The 400-year-old play that became a cultural phenomenon
telegraph.co.ukOberammergau Passion Play of 2020, postponed as a result of the pandemic till 2022 and due in just one week’s time finally to come to life on the stage.There is poignancy here.
For it was almost 400 years ago, in 1633, when, with the 30 Years’ War raging and the Black Death rampant, the inhabitants of the Bavarian village of Oberammergau made a solemn vow that if they were spared any further ravages from the plague – seen as a punishment from God – they would thenceforth once every 10 years stage a play depicting the Passion of Christ.They were indeed spared – there were certainly no more reported cases after the vow – and one year later, in 1634, the first Passion Play was performed in the cemetery containing the graves of those who had been claimed.With one or two minor variations, the villagers of Oberammergau have stuck to their promise.
For the first 250 years, the play attracted modest crowds of local farmers, wood engravers, masters of the Lüftlmalerei painting of buildings and monks at nearby monasteries.
But then news of this wonder in the foothills of the Alps close to the border with Austria spread further afield – to the cities of Munich and Augsburg, and on, to London and the United States.A pivotal moment came in 1880 with the visit of Britain’s own Thomas Cook.
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