The year was 1632.  In the village of Oberammergau, the residents huddled around each other; tension was high and resolve was turning to fear and trepidation.  The walled village closed its gates and no one was allowed to leave or enter.  The villagers, themselves, took turns keeping watch, but still the fingers of death continued to claw mercilessly at the walls.   The Thirty Years War was raging, but the greatest danger was, at that time, the unknown.  The only known factor to the equation was that people – friends, family, young, and old – all were taking ill and dying within days.  One villager, by the name of Kaspar Schisler, had spent the summer working away from the small village.   Feeling homesick, he decided to visit his mountain home, inside the walls.  Unbeknownst to him, he was already infected with the unknown killer.  Within a few days he, too, was dead.  The Italian writer, Boccaccio, said that victims of this disease often “ate lunch with their friends, and dinner with their ancestors in paradise” because it killed so quickly.

 

The Thirty Years War played a major part in this saga.  With the movement of people and merchant ships, cleanliness was certainly not a priority and large colonies of rats lived in the ships’ holds and in local storage areas.  To compound the problem, it was then widely believed that cats were evil, so many were destroyed, leaving no natural predator for the rats, and their populations increased rapidly.  Additionally, in those days, no one knew much, if anything, about germs or viruses.  Nor could they have guessed the toll these would have exacted on humanity.  As in anything unknown, the people invented incredible stories about how this terrible affliction, that we now know as the Black Plague or Black Death, was spread.  The culprit became either a green and yellow cloud that descended at night, or a group of people that had poisoned the wells. At any rate, there was little doubt that God himself was sending the plague down from heaven to punish humanity for its sins. It was then believed that the only chance of survival was to pacify God’s fury. Little did they know that the perpetrator, in actuality, was nothing more than the common flea.

 

As an aside, the plague produced rosy, ring-like spots on its victim’s skin. These eventually turned black.  The children’s game of “Ring Around the Rosy” was derived from the appearance of these spots.  Because people were dying in such numbers, often the corpses were left on the streets for many days.  People took to carrying flower petals in their pockets in order to mask the stench.  So we get the words,” Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posies; ashes, ashes, we all fall down.”

 

By 1633, the people of the Alpine village of Oberammergau were in a state of devastation. Silently, they gathered together in the local church, held hands, and swore their sacred oath to God that, if He spared the rest of the village they would, as a sign of repentance and remorse over the suffering and death of Jesus, perform what today is known as The Passion Play.  They vowed to perform it every ten years.  Such vows were not uncommon in the Bavarian and Austrian villages.

 

Miraculously, from the time of that solemn vow, no other people died of the plague.

 

The first Passion Play in Oberammergau was staged in 1634.  In the year 1680, the performance was moved to the first year of each decade.  In the 376 years that have passed, there were only two interruptions to the ten-year schedule: 1770 (a time for prohibition of such plays) and again in 1940 during World War II.  In 1984, a special set of performances commemorated the 350th anniversary of first play.

 

The play which depicts the passion of Christ from his triumphal arrival in Jerusalem to his crucifixion and rising from the dead, is performed on an open-air stage, with Oberammergau’s beautiful Alpine scenery as a backdrop.  It is enacted, rain or shine, by a cast of over 2000. The cast members are comprised of Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and non-believers.  They range in age from young – barely able to walk- to old - many in their nineties.   All are residents of the village of Oberammergau. About a year before the performances, men begin to grow long hair and beards.  Women, who are not actually performing, open their homes as guesthouses.  Many of the 5,000 residents audition for the acting roles in what, today, has become a major spectacle.

 

Five performances are given each week.  Each performance draws a crowd of about 4,700.  The audience sits in relative comfort in a covered theater.  The play is performed in German, and play-goers are given books with the original text as well as translation, in the language of choice.  Music for the play has traditionally been composed at the nearby Ettal Monastery.  For this year, the play has been shortened to a total viewing time of 5 ½ hours.  It will begin after lunch, then there will be a break for dinner, at which time you will be served by members of the alternate cast, those not performing on that day.  They will be happy to answer any of your questions.  The final scenes will be performed after dinner.  Daily performances this year run from the 15^th of May to the 3^rd of October.

 

Oberammergau is a lovely town.  Set beneath deep azure skies and surrounded by snow-covered Alpine peaks, it lies high in the lush-green Ammer Valley.  The scent of evergreen trees permeates the crisp air; edelweiss and other Alpine flowers sparkle like jewels.  One of the sights that makes the village so attractive to visitors is the many ornate buildings that are decorated with “leufl” paintings.  These paintings grace the outer walls of the distinctively Bavarian homes, shops, and offices.  Boxes at every window, ablaze with brightly colored flowers, complete the picture.  A large Catholic church dominates the village scene, but people of all faiths are warmly welcomed.  The village is most famous for its talented woodcarvers and its theater, which, in off-seasons, is a center of artistic activity.  The tourist who purchases a woodcarving there can take heart, for it carries a guarantee, stating that it was actually hand-carved in Oberammergau.

 

Not far from the village, travelers will find the lovely “Wieskirke”, or Church in the Meadow, and the 14^th century Ettal Monastery.  Nearby, also, are the beautiful castles of Linderhof and Neuschwanstein, both built by the “Mad King” Ludwig.  (Neuschwanstein was the prototype for the Cinderella Castle in the Walt Disney Resort in Florida).  Another of Ludwig’s castles, Herrenchiemsee, is also close.  Munich, Innsbruck, and Salzburg (the city of Mozart and The Sound of Music) are but a short drive away.  World War II buffs will want to visit Berchtesgaden and Hitler’s famed “Eagles Nest”, still only accessible via an elevator through the mountain.

 

This area of Bavaria is an incredibly special place and, remember, this year is a very special year!  You will not have another opportunity to see the Oberammergau Passion Play performed again until the year 2020!

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