Tuesday, September 6th was quite the day - you could call it a once in a lifetime experience, I suppose. My family had the opportunity to go to the German town of Oberammergau and witness the Passion Play that the town has been performing since 1634. That's right - you read that right - since 1634.
Four hundred years ago (1633 - so give or take some years) the Black Death was raging across Europe and no place was spared from the ravages of the disease. The people of Oberammergau made a vow to the Lord that if he would spare the town, they would perform the life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ every ten years - and no other villagers died from the Plague. The first passion play was performed in 1634.
Our first stop in the town of Oberammergau was an informational session in English - ya'll - the entire play was in German. A lovely gentleman who plays the part of Nicodemus talked to use for about 45 minutes and gave us tons of wonderful history about the Passion Play.
A few of the tidbits that were shared with us are as follows:
- The play has only been "skipped" twice. In 1774 during the Enlightenment when the church forbid plays like this and 1940, during World War II.
- The theater was built in 1880 and enlarged in 1930.
- The play has gotten shorter over the years... it originally took two days to perform. It shortened to about 16 hours and is now down to a run time of (about) five to five and a half hours!
- The director never knows how many people will take part but he cannot tell anyone no. Usually about 1/3 of the village are participants, while the other 2/3 operate restaurants and inns within the town!
- Everyone in the play is an amateur's but they all get paid a small amount from the ticket fees.
After our informational talk, we perused the town itself since the play didn't begin until 1:30. The town is also well-known for it's wood carvings and we were able to watch a local townsman carving the base of a tree into an angel - it was quite impressive! We also got a small meal - I had my first bowl of goulash and fell in love with it! I will be recreating it this Autumn for Ryan and I! Yum!
Around 1:00, horns blew throughout the town as your alert that the play would start in thirty minutes - it was kind of wild! We were near the Passion Play Museum that currently is covered in an exhibit that uses former costumes to make a statement on the exterior of the building - very neat, even if we didn't get a chance to check out the museum! We made our way to the theater and settled into our seats, with our English guides to the play (because remember - it's ALL in German).
Please note - the smiling German man in the picture below - as we took this selfie, I noted he was smiling in the background. When we finished taking the picture, he poked Lindsey and I and rolled off a whole ton of German and the only word I caught was "selfie"... he was super thrilled that he'd snuck into our selfie. It absolutely cracked us up!
The play is structured so that you watch the first act of the play and then you have a three hour intermission, at which time you will go and have dinner in one of the local restaurants. The town offers numerous play + dining packages and also play + dining + lodging packages to take advantage of and we went to a restaurant right down the street from the theater called Ammerwinkl. They offered a three-course Passion Play meal and so that's what we took part in - the food was unique and it was certainly the most interesting meal we had all week!
We had time once dinner was finished to pop into a few shops in the town and I purchased a beautifully carved cross and nativity set that were made in the town by their wood workers. We also took in the beautiful paintings that are showcased on so many of the homes in the town - this type of painting is called Luftelmalerei and is very common in the Southern/Bavarian portions of Germany. Oberammergau is known for many of the houses in their town showcasing this kind of artwork.
Sure enough - the horns rang out again thirty minutes before the second act, so we scurried back to the theater and settled in with our guides to take in the second act! Behind the action on the stage, the sun set and night settled in, before I knew it the play had ended and it was almost 10 at night! Thank goodness the town was only about twenty minutes from Garmisch and the drive home wasn't too long!
We walked through the quiet town back toward the parking area(s) that are in place for the Passion Play and we were able to take in some more house painting along our way. I wondered what I'd think of the play since it was in German - but I still found it incredibly moving and I am so thankful I had the chance to see something so amazing as this incredible vow that has been taking place for almost half a century!
The next play is in 2030 - so if you'd like to see some gorgeous German countryside and experience a once in a lifetime event, start planning now!
Where we Went Today
Oberammergau Passion Play - https://www.passionsspiele-oberammergau.de/en/home
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