devastation they would stage a “play of the passion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ” every ten years with occasional interruptions (including the Napoleonic conflict the small village’s ten-yearly fulfilment of their vow has attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists Audience members ranging from the Queen of England to the King of Thailand the media tycoon William Hearst to the young existentialists Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir to future popes and cardinals galore (Benedict and Pius XI) have come in 1934 Adolf Hitler attended the Passionsspiele praising it for possessing a “parching strength of the home soil … of significance for the Reich.” The town seemed unrepentant about both Hitler’s endorsement of the play and its stereotyped and problematic portrayal of Jews as being responsible for the death of Christ The play resumed with no significant revisions in 1950 earning the stern criticism of figures like Arthur Miller and Leonard Bernstein and being described as “one of the most anti-Semitic presentations anywhere in the world” by Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum interreligious officer of the American Jewish Committee in 1980 Only in 1990 did the play undergo a substantial rewrite under the guidance of Christian Stückl first appointed as the director of the play at the tender age of twenty-seven Stückl narrowly avoided being voted out of office by the largely conservative population of the town largely because he allowed Protestants and Muslims to join the production (previously the cast had been Catholic) and he dropped the restrictions against married women and women over thirty-five Stückl oversaw the modernization of the script taking onboard a Jewish advisory panel to help expunge what he describes as the anti-Semitic “overtones” of the script the core of the Passionsspiele remains the same: a dramatic production of the final days of the life of Jesus And this is a tradition reaching much further back than 1633 reflecting the strong warrior culture of the time Christ was primarily portrayed as a triumphant hero on the cross he did not lose his serenity and sense of control But by the twelfth century there was an increasing emphasis on taking the humanity of Christ seriously Believers were encouraged to meditate on the suffering of Christ to stir up emotion and empathy in a way that led to sorrow Christ began to be portrayed in art not as triumphantly standing on the cross It was the beginning of something very important in the history of western Christendom a whole devotional trend of portraying Christ more realistically on the cross This significant aesthetic shift is described as “one of the greatest revolutions in feeling that Europe has ever witnessed.” Medieval spiritual masters taught that preparation for Easter involved an awareness that began with the Passion and culminated on Good Friday Devotional practices like the Stations of the Cross where one prayerfully follows in the footsteps of Christ in the walk to Golgotha developed to help Christians imaginatively enter into the story of Christ and claim it as their own Medieval thinkers like the Franciscan Minister General Bonaventure produced many artistic and literary works (including plays) which sought to teach people how to fruitfully meditate on the Passion Bonaventure and his ilk considered meditation as key to healthful spiritual practice He writes: “He who desires to go on advancing from virtue to virtue should meditate continually on the Passion of Jesus,” adding that “there is no practice more profitable for the entire sanctification of the soul than the frequent meditation of the sufferings of Jesus Christ.” We were meant to experience sorrow and suffering fully because loss is real and because the unjust death of Christ was not merely a prelude to victory In various texts Bonaventure instructs his readers how to do this namely by mentally placing ourselves in the passion story imagining oneself watching the events unfold remembering the innocent One who suffers for mankind and allowing oneself to be moved to compassion His hope is that as readers inhabit the story they will be transformed into Christ’s likeness; Christ shares in our suffering to redeem us This type of meditation proved very fruitful for many Christians but there was great liberty when it came to method According to the spiritual writer Gertrude of Helfta (1256–c even taking the time to gaze quietly with a loving heart upon a crucifix is a powerful way to remind ourselves of the true meaning of Good Friday Particularly in the late Middle Ages and into the early modern period some found spiritual elevation in meditating on the wounds and sufferings of Christ in all its gory details using graphic images of the passion to do so In a fourteenth-century world marked by plague and endemic warfare Brigitta of Sweden took great solace in thinking in detail about the extent of the wounds of Christ from his scourging and crowning with thorns The fourteenth-century Franciscan Angela of Foligno who spoke often of resting in the Crucified Love also counseled a detailed consideration of the wounds of the Passion as the way to spiritual elevation There was a cathartic value to these spiritual practices; by living in the story of Christ’s passion one’s own suffering was transfigured participate in) a Passionsspiele was to live inside that story and be changed by it It’s a dramatic entry into a world where death and injustice and transgression are experienced It was this story that I was prepared to enter on that hot summer afternoon in Oberammergau but what I felt most surprised me: betrayal It opens with hundreds of chorus members dressed in simple and yet plausibly medieval attire inviting the audience to enter into the story of Christ’s suffering the black clad chorus mingles and then disappears into the stage cast clad in first century garb reminding the viewer of the ubiquity of crowds anguish in all ages – Christ’s time not so different from the 1600s The opening sequence is a compelling invitation to inhabit the story of the passion as your own story This year Christ is played by Fredrik Mayet angry energy surges across the stage as he rides in on a donkey the chorus singing “hosanna.” I felt unbidden tears spring into my eyes and a lump rise in my throat – my friend also wiped a tear away – and at this point we were not ten minutes into the play The story begins in the middle of Christ’s ministry and the first thirty minutes are very text heavy There is something of Pasolini’s Jesus in Mayet’s portrayal: a Marxist young man someone looking for social justice,” as Mayet himself puts it But Jesus does not disappear behind this political anger; Mayet brings Jesus’ words to life making them dance across the stage like sparks from an untamed fire in seeing someone recite Jesus’ teachings as Jesus; not as a pastor expounding upon the Beatitudes for “practical applications” or a scholar debating the meaning of “blessed,” but the man himself But things began to fall apart in the last supper The second act of the Passionsspiele was plagued by a flaw which one would imagine almost impossible in the passion narrative: boredom The very scenes which should be most charged with emotional impact and narrative tension fell flat but instead lingered around the table like they were about to leave remove his tunic and gird himself about with a towel but instead walked up to each (standing) disciple and wiped the top of their feet in a somewhat menacing manner The reason for the awkwardness began to become clear to me at the breaking of the bread Do this in remembrance of me”; the strange but essential “this is my body” was conspicuously omitted. Strange Perhaps it was out of respect for the sacrament I began to realize that the script made small alterations to the original text of the Passionsspiele (and to the gospels themselves) that irredeemably sapped key moments in the narrative of their emotional power only to then answer his own question forgettably (notably the question is left unanswered in the gospels) The very crux of the emotional anguish Jesus experiences in the garden is precisely that he is alone seemingly (though impossibly) even by God the Father The anticlimax continued during the crucifixion itself when his disciples and followers keep reminding themselves that he predicted this and everything will be OK in utter contradiction to the gospels themselves which portray Christ’s followers as confused The final scene opens when Mary of Magdalen and the other women go to the tomb to dress Jesus’ body an angel comes to Mary and tells her that Christ is risen But this scene subtly omits a factor which makes all the difference; in the gospels it is not an angel who greets Mary of Magdalene at the tomb As the curtain fell across the enormous stage With a stubbornness and anger unfamiliar to me I found myself resolutely planted in my seat The strong implication of the final scene is that Jesus probably did not rise from the dead and Mary only felt that he was resurrected in her heart It was a textbook liberal interpretation of the gospels (which I couldn’t help but see an  irony in this “progressive” adaptation that seems to invalidate the testimony of a woman much in the same way her own culture would; she is only mad with grief But as I stepped into the stuffy summer night I began to realize that it wasn’t just the secularization of the gospel story that had left me feeling betrayed; they hadn’t allowed me to feel desolate At every moment that should have been crushing (the crucifixion some fabricated assurance was inserted to alleviate any real anxiety on the part of the audience This total lack of both stakes and payoff in the narrative left the play feeling limp pointless – as though it was trying and failing to be vaguely inspirational.  It’s nothing very novel; a secular production team aiming to create a secular production without all the difficult to understand and difficult to believe bits (like the resurrection) Jesus portrayed as one of the many good but persecuted teachers No doubt many of the changes were made to make sure that no antisemitism remained even in implication What seemed strange to me was an unwillingness to call the story what it is: deeply depressing It shields us from a brutal truth of history; these sorts of teachers usually die and stay dead for their dedication to making a better world And the irony is that such an avoidance of sorrow completely defeats the point of the art created in this era Passion plays ended with the entombment; the Passion was the purview of Holy Week while the resurrection was saved for Easter Art surrounding the Passion was not meant to be inspiring and uplifting; it was meant to invite viewers to grieve As the overwhelming chorale in Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion reminiscent of the opening choir in the Passionsspiele help me lament.” These works of art were meant to show us that Christ identifies with us in our suffering allowing us to admit the full breadth of its terrifying dominion over our lives We were meant to experience these emotions fully because loss is real even those who do not share a belief in the Christian story can agree that the death of the good prophets of history crushed under the wheels of bureaucracy and capital That to try to make some inspirational story out of their deaths is grotesque There is nothing inspirational in the violent murders of inspirational people it was not only the passion and death of Christ that the occupants of Oberammergau promised to portray; it was also the resurrection And in robbing viewers of the experience of just sorrow we were also robbed of the possibility of something else: the unexpected and complete victory over death that has made this story so thrilling “they’ve taken my Lord away and I do not know where they have put him.” But gone “Mary,” which causes her sorrow to turn to sudden and complete relief We need to be able to grieve in this world that we need to preserve the possibility of hope I hope that someday Oberammergau will learn to keep its vow again and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,” a play that offers the same wisdom as those medieval devotional practices and aesthetic works devoted to the Passion sought to teach: that suffering is real and devastating William P. Hyland contributed to this article with research and reporting on the history of Passion plays Joy Marie Clarkson holds a PhD in theology from the Institute for Theology and the Arts at the University of Saint Andrews A classic hymn by Henry Hart Milman gives voice to the joy and foreboding of the Passion Week as Jesus approaches his “last and fiercest strife.”.. The Christian faith is the most exciting story that ever staggered the imagination of man Stirring morning and evening reflections for every day of the Lenten season .. Passion Play by Regine Petersen is an exploration of the story of the last days of Christ as performed in a Bavarian village and the underlying white supremacist representations of Jesus It was Kaspar Schisler who brought the plague to the isolated Bavarian village of Oberammergau Sneaking past the guards who sought to quarantine the hamlet from the ravages of the disease he returned home to visit family he missed while working in a neighbouring district Schisler died soon after reaching his family in Oberammergau Laid low by plague in a region reeling from the horrors of the 30-year-war (as featured in Daniel Kehlmann’s enjoyable novel the villagers pledged to God that if only he would relieve them of their sufferings from the plague every 10 years they would turn out in their entirety to perform the trials And so the Passion Play of Oberammergau was born Petersen’s book is a recounting of the 20th century history of the play through travelogues It’s a recounting in which representation is made to be seen to matter in which the theatrical representations have an effect on real life So we see postcards of the performers playing Judas and Caiphas (the Jewish high priest who oversaw the trial of Jesus) symbols in Nazi Germany of Jewish involvement in the murder of Jesus a reading that always skips over the Jewishness of Jesus himself The casting of Judas and Caiphas goes along Nazi physiognomic principles with the same being true for those actors playing Jesus and both Marys It’s casting straight out of the Hans Gunther (Hitler’s favourite photography ‘theorist’ and visual eugenicist) playbook and as the decade progresses so the banal violence of Nazism seeping into every corner of village life begin to dominate We see this in police reports of events in the village in the 1930s how the cultural policy of press coverage is consistently ‘keeping within the framework of the National Socialist framework Writing and books with subversive content are not being distributed.’ the ‘Jewish resident… who was baptised in April 1935 and subsequently joined the Catholic church.’ We hear about his participation in village life his increasing isolation as the decade progresses and then learn (in an extended essay at the back of the book) of his persecution during Kristallnacht his imprisonment in Dachau and his escape to Britain he is exiled to Australia on a ship with relatives of Sigmund Freud and Walter Benjamin as fellow passengers He returns to Germany in 1949 and dies in 1950 there are texts dealing with denazification a Nazi party member is replaced in the 1950 revival of the play by Anton Preisinger the performer who played Judas in the 1930s and does not get a part in the 1950 revival of an asymmetric amnesia where people ‘no longer hate each other’ says ‘people should stop talking about these things.’ non-Christian residents of Oberammergau have been allowed to perform in the Passion Play and some of his lines are spoken in Hebrew Petersen’s Passion Play helps us question how religious figures are represented in art and the political ramifications this may have in real life The Oberammergau performances are a small manifestation of how we see and think of historical figures how white supremacism inserts itself into almost every visual facet of our Christian institutions and Passion Play – published by the Eriskay Connection Regine Petersen is an artist and researcher with photography at the core of her practice Her work starts with specific and often coincidental findings which she uses as departure points to gain insight into more universal notions of memory Colin Pantall is a photographer, writer and lecturer based in Bath, England. His latest book, Sofa Portraits is available here.  Follow him on Instagram so did half of the village.Laid low by plague in a region reeling from the horrors of the 30-year-war (as featured in Daniel Kehlmann’s enjoyable novel and death of Jesus Christ.And so the Passion Play of Oberammergau was born.Petersen’s book is a recounting of the 20th century history of the play through travelogues and politics all overlap.So we see postcards of the performers playing Judas and Caiphas (the Jewish high priest who oversaw the trial of Jesus) a reading that always skips over the Jewishness of Jesus himself.The casting of Judas and Caiphas goes along Nazi physiognomic principles It’s casting straight out of the Hans Gunther (Hitler’s favourite photography ‘theorist’ and visual eugenicist) playbook.Hitler attended the Passion Play in 1934 Writing and books with subversive content are not being distributed.’Most of all we hear about Max-Peter Meyer the ‘Jewish resident… who was baptised in April 1935 and subsequently joined the Catholic church.’We hear about his participation in village life He returns to Germany in 1949 and dies in 1950.In the postwar years and does not get a part in the 1950 revival.The post-war years are years of denial says ‘people should stop talking about these things.’Today Things have changed in other words.Petersen’s Passion Play helps us question how religious figures are represented in art And now.Passion Play – published by the Eriskay ConnectionRegine Petersen 155 × 220 mm | 176 pEN | hardcoverFirst edition: 750ISBN: 978-94-92051-81-3 € 35.00 Regine Petersen is an artist and researcher with photography at the core of her practice the people turned to prayer in the time of crisis and they would show their gratitude by putting on a play about Jesus no one else in Oberammergau died from the plague So for the last 400 years the people of the mountain town have put on a passion play once every 10 years It forms a huge part of their town’s identity today from streets lined with wood-carving shops that make biblical figurines to the biblical murals painted on many of its buildings Oberammergau’s performance has become a massive international spectacle with half a million spectators from around the world when it is held More than 2,000 actors take part in the play and every other townsperson is somehow involved in the production It’s become like a pilgrimage for some It has been so popular that when representatives of the play did a U.S they stopped by the White House to visit Calvin Coolidge who later wrote a letter to the director in thanks But the play has long been more complicated than a simple celebration of faith Passion plays have traditionally been rife with anti-Semitism and this one hasn’t been any different and death of Jesus—is familiar to anyone who knows the New Testament the Church had decided that blame for the death of Jesus should fall with the Jews when the crowd demands that the Roman ruler of Jerusalem punish Jesus with death “His death be upon us and upon our children,” as a way of taking responsibility for his death on all Jewish people the people in the crowd were made to look like villains including wearing horns (a traditional anti-Semitic trope) Adolph Hitler attended the passion play twice and both Germany and the world had to reckon with the Holocaust the people in charge of Oberammergau’s play Christian Stückl was one of the many children in Oberammergau who practically grew up in the play He started rehearsing for his first performance he found a booklet at his grandparents’ house objecting to the anti-Semitism in the performance So Stückl dug into the history surrounding passion plays he visited Jerusalem to learn more about Jewish history when he was 25 and building a career as a director in Munich Stückl decided to return home to try to get the position of director of the play beating out a rival with a more traditionalist view Stückl has walked a delicate tightrope trying to change the play with each iteration while still maintaining support from the town without which he wouldn’t have a cast or crew He’s cast non-Catholics in speaking roles he received a threat and a petition signed by 1,800 people But he persisted and he’s set about bringing other voices into the play to come to town and engage in real dialogue about the play Underlying all of this is the age-old tension between stories of the past and the future that many imagine The next iteration of the play was supposed to take place in 2020 But a plague has returned to Europe and the world and Oberammergau’s long-running tradition has been postponed What will it look like in a world that keeps changing We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the world’s hidden wonders Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders 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If you continue to be blocked, please send an email to secruxurity@sizetedistrict.cVmwom with: Oberammergau Cast Announcement Documentary from Educational Opportunities Tours on Vimeo Privacy Policy Jesus shares bread with his disciples during the Last Supper at the dress rehearsal for the Oberammergau Passion Play That was the first word I spoke to myself as I stood in the former gas chamber at Dachau I am a Jewish American woman; I am a student studying religion because I love exploring questions of community belief and connection; I am someone whose interest in Holocaust studies began when I was little with “The Diary of a Young Girl” and expanded as I studied Holocaust music and testimony and then spent a summer working at a Holocaust museum I woke up from nightmares about hiding from Nazis behind fake walls I pondered whether spending my days studying and writing about Holocaust history would desensitize me I did not have an answer to that question until I visited a concentration camp for the first time Early in the morning on the day I visited Dachau, I got off a plane in Munich and met up with about a dozen other young Jews. Passionate about Jewish leadership and advocacy, we had all spent the summer as American Jewish Committee Goldman Fellows. We were concluding our experience by exploring contemporary Germany and Judaism in Germany in partnership with Germany Close Up, a program for North American Jewish students and young professionals we walked down a wide path between two symmetrical lines of trees surrounded by gravel rectangles where barracks once stood When we reached the Jewish memorial — a ramp descending into a stone cylindrical room with a circle of light at the top — we sang Psalm 23 A crowd gathered; onlookers took pictures of us “People don’t usually pray here,” our tour guide explained I felt uneasy that others saw our remembrance as a spectacle My tears did not cease as we walked the short distance to Dachau’s gas chamber watched and researched so much about the Holocaust I thought that entering the site might feel more like walking through a museum or replica that perhaps I’d be able to create distance between myself and the history that had occurred there I was standing in the spot where so many people – and so many Jews — had been murdered Any emotional detachment I may have been able to maintain when studying the Holocaust before was gone breathing in reality and choking back tears “Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad.” Those were the next words I spoke to myself Standing in a place so closely associated with the destruction of people These words that I recite every night before I sleep — these central words to the Jewish religion that declare “Hear O’ Israel the Lord is One” — felt different in Dachau They were my assertion that I was standing there They were my way of saying “we are still here.” a small Bavarian village with a big reputation a spectacle telling the story of the last days of Jesus’ life Legend holds that the play started because of a plague and a vow Faced with a deadly outbreak of the Black Death the citizens of Oberammergau pledged to put on a Passion Play every 10 years if no other lives were taken by the disease the Oberammergau Passion Play is globally famous and people make pilgrimages from around the world to see it Each night of the play’s five-month run attracts over 4,000 visitors —a number not much smaller than the population of Oberammergau The Passion Play had a reputation for being very antisemitic portraying Jews as responsible for killing Jesus With the help of Jewish leaders from organizations like AJC the production has gradually become less and less antisemitic was delayed from 2020 by COVID-19) is the first to be nearly void of antisemitism For his tremendous work on revising the Passion Play hand in hand with Jewish leaders AJC chose to honor director Christian Stückl whose attendees included the mayor of Oberammergau and the Passion Play’s lead actors — all natives of the village — slowly turned into joyous ruckus the cast pulled out musical instruments and started singing traditional Bavarian songs The words in Bavarian dialect meant nothing to our group but we caught onto the tunes and joined in we sang the traditional Hebrew song “Gesher Tzar Meod” (“Narrow Bridge”) and I taught the hand motions and words to one of my favorite Jewish songs to Jesus and his apostles veha’ikar lo lefached klal.” The whole entire world is a very narrow bridge And the main thing to recall is to have no fear at all  I contemplated these words as I sang them many of its residents had been members of the Nazi party; Hitler had visited for the 1930 and 1934 productions of the Passion Play I’d laid eyes on the spot where Kristallnacht began As the words to “Gesher Tzar Meod” instructed Things like boarding a train in a German station; things like seeing a tarp displaying old which reminded me of the piles of shoes taken from concentration camp prisoners moments in which I had to pause and remind myself what year I was in I was a Jew sitting across from lederhosen-sporting Germans playing Jesus and his apostles in a teeny Bavarian village’s Passion Play We were creating — we were being — the gesher  The most significant improvement Stückl made to the Passion Play was emphasizing the Jewishness of Jesus and his apostles they wore head coverings resembling kippot; they recited kiddush and hamotzi in the middle of the first of the two two-and-a-half-hour sections of the play they sang an original composition – first performed in the 2010 Passion Play — of the same words I’d recited in Dachau: the Shema The actors pronounced the Hebrew perfectly If I’d closed my eyes I could have been at a Yom Kippur service instead of a Christian pilgrimage site it was disorienting hearing the prayer sung so loudly and intensely in a Passion Play in a context that felt very far from Judaism as I know it  The words of the Shema — they were whispered in Dachau; belted in Oberammergau; muttered by a Jewish American processing a devastating history of her people They were shouted by Bavarian amateur actors reckoning with performing a play that has historically perpetuated antisemitism in the country where the Holocaust began We left Oberammergau the morning after the play and traveled to Berlin I went to Kabbalat Shabbat services at the Neue Synagoge on Oranienburger Straße in Berlin which had been Germany’s most prestigious in the late 19th and early 20th century We davened behind the building in a vacant gravel courtyard where the sanctuary used to stand the community sang Kabbalat Shabbat using the same melodies I knew The rabbi and I exchanged glances as we prayed; we silently acknowledged Jewish global connectivity I’d never felt closer to home while being so far away I did not know what the week’s Torah portion was when I showed up to services the following morning But as a woman from the congregation began to chant the sixth aliyah of Parashat Va’etchanan I realized she was reading the Shema from its original place in the Torah thinking about what it would have been like before the Holocaust what it would have been now had Hitler never risen to power I focused my attention on the woman’s chanting The source of my quiet prayer in Dachau and the source of the Passion Play’s loud proclamation that there was no place for antisemitism any more I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association Suite C1-310 Danforth AveToronto ON M4K 1N6Canada How Christian Stückl has updated a 400-year-old production for a 2022 audience The 1630s were a hard time for Bavaria. A civil war was raging, and as soldiers came home, they brought a disease with them. The plague killed dozens in the village of Oberammergau in 1633 The villagers made a promise to God that if they were spared from further ravages they would perform a Passion play every 10 years as thanks That promise has been fulfilled almost every decade for nearly 400 years. Christian Stückl, whose family dates back to the very first play, was set to direct his fourth production in 2020 before it was delayed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic he’s been dismantling centuries of accumulated traditions His passion for the work is no less diminished over time He spoke from his Munich offices with Broadview associate editor Andrew Faiz Andrew Faiz: Why did the villagers choose a play as their promise to God Some villages built chapels to saints in response And there were Passion plays all across Bavaria in that period AF: That first play in Oberammergau is a classic battle between good and evil “I am very afraid; I built this world in this way and now this young man has come from heaven otherwise our way of life will change and we will lose our power over the world.” AF: And that’s the play for a century or so CS: From 1634 to 1750, we have a script from Augsburg a monk from a nearby monastery writes a new one exclusively for Oberammergau AF: The play changes from a battle between heaven and hell to a battle between Jesus and the Jews CS: The intention was no longer to deal with allegory, with heaven and hell, but to make the play more “historically correct.” Hell was replaced by a synagogue. But nobody involved with the play had ever been to the Holy Land. The costume designers wondered how the Jewish priests looked in Jesus’ time. What kind of hat did they wear? They took a Catholic priest’s mitre and they turned it sideways the Jewish priests looked a little bit like devils the Catholic Church bestowed a missio canonica to affirm that the church’s beliefs were being taught by the Passion play The state and the church blessed this production the play was in the hands of the Catholic Church — the direction artists and playwrights from all over Germany came to see the play Then people from across Europe heard about the play He started organizing tours to Oberammergau The play was delayed two years because of the Spanish flu and the First World War Hitler saw the play in 1930 and called it “essential to the Reich.” Many intellectuals also saw it — Max Reinhardt the play was being criticized for its anti-Semitism Rabbi Josef Krauskopf saw it in 1900 and gave a series of lectures detailing the anti-­Jewish depictions in the play AF: The story of Oberammergau is in part about tradition — how it is built CS: I think tradition is very complicated to speak about but I think I am also part of the tradition We had a play for the Baroque times, we had a play for the Enlightenment, we had a play for the Nazi times, and now we need to look at how we tell the story in our own times. We have to get rid of all the anti-Semitic things. And we have to think of Jesus as a Jew AF: And the menorah is now at the Last Supper CS: The menorah had been in the room where the people were saying Jesus has to be killed and we give it back to Jesus because he was a Jew.” So we’re trying to get the anti-Semitism out of the text and out of the costumes and the set design AF: Part of the tradition in the village is who can be in the play The Catholic priest said you have to live in Oberammergau for 10 years to participate in the play So we changed the rule again to say you have to have lived here for 20 years We had rules that only Catholics could have one of the main roles, and for all the other parts you had to be a member of the Catholic or Protestant church And we accepted only unmarried women on stage one of our best actors was a married woman I gave a Protestant a main role for the first time For 2000, we extended that to non-Christians. In 2022, we have two Muslim actors: one is Nicodemus and one is Judas But maybe it is more liquid — it moves and changes with time CS: To bring the play to the next generation I have to speak to a new generation of actors The set designer has to create a new stage Worship and theatre have been DNA strands for thousands of years CS: Bach wrote the St. Matthew Passion — he told the story with music A bishop of Munich told me it has to be a holy mass — you have to bring Jesus on the stage like a real human being and like a god if I can bring a real human being on stage AF: Do you plan to direct the 400th anniversary production in 2034 Andrew Faiz is an associate editor at Broadview This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity This story was first published in Broadview’s April/May 2021 issue with the title “Dismantling Tradition.” We hope you found this Broadview article engaging Our team is working hard to bring you more independent But Broadview is a nonprofit and these are tough times for magazines Thank you for being such wonderful readers Hillhurst United now draws hundreds every week Banned for life from the Ontario legislature's public gallery for his protest Jeffrey Dale is an outspoken advocate for safe-consumption sites Groups are split on whether turning bodies into soil is respectful September might have something to do with it the people have found a spiritual connection to their past and a way forward in healing trauma The founder of the Festival of Literary Diversity says that the work involves more than just checking boxes The general public condemned a perceived lack of action by area churches   Calendar   |   Contact Us Villagers vowed that if spared from a devastating plague The first performance was to a small group in the church graveyard 500,000 people are expected to come between May and October Our parish priest offered the 2020 pilgrimage We could not imagine a better way to go than with our church family I read in our church bulletin about the trip being rescheduled for June 2022 Trips like these strengthened our individual faith and our faith as a couple It gave me something to look forward to in the midst of devastating loss I prayed I would feel Ed traveling with me in the presence of the priests my parish family and the new friends I would meet We joined 4,000 people from all over the world to watch the last week of Jesus’ life but we recognized the iconic moments of Jesus’ life and were mesmerized Believing in the Resurrection strengthened my faith and filled me with hope that I will be with my beloved Ed again one day Leonor “Leo” and Ed Rivera were members of the local Worldwide Marriage Encounter community for 32 of their 34 years of marriage until Ed unexpectedly died of a genetic heart defect on Aug To read more of Leo and Ed’s blogs, visit https://catholiccourier.com/viewpoints/blogs/to-have-and-to-hold. Choose from news (Monday), leisure (Thursday) or worship (Saturday) — or get all three! rewritten or otherwise distributed including by such means as framing or other digital copying and/or distribution methods leisure (Thursday) or worship (Saturday) — or get all three No, Thanks Print Special to the Los Angeles Times Reporting from Oberammergau Germany — — Villages in the Bavarian Alps go to sleep early on summer nights Silence rolls down from the mountaintops along with an eiderdown blanket of fog where the lights are on five nights a week and 2,000 villagers stay up late to fulfill a vow their staunchly Roman Catholic ancestors made almost 400 years ago when the village was threatened by the plague town elders promised to perform the Passion of Christ every 10 years staged in 1634 on a platform atop the town cemetery Since then the village has broken its pledge only twice: in 1770 As the tradition persisted and word got out people came to see the faithful little town honor its vow who built Linderhof castle in a valley near Oberammergau part of a building spree that helped earn him the soubriquet “Mad Kind Ludwig.” He liked the production so much that he gave silver spoons to all the leads except for Judas In 1880 English tour company Thomas Cook added Oberammergau to its brochure spurring the Passion’s popularity among people from English-speaking countries who still make up about 60% of the audience Adolf Hitler enjoyed the Jubilee performance in 1934 Jewish groups found the play flagrantly anti-Semitic They even called for an international boycott in 1970 That’s a lot of people for a mountain-locked town not much bigger than Disneyland with a population of 5,300 But the village runs the event like a tightly wound cuckoo clock selling performance tickets as part of package tours It included two nights and meals at the Hotel Wolf a Passion play script (with an English translation of the text) and a front-row seat for the second performance in mid-May It was raining hard when I drove into the valley both flanked by ski-lifts and a network of paths ice-crusted wall of the high Alps rises to the south I never saw it because the weather continued foul and cold enough to call for mittens and ski masks at night and the clouds occasionally parted to reveal a winsome Bavarian village where lilacs were budding Cows chewed sweet grass in backyard pastures and petunias cascaded from the window boxes of wood-shuttered chalets right out of “The Sound of Music.” Visitors — almost exclusively older than 50 and part of tour groups — drank mocha lattes in cafes or bought lederhosen and beer steins in souvenir shops with frescoed facades But many other stores are dedicated to the traditional craft of wood carving as venerated in Oberammergau as the Passion play and though commercialization has made a mark a relief because I’d been to Eureka Springs with its seven-story tall statue of Christ and Passion play theme park And everybody laughed when I said I was staying at the Hotel Wolf woof — has found a niche in non-Passion play years by catering to dog lovers It has dog showers and training rings as well as rooms for masters and pets my single under the eaves on the top floor and meals in the downstairs restaurant were fulsome affairs albeit served with more goodwill than polish I’d be annoyed if my soup got cold while I waited for a spoon But that amateurishness reflects the homemade character of the Passion play enterprise and the devotion of the people who support it including 550 children — not to mention the donkey Jesus rides into Jerusalem in the first act and a flock of sheep whose odor carries into the audience The 2010 play — revised since 2000 — has about 100 speaking parts Two performers are cast in each of these roles to ease the burden of rehearsal and performance which can be shouldered only by people who have flexible work schedules and supportive families though Oberammergau is full of amateur actors singers and instrumentalists because village schools emphasize music and theater The only requirement for performers is that they must have lived in Oberammergau at least 20 years or for 10 years if they settle there by marriage Non-Catholics are now welcome to participate and in 1990 a regional court made the village open casting to women who are married or over 35 earning the playful headline “Virgin Mary Is Mother of Two” in a British newspaper I’m pretty sure I saw this season’s Mary Magdalene riding a bike across the square in front of the Passion Play Theater A sports shop clerk who sings in the play told me that choir members aren’t keen about their costumes this year I knew I was talking to a Passion play actor possibly a Moses or Isaiah from one of the Old Testament tableaux vivants staged between scenes from the New Testament Most of my stay in Oberammergau was taken up by seeing the play a 5 1/2-hour marathon with a three-hour break for dinner walkers and cyclists head for the mountains The village itself offers only a handful of diversions such as visiting the Church of Saints Peter and Paul I searched here for the grave of Kaspar Schisler who worked abroad but stole into the quarantined town to visit his family Before the first Passion was staged and the plague abated almost a hundred villagers — including Schisler — died a relatively few compared with southern Germany as a whole where the Black Death killed more than a million people The excellent Oberammergau Museum tells the full story of the Passion play tradition with costumes from past performances vintage photos and exhibits about the changing text including the earliest extant script from 1662 Also proudly displayed is the handiwork of village wood carvers and 18th century luftmalerei masters Franz Seraph Zwink who painted frescoes of Christ’s condemnation on the facade of the nearby Pilatus House This season the town added an introductory lecture offered in the morning on performance days at the 4,720-seat Passion Play Theater a hangar-like building on the north side of town The crowd that gathered with me in the lobby was so big it had to be divided in two with dashing director Christian Stuckl lecturing in German and assistant director Otto Huber leading English speakers inside the partly heated the stage remained open to the elements until this season when a retractable roof was installed a comfort to performers that greatly increased Passion play debt now estimated at 27 million euros ($33 million) 10 million of which has been guaranteed by the German Free State of Bavaria a retired high school teacher who co-wrote revisions of the script with Stuckl said receipts from a successful 2010 season could help right village finances raising concerns that the state will take over the Passion play a bear-like man with the requisite bushy beard remained cheerful as he took us backstage to see sets and grew passionate when discussing text changes were to emphasize the Jewishness of Jesus; the responsibility borne by Roman procurator Pontius Pilate for his condemnation; and the political dilemmas faced by high priest Caiaphas But together with other changes instituted by the Stuckl-Huber team including rescheduling performances and casting younger actors in leading roles the search for a more historically accurate nuanced version of the Passion was met with outrage by conservatives The village was further rocked by the German clerical abuse scandal part of which unfolded in March at a monastery school in nearby Ettal a delegation from the New York-based Anti-Defamation League that attended a preview in early May said that the production “continues to transmit hostile stereotypes of Jews and Judaism.” I doubted that many people in the mostly sold-out house knew about Oberammergau’s problems it clearly had not lessened their joy and excitement then cracked open official texts to follow the action of the play performed in German I loved the way it opened with village children running in front of the donkey that carries Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday Then the orchestra boomed from the pit as a 50-member choir formed a line across the stage and sang the prologue during the showing of the first tableau vivant depicting Adam and Eve cast out of paradise Vignettes from the Old Testament and music took up half the production time followed by scenes from the New Testament dramatizing the final days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth I could have done without the tableaux vivants and a lot of the priestly debating with toddlers trying hard to stand at attention and nobody could turn away when thunder rolled as Jesus was nailed to the cross was following the English translation of the text and raised my head when I heard Simon Peter’s words from the Gospel of St is now being asked about Oberammergau’s 400-year-old Passion play travel@latimes.com California Travel & Experiences Lifestyle Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map Actor Frederik Mayet portrays Christ at the 2010 Passion Play Theater in Oberammergau Mayet has been chosen as one of two actors to portray Jesus this year 20220401T0700-OBERAMMERGAU-PASSION-PLAY-1524505_WEB Jesus on trial before Pilate is depicted during the 2010 Passion Play in Oberammergau Only local villagers are allowed to perform in the Passion Play 20220401T0700-OBERAMMERGAU-PASSION-PLAY-1524504_WEB Ornate buildings decorate the quaint village of Oberammergau A tote bag shows the postponement of the Passion Play for two years The Passion Play is a five-hour performance in two acts with 2,000 actors and extras Seeing the Passion Play that made the quaint Bavarian town of Oberammergau The result of a promise to God in 1634 in exchange for his sparing the townspeople from the plague the play was shuttered because of the global pandemic and the 42nd season was postponed until this year The inaugural performances 400 years ago were held next to the church in the graveyard atop the fresh graves of the plague victims modern stage is still exposed to the elements but the seats are under cover The rain cleared only to resume during the three-hour dinner break The production runs from May 14 through Oct and tickets are purchased sometimes years in advance and the second act runs 8 till at least 10:30 p.m these are moved forward an hour as it does get chilly in the mountains at night The men must grow their hair and beards months in advance to look more realistic as the time of Christ Only people born in the town or those who have lived there for at least 20 years are permitted to act Not quite half of the town’s population is involved in the play so big that the credits in the play’s program take up nearly 12 pages The town of Oberammergau has worked to train both groups through choirs You have to remind yourself that the actors are just amateurs Christian Stückl has been directing the play since 1990 the play is easy to follow with familiarity of the story of the Passion And an English translation “textbook” is provided to follow along Interspersed throughout the play are scenes from the Old Testament but tweaks are made every production cycle There are sometimes several hundred people on stage at any one time horses and camels — and you get the feel of how epic it is is used for concerts and other performances throughout the year Consider visiting the storybook town in the Alps on off years as well The view looking over the Ammer River to the Kofel is memorable Read more: A pilgrimage 10, make that 12 years in the making The imposing Bavarian Alps towers over the adorable gabled houses of Oberammergau Bavarian Alps | © Didgeman / Pixabay While the rest of the world paints its buildings the people in Oberammergau create masterpieces out of them you get to see unbelievably beautiful façade painting (Lüftlmalerei) and even fairy tales come alive in Lüftlmalerei The most stunning examples of Lüftlmalerei in the region are Forsthaus Lüftlmalerei in Oberammergau | © 12019 / Pixabay Sign up to our newsletter to save up to $800 on our unique trips See privacy policy Gregor to the peak of Oberammergau’s very own mountain peak Oberammergau gondola | © 4384974 / Pixabay Winter wonderland In winter, blanketed in a thick layer of snow, Oberammergau transforms into a monochromatic magical land. This is also the time thrill-seekers head to Oberammergau for exciting winter activities Linderhof Palace | © Yuri Turkov/Shutterstock | © Yuri Turkov / Shutterstock If you click on a link in this story All recommendations have been independently sourced by Culture Trip Read Next Design The Most Beautiful Churches in Berlin See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Summer See & Do The Best Weekend Trips From Heidelberg Art 10 Masterpieces You Can Only See in Munich See & Do A Guide to River Cruises in Germany: What to Know Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in November See & Do Germany's Most Beautiful Abbeys and Monasteries See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in October See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in September See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in July See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Autumn Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in December US: +1 (678) 967 4965 | UK: +44 (0)1630 35000 tripssupport@theculturetrip.com © Copyright 2025 The Culture Trip Ltd Rochus Rueckel as Jesus and cast members perform during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau After a two-year delay due to the coronavirus Germany’s famous Oberammergau Passion Play is opening soon when Catholic residents of a small Bavarian village vowed to perform a play of the last days of Jesus Christ every 10 years if only God would spare them of any further Black Death victims Rochus Rueckel as Jesus peforms with cast members during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau Almost half of the village’s residents— more than 1,800 people including 400 children — will participate Rochus Rueckel as Jesus performs with cast members during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau More than 1800 citizens of this Bavarian village participate in the century-old play of the suffering of Christ staged every ten years and dating back to 1634 Cast members perform during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau Frederik Mayet as Jesus performs during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau The village had taken a vow then to escape the plague that had threatened the population Rochus Rueckel as Jesus performs during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau performs with cast members during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau A cast member performs during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau performs with the cast during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau performs during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau the Catholic residents of a small Bavarian village vowed to perform a play of “the suffering death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ” every 10 years if only God would spare them any further losses from the plague known as the Black Death when the villagers of Oberammergau first performed their passion play no more residents died of that pestilence or any other plagues — until 2020 though residents who confirmed that were unsure how many Another consequence: The villagers could not fulfill their vow to stage the play after a 10-year interval the famous Oberammergau Passion Play is finally opening on May 14 — the 42nd staging since its long-ago debut Almost half of the village’s residents — more than 1,800 people including 400 children — will participate in the play about the last five days before Christ’s crucifixion It’s a production modernized to fit the times stripped of antisemitic allusions and featuring a diverse cast that include refugee children and non-Christian actors The play will be one of the first major cultural events in Germany since the outbreak of the pandemic with almost half a million visitors expected from Germany and all over the world many could not believe that the Passion Play would premiere,” said director Christian Stueckl who was born in Oberammergau and has been in charge of the play for more than 30 years “But we have an endless desire to bring our passion play back to the stage and we are highly motivated.” All the actors tested themselves for the virus before every rehearsal and will continue to do so for all 103 performances which run through Oct They have all been letting their hair grow — and the men letting beards grow — for over a year With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine still underway persecution and displacement play prominent roles in this year’s production — showing the timelessness of human suffering from 2,000 years ago and from today The play — which for hundreds of years reflected a conservative Catholic outlook — has received a careful makeover to become reflective of Germany’s more diverse society It includes a leading Muslim actor for the first time and has been purged of the many notorious antisemitic plot lines which drew widespread criticism “The history of the Oberammergau Passion Play as being one which manifests these antisemitic tropes — Jews as villainous Jews as Christ killers — was always part of the story,” Rabbi Noam Marans told The Associated Press in a recent interview in Oberammergau the director for interreligious and intergroup relations for the American Jewish Committee in New York has been advising Stueckl together with a team of Christian and Jewish American experts for several years on how to rid the play of antisemitic content The play no longer depicts the Jews as Christ’s killers and shows clearly that Jesus was a Jew himself It places the story of Jesus’ last days in historical context with all its intra-Jewish tensions and the Jews’ oppression by the Romans such as the famous choir and orchestra whose musical compositions go back to the early 19th century The mix of Christian and Jewish influences on the current performance is vividly illustrated during the depiction of the Last Supper when a huge Menorah is lit on the table and the disciples of Jesus recite both Hebrew prayers and the Christian Lord’s Prayer and it has no place in the lives of the performers either,” Stueckl said Along with tackling the play’s antisemitism Stueckl made it a more inclusive performance overall performers had to belong to one of the two major German churches and members of any other religious affiliation are welcome to participate as long as they are residents of Oberammergau Judas is played by Muslim actor Cengiz Gorur And several children of refugees from Africa and elsewhere who only recently arrived in Oberammergau after fleeing their home countries Stueckl called the play “very male-dominated” — all leading roles are male Asked whether he could imagine a future performance in which women played leading male roles “I don’t think I will live to see Jesus being played by a woman — or Mary by a man,” he said and added: “Even though the world would not come to an end because of that.” Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US The AP is solely responsible for this content your new go-to podcast to spice up your weekday mornings with relevant news and behind-the-scenes from Brussels and beyond From the economy to the climate and the EU's role in world affairs this talk show sheds light on European affairs and the issues that impact on our daily lives as Europeans Tune in to understand the ins and outs of European politics Dare to imagine the future with business and tech visionaries Deep dive conversations with business leaders Euronews Tech Talks goes beyond discussions to explore the impact of new technologies on our lives the podcast provides valuable insights into the intersection of technology and society Europe's water is under increasing pressure floods are taking their toll on our drinking water Join us on a journey around Europe to see why protecting ecosystems matters and to discover some of the best water solutions an animated explainer series and live debate - find out why Water Matters We give you the latest climate facts from the world’s leading source analyse the trends and explain how our planet is changing We meet the experts on the front line of climate change who explore new strategies to mitigate and adapt the Bavarian small village of Oberammergau in the south of Germany was hit by the bubonic plague the plague would have laid waste to 81 people Desperate to stop the epidemic in its tracks the remaining villagers begged God to spare them they would perform a play depicting the life and death of Jesus Christ every 10 years performing the play every 10 years (from 1634 to 1674) and each decadal year since 1680 The Oberammergau Passion Play (Oberammergauer Passionsspiele) has become a legendary fixture of the global theatre calendar Its 42nd edition was delayed from 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic to run this year 1,800 villagers take part in the huge run of performances which started on 14 May 2022 and will depart for another eight years People from all over the world come to see the play To perform in the Oberammergau Passion Play is a privilege that is only afforded to locals though You must either be born in Oberammergau or have spent at least 20 years in the village to join the cast Mayet was born in nearby Munich but spent most of his childhood in Oberammergau He was first taken to the Passion Play in 1990 Reviving the role 12 years on is an honour “I never imagined myself playing Jesus,” Mayet says “When I was elected for the first time in 2010 but in the next few days I really felt the pressure.” they congratulate you but you know they’re thinking ‘we’ll see how this goes’,” Mayet laughs Over 500,000 people are expected to attend the Passion Play this year alone “Playing this role twice is something I’m really happy about It’s not something that happens often,” he says Outside of his leading role in Oberammergau Mayet is the artistic director of Münchner Volkstheater It’s a burden Mayet and the cast don’t take lightly While the play is meant to be enjoyable to people from any background Mayet recognises that for those who do believe in Jesus “Jesus is something more than playing Hamlet for me,” Mayet says the cast travelled to Israel to visit the holy sites of the passion story But it was also important to this production to find a human quality in Jesus One of Mayet’s favourite scenes is the prayer at the Mount of Olives Jesus cries blood and tears as he feels lonely and doesn’t know what to do “That’s a moment in which Jesus is depressed and has fears “We show Jesus as a person people can connect with This direction is no doubt part of the influence Christian Stückl has had on the play Stückl is from Oberammergau and also works as the artistic director and managing director of the same Munich theatre Stückl was just 24 when he was elected as the next director of the passion plays Stückl made radical changes to the script to remove antisemitic themes from the play For the 1934 300th anniversary of the play Adolf Hitler attended and praised the story’s anti-Jewish themes Christian and Jewish critics demanded changes to the script Today’s play is a far cry from those problematic editions Mayet read the copy of the script from 1970 but perhaps you will understand it later.’ Jesus was holy in a way.” And the disciples ask the questions we would ask today,” Mayet says It’s no coincidence that 2022’s version of the play feels more prescient than ever The Passion Play was started to stave off the bubonic plague and this version was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic “You suddenly have a new view of the text,” Mayet says the war in Ukraine sparked further introspection “The text was the same but our work changed,” Mayet notes “He talks about the same problems we have today He lives in a society where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer Where the play exceeds is through its ability to engage a village to create a sublime piece of theatre every decade “There’s something really special about the Passion Play I’m pretty close with the actors of the apostles and disciples,” Mayet says “The cast is over 1,800 people so I don’t know everyone But after being together for such a long time you meet most of the people in the play.” The rehearsal process starts in January and cast members are required to grow their hair and beards to the right length for the duration of the run A long overdue haircut is one of the few things Mayet can look forward to at the play’s final curtain everyone will be a little happy when the season is finally over because they’ll be able to do things again No one can go on holiday as everything is dedicated to the play,” Mayet shares there will be a lot of tears on the last day because that’s the last performance for at least eight years Germany made a pact with God: Salvation from the bubonic plague that was tearing through the Bavarian hamlet in exchange for a theatrical ritual—a Passion Play to be performed once a decade in gratitude to a merciful deity God happily accepted the offering and not a single other resident of Oberammergau was lost to the plague And loyally sticking to its side of the bargain Oberammergau has pulled out the greasepaint and put on a show The only forces that have ever managed to derail this nearly 400-year-old tradition have been wars which has pushed the 2020 production to 2022 suspension of disbelief is the price of admission for a tale as fantastical as this And this tale—fused with the piece of epic theater that has been built around it—have made Oberammergau a place of pilgrimage for audiences from all over the globe With a typically sold-out run that spans approximately 100 performances the Oberammergau Passion Play performs to around a half a million patrons each time it is mounted audiences are traveling far and wide not to see international stars of stage and screen They are coming to see a production crafted exclusively by the amateur residents of Oberammergau is one of the ritual's strictest stipulations: With the exception of the child performers only those born in Oberammergau or who have lived there for 20 years can participate in the Passion Play (the residency rule was changed from 10 to 20 years when East German World War I refugees sent the population of Oberammergau soaring to 3,000) Religion tends to cling to fossilized tradition The Oberammergau Passion Play has taken the road of the latter reckoning with its role in both its local community and on the world stage with each passing generation whose family can be traced back to the play's earliest days has taken the reins of the play's modern era helming his first Passion Play in 1990 and now preparing for his fourth In an interview about his plans for the post-pandemic production and now we need to look at how we tell the story in our own times." That process has involved engaging in a profound dialogue with the American Jewish Committee as well as many other experts on Christian-Jewish dialogue It has also involved stripping the play of its other vestigial prejudices Stückl broke the long-standing rules that excluded non-Catholics from lead roles and denied married women roles at all he extended these casting privileges to non-Christians and the 2022 production will feature Muslim actors as Nicodemus and Judas Rehearsals for the 2022 production are set to begin in January with plans to run from May to October of next year If the fortune of the original divine pact holds the Oberammergau Passion Play will be able to resume as normal with its full cast of thousands creating the epic spectacle that for most tourists is a once-in-a-lifetime experience if COVID protocols force the production to change course it will just be one more formative juncture in the life of play whose fabric holds the stories of generations it is increasingly able to unify the disparate groups who come to witness it There is no better example of that than in Stückl's 2010 production which emphasized Jesus's identity as a devout Jewish man who performed the role of Jesus in that production noted exactly two moments during the performance where the audience went silent: When Jesus is put on the cross and when Jesus leads the chorus in a recitation of the Jewish prayer but perhaps it's just divinity working wonders through art Gail Kriegel's new play follows a family affected by mental illness The Tony-winning Best Musical continues at the Walter Kerr Theatre Noah Himmelstein will direct Matthew Puckett's original musical Neumann is the Tony nominated choreographer behind Hadestown and Swept Away one Tony winner is playing the trumpet while the other is channeling Madame Rose Due to the expansive nature of Off-Broadway Thank You!You have now been added to the list Blocking belongson the stage,not on websites Our website is made possible bydisplaying online advertisements to our visitors Please consider supporting us bywhitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.Thank you Dreifke assumed responsibility as Commandant of the NATO School Oberammergau in a ceremony May 17 The Bavarian State Government was represented by Dr After almost four years as the Commandant of the NATO School Oberammergau Scott Butler handed over his duties and was recognized for his achievements and outstanding performance providing first - class training and education NATO - wide For him “ to live in this amazing Bavarian community and to work as part of this unique international community has been the highlight of my professional career and personal life who has served as the NATO School Oberammergau’s Dean of Academics for the last two years emphasised that the school is the central institution where NATO’s “trust by our family of 179 military professionals [ .. The ceremony was supported by the Mountain Music Corps of the German Armed Forces from Garmisch - Partenkirchen and the Black Powder Gunners from Urspring The NATO School Oberammergau is NATO’s key education and training facility at the operational level non-commissioned officers and civilians from all allied and national military commands within the NATO Alliance attend courses at the NATO S chool Oberammergau often together with partners from other countries This unique institution has grown from two courses in 1953 to 110 different courses nowadays Today's courses cover basic NATO orientation The courses are continually revised and updated to reflect current developments across the Alliance Oberammerguau, a tiny city in Bavaria, has been staging the Passion of Christ every decade for the past 380 years.The tiny city of Oberammerguau, located in the mountains of Bavaria, Germany, is known for its talented wood carving craftsmen, its NATO School and the 380-year-old tradition of Passion Plays was dealing with the deadly spread of the bubonic plague its citizens vowed to God that if he stopped the spread of the disease they would stage a theatrical play honoring Jesus’ Passion every ten years written by a group of Oberammergau citizens was performed on Pentecost day 1634 on a stage built near the pestilence cemetery where many plague victims had been buried the four manuscripts that form the play’s text—originated by combining a Passion play from the 15th century and a Christian Reformation tragedy by Sebastian Wild—have been staged by Oberammergau people every 10 years with the exception of 1940 due to World War II The performance, covering the last days of Jesus from his arrival in Jerusalem to his crucifixion through dramatic text, music and live tableaux vivants is repeated every few days for five months Parts of it include tales from the Old and New Testament—such as King Ahasuerus rejecting Vashti in favor of Esther or the sale of Joseph as slave in Egypt—to put the Passion of Jesus into a wider context The Passion play is performed by local actors—rule has it that one has to be born or have lived in Oberammergau for at least 20 years to get a role in the “Passionsspiele”—who take hours off their day jobs to attend the year-long rehearsals that leads to the months-long summer event The cast usually is made up of 2,000 people who wear the same costumes designed for the original 1634 play The next Passion Play will take place in the purpose-built Passion Play Theater in 2020 but preparations are already underway at full speed “At the moment, we are establishing who is entitled to join and which residents want to act in it,” artistic director Christian Stückl told the German newspaper Deutsche Welle music and design will be staged so to give a contemporary interpretation of the meaning of the Passion “It’s important that the play always reflects the times we live in.” the Passion Play has drawn visitors from all corners of the planet including American automotive mogul Henry Ford A total of 103 performance days are planned for the 42nd installment of The Oberammergau Passion Play  with an estimated 500,000 visitors expected from all over the world Articles like these are sponsored free for every Catholic through the support of generous readers just like you Please make a tax-deductible donation today Help us continue to bring the Gospel to people everywhere through uplifting Catholic news Posted on October 06, 2022 in: News After waiting three years to see Eastern Europe our journey began with the announcement of a pilots’ strike by Lufthansa our travel agent divided the 29 of us into groups sending some to Amsterdam via KLM and some to Warsaw via LOT Airlines.  With amazement we all were together at our hotel in Prague by evening the following day; with Fr We were blessed to have four priests on our Pilgrimage: our host Fr Brendan the Navigator Catholic Community of New London Dennis Mercieri.  Our four priests officiated at Mass and read Biblical readings on the bus each day enhancing the religious experience of our journey Mark tested our knowledge of the Bible through a series of questions requiring answers.  This revealed to him and to all of us that (other than the members of the clergy) we will need some diligent study to prepare for our next Pilgrimage and Fr The 11 day itinerary featured visits to Prague and finally Oberammergau.  Our first Mass on Sunday was celebrated by Fr Mark assisted by the other priests at the beautiful Our Lady of Victory Church (Shrine of the Infant of Prague) we were indeed privileged to attend Holy Mass celebrated each day by a different priest at some beautiful Basilicas In Prague we toured the area of the Prague Castle home of Czech Princes and Kings since the 9th Century we were captivated by the Astronomical Clock on the hour a door opens and a skeleton appears; reminder of our limited time on earth Death rings in the hour while quarter hours are marked by the 4 stages of life: child During the procession a cock crows 3 times In Budapest we climbed 100 stairs up Gellert Hill (named after Bishop Gellert who tried unsuccessfully to convert the Magyars to Christianity; sadly he met his death by being thrown off this hill into the river Danube).  From the top of the hill we had many photo-ops seeing the Danube River dividing the ancient city of Buda from Pest the modern city together with the panoramic views from above.  This area was built after the War of Independence 1848-49 to watch over unhappy citizens.  Interestingly the rubric cube and Brahms composition “Hungarian Dances” are products of Budapest Later in the week Holy Mass was celebrated at the Basilica of St the home of the Black Madonna of Altotting associated with many miracles.  Cardinal Ratzinger was born near here in Bavaria and has visited as Pontiff.  one of the highlights was our visit with Msgr Kevin Randall at the Apostolic Nunciature in Vienna Randall is a CT native who has served at St Joseph Church in New London and is now a member of the diplomatic corps of the Vatican.  His assignments have brought his ministry to Peru and now to Vienna.  His tour of duty is about 3 years with the purpose of immersing him in different cultures.  Msgr Randall’s magnetic personality and graciousness was evident during our visit.  He spent time instructing us on the directives from the Vatican suggesting guidelines for the diplomatic Mission.  As a “grace note” to the evening Randall set up some delicious hors d’oeuvres and pastries for our group.  We are all proud to know Msgr and wish him every success in his new assignments.  some of us attended a concert featuring the compositions of Strauss and Mozart.  Because the passing of Queen Elizabeth of England the concert master altered the program to play British anthems and national hymns out of respect for a woman who was dearly loved by all.  We were pleased to be part of this tribute our guide Karl provided a thumbnail history of the Passion Play.  He related that the 30 year war (1618-1648) caused the bubonic plague or Black Death.  At that time it was believed that this was God’s punishment that required one to pray for God’s mercy.  Out of this resulted the first Passion Play in 1634.  The theater for the play has been rebuilt many times with its frescoed buildings and wood carvers’ cottages There are about 2,000 people living in the village who are members of the cast.  There is a full orchestra and about 200 in the choir The Passion Play is a very emotional experience.  The play is performed in two parts: one from 1-4 pm (events leading to the Passion) and the other from 7-10 pm (the Passion itself).  The content of the play had references to the Old as well as the New Testament We were given a booklet with English translations which was a nice help even though we could easily recognize events on the stage  About 5000 attended the performance that will extend until early November.  A couple seated in front of us told us that they have attended the 2000 and the 2022 performances and that the play has become an enduring religious experience for them.  Upon the conclusion the actors left the stage and did not return even to a resounding applause.  Fr Mark mentioned that this is because they are offering their performance to Almighty God and was not for themselves.  We all left the arena in silence consumed with the enormity of what we had just witnessed Read More Read More Read More Read More Read More Read More ACA DONATE Please email comments to [email protected] I’m working on a book about how local communities reinterpret the Stations of the Cross to claim divine solidarity in the face of injustice a project that has led me to Passion rituals of many kinds students invited me to join an ecumenical Atlanta congregation composed predominantly of people living on the street as they carried a cross down a gentrified stretch of busy Ponce de Leon Avenue to lament the racialized displacement wrought by recent urban redevelopment a community in Atlanta’s Peoplestown neighborhood memorialized Jesus’ Crucifixion beside the burned-out Wendy’s parking lot where police officers killed Rayshard Brooks in 2020 I’ve become captivated by the question of what it is about the Stations of the Cross—this quintessentially traditional medieval devotion and its fourteen-station template—that makes it such a rich site of theological agency for communities on the margins the Oberammergau Passion play has little in common with these urban Ways of the Cross when village leaders assembled under a wooden crucifix in the parish courtyard and begged God to save the plague-ravaged community from further death they promised to perform Christ’s Passion every ten years villagers have staged the Passion about once a decade for nearly four centuries The play was slated to debut for the forty-second time in 2020 until—ironically—the pandemic forced a two-year delay Under three-time director Christian Stückl Christ’s Passion in Oberammergau becomes a wrenching sometimes chaotic psychological theo-drama in addition to a three-hour break in the middle for dinner Scenes are punctuated by “living images”—color-saturated summarily haunting tableaux from Hebrew Scripture that strive for longue durée rather than biblical typology—and carried by a full orchestra and chorus performing a score adapted from one composed some two centuries ago But what has made the Oberammergau Passionsspiele a source of global fascination has arguably less to do with its content and more with the traditions associated with its production a person must have been born and raised in Oberammergau or have resided there for at least twenty years (Anyone under the age of eighteen can perform no matter how long they’ve lived in town.) Everyone from the village has the right to participate; the 2022 production featured a cast around 40 percent of the village’s total population villager-actors refrain from cutting their hair or trimming their beards beginning on Ash Wednesday the year before the play The lives of the Bavarian village and its people revolve around the play in ways that feel beguilingly incongruent with Western Europe’s otherwise late-modern secular milieu It’s impossible to listen to a cool and self-described religiously ambivalent German twentysomething talk about eagerly putting his life on hold for a year—leaving university all for the chance to join his neighbors on stage in a play about Jesus’ Crucifixion—and not come away wondering what exactly is going on here But it’s another question raised by the play that I find most exigent: What is tradition? And, faced with tradition, who are we? Adherents? Agents? Something else? In 2000, Columbia University English Professor James Shapiro published an exposé that traced the play’s anti-Semitic history and complicity in Nazi persecution of the Jews most community leaders still approached the play’s troubling past with a mix of denial and shame Twenty-three years and three productions later actors discuss the history with frank sincerity the American Jewish Committee honored Stückl with the Isaiah Award for Exemplary Interreligious Leadership for catalyzing a village-wide reckoning with the play’s legacy In sustained consultation with Jewish groups Stückl exorcized the play’s anti-Semitism and reinvented the production to accentuate Jesus’ Jewish identity In the conservative Bavarian village still haunted by the region’s Nazi past the decades-long process of revising the play was politically arduous and personally risky It’s also clear that what seemed at the time to be a departure from tradition was in fact concerns that any woman in the play appear properly virginal meant that only unmarried women under the age of thirty-five were allowed to perform Deputy Director Abdullah Karaca explained that after the rule was changed four hundred women who had previously been excluded signed up to act creating new roles and amplifying crowd scenes no one would guess that the old women around town whose long gray hair signifies their participation in the play had ever been excluded from the tradition was as sensitive as anyone to the ever-widening circle of inclusion: he was one of two Muslims in the 2022 production the question on many people’s minds is whether the residency requirement should be amended Those who want to maintain the rule invoke the sanctity of tradition the rule was only instituted in 1960 to keep World War II refugees from participating It called to mind the scores of Confederate monuments across the U.S South erected not by grieving Civil War widows but by Jim Crow–era segregationists seeking new ways to terrorize Black citizens with the white gaze How much of what we call tradition is just the loosely calcified discriminations of some recent past How do we learn to tell honest stories about the things we’ve inherited Scholarly accounts of urban Good Friday processions like the ones I’m researching all seem to include a quotation from a participant firmly disavowing the idea that their ritual is a “Passion play.” The idea is that Passion plays are benign and apolitical A via crucis that winds through the streets of San Antonio or Atlanta or Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood is an act of filling in the blanks; to fill in the blanks is to do the work of tradition I went to Oberammergau because I viewed it as the consummate Passion play the pious control group against which the radical nature of the other Passion rituals I planned to examine would become even more apparent Yet as I delved into the play’s complicated history and the work it has taken to remake and redeem it I’m still not sure where Oberammergau will fit into the narrative I’m crafting Susan Bigelow Reynolds is assistant professor of Catholic Studies at Candler School of Theology at Emory University.  More than 80 travelers from four states made European voyage with Arkansas Catholic Tennessee and New Mexico traveled to Europe in June and July to participate in Arkansas Catholic’s pilgrimage to see the world-famous Passion Play in Oberammergau Leading the first tour June 12-22 was Father Tony Robbins of Conway assisted by Father Taryn Whttington of Little Rock which is held only every 10 years and delayed from its scheduled 2020 performances a highlight for the group was participating in the Corpus Christi Mass and procession June 17 at the cathedral in Salzburg The second tour June 29-July 9 was led by Father William Burmester of Texarkana assisted by Father Andrew Hart of Little Rock Pilgrims gained many blessings from places like Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland celebrating Mass in the small chapel in front of the Black Madonna shrine Each group was able to attend Mass at local cathedrals churches and chapels and learn about the faith and history in Germany President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy… Pope Francis recorded a video message in January urging young people to learn to listen to… renowned for his pastoral leadership in supporting the poor Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re presided over the funeral Mass of Pope Francis Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI were among 18 churchmen elected between ages 71 and 80.… From its founding on the Annunciation in 1911 to today Arkansas Catholic serves the state with weekly news in print and digital media who said the newspaper should be an “earnest champion in the cause of right justice and truth and an ardent defender of the religion which we all love so well.” Copyright 2025 Arkansas Catholic | Digital Edition | Archives 1911-2002 | Privacy & Terms | PO Box 7417 We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns 9 January 1960: It is believed that as far back as 1613 religious plays were staged in the Tyrolian village of Erl Anyone who has been unable to to get a ticket for Oberammergau this year might well go to Erl instead, for Erl has a Passion Play with a history just as long and as proud Erl claims to have started a year before Oberammergau Erl is a little Austrian village about fifty miles from Oberammergau It lies in a valley between the Krantzhorn and Spitzstein mountains It is much less commercialised than Oberammergau where every shop is piled high with souvenirs In Erl there are only the simple Tirolean houses of the villagers and a couple of inns but it is famous for its friendliness and hospitality As far back as 1613 religious plays of one kind and another were staged in Erl but it was in 1633 that the first Passion Play was put on the play takes its origin in a vow made at the time of the Great Plague Erl’s enthusiasm was stimulated by the interest of the Emperor Maximilian who had a hunting lodge in the district From time to time down the centuries both secular and religious authorities took exception to a certain crudity in the script which had persisted from the earliest times nor those later promulgated by the Empress Maria Theresa could make the villagers give up their play and performances continued in secret in attics and barns at dead of night A feeling for tradition and continuity is strong at Erl and it is fascinating to look at some of the old records of the play and see all down the years family names like Trockenbacher and Rainer which still appear in this year’s cast The renovated passion festival theatre of Oberammergau Photograph: Camay Sungu/APNormally the play is not staged in the same year at Erl and Oberammergau in view of the overwhelming demand for tickets the authorities have decided for once to break with tradition and at Erl performances will be given from June to September on Saturdays and Sundays and also on most Fridays and/or Mondays both the text and the music have been revised The people of Erl do not like the Passion Play House to be called a theatre and would probably object to my use of the word “performance” since for them the “Passion,” as they call it is still in every way a reverent act of worship was completed only three years ago and replaces the previous theatre which was destroyed by fire erected it with the help of the men of the village There are seats for 1,700 and both stage and auditorium are under cover is fast acquiring an international reputation The stage is built on five or six different levels making possible all sorts of dramatic effects and entrances Erl goes in for very carefully thought-out lighting effects and makes use of five projectors Instead of a backcloth there is a semi-circular wooden structure made of vertical strips of wood Even the electrically operated “curtain” which rises at the beginning of the play The only comparable “set” I have ever seen was at a performance three years ago at the State Opera House in Prague To read through the names of the players is to see reflected the life of the whole community Judas Iscariot is played by Johann Schwaighofer By a coincidence at Oberammergau also this year Judas is prayed by a Johann Schwaighofer I cannot imagine any village of less than a thousand inhabitants in England which could find 240 players who speak with such clarity and authority says: “The people of Erl must remain as they are are bound to pierce the hearts of the audience and will be remembered much better than any tricks of stagecraft.” But at least one English travel agency still has tickets for Erl Perhaps by the time the Passion Play comes round again