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Oberammergau - A Village and its Passion

June 28, 2022

Two thousand residents of a village in the Bavarian Alps are currently performing almost every day a pageant depicting the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.

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Deutschland I Passionsspiele Oberammergau I 2022
Image: Angelika Warmuth/dpa/picture alliance

Even the cancellation of the Oberammergau Passion Play two years ago due to the Covid pandemic could not stop the villagers from fulfilling the pledge their forefathers made in 1633 to perform the play every ten years if they were spared the plague. Since the seventeenth century visitors from all over the world have been coming to this alpine village to witness the five-hour rendition of the biblical story.

Deutschland I Passionsspiele Oberammergau I 2022
Image: Matthias Schrader/AP/picture alliance

The well-known German theatre personality Christian Stückl has directed this year’s production. It’s the fourth time he has been invited to orchestrate the cast of amateur actors. Overcoming some resistance, Stückl has included Muslims and unbaptised people in the cast. Married women have also been allowed to play the female roles since 1990. 

Deutschland | Oberammergauer Passionsspiele 2022
Image: Rudolf Gigler/IMAGO

For Andrea Hecht a childhood dream came true when she was chosen to portray the Virgin Mary. She is doing so this year for the second time. Playing the role of Our Lady, she says, has changed her image of the Virgin completely: her initial image of Mary as an enraptured mystic has given way to that of a feisty woman who followed her son's path all the way to his execution. Barbara Schuster, who plays the role of Maria Magdalene, says portraying the biblical figures deepens one’s faith.

Our report shows the villagers rehearsing for the more than 100 performances. Interviews with some of the main actors make clear that the Passion Play is not simply a theatrical spectacle performed every ten years; it’s a spiritual exercise in which the residents of this German village try to understand the person of Jesus ever more deeply.

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