Sure Etnique Travel Newsletter

When my wife and I arrived at our hotel in Oberammergau, the Parkhotel Sonnenhof, the motto outside the front door, namely Grüss Gott (Greetings in the name of God), set the atmosphere and the mood that we experienced during the three days that we spent in this picturesque little town of just 5 500 inhabitants. Afterwards, whilst wandering along the streets of this quaint town, we more than once were respectfully greeted in this way. And on the wall above our table in the hotel, a short prayer in a wooded frame asked: Herr segne dieses Haus (Lord, bless this house).

From the outside one might have the impression that the Play and what goes with it has been commercialised. Yes, it undoubtedly has a big financial impact on the town, but you never feel that the tourists coming to Oberammergau are there looking for the normal touristic attractions – bars, shows, spending sprees.

Since the theatre where the Play is performed only accommodates 5 000 spectators, that is the number of tourists coming and going every two to three days. And most of them are elderly people, arriving with a spiritual expectation. They walk about the streets marvelling at the colourful religious scenes painted on the walls of the houses, shops and hotels in the town’s small centre, and surrounding narrow streets.

Others are browsing around in the many small shops, buying souveniers, mostly handcarved religious figurines or sculptures, or visiting the museum, telling the history of the town, or the 18th century Catholic Parish Church, with its colourful frescoes, especially that of the ceiling in the nave depicting the martyrdom of the Apostles Peter and Paul. A model of a scene out of the Passion Play is displayed at the back of the church.

About 2 000 of the inhabitants are participating in the play in one way or another – albeit as actor, singer, musician, door watch – and since February 2009 all of them had to abstain from shaving a beard or cutting their hair. Everywhere you go, you see men and women in a certain sense “resurrected” from Biblical times – as waiters in our hotel, shopkeepers, driving a tractor through town with beard and hair fluttering in the wind.

Therefore, the entire milieu – the town itself, the inhabitants, the visitors, the atmosphere - reflects the vow made by the inhabitants in 1633, after 80 of them died from the plague, that they would perform the Passion Tragedy every 10 years.

From that moment on the plague ceased, not one single person died, and in 1634 the Oberammergauers fulfilled their promise for the first time. Against this background the awaiting spectator enters the hall where the Passion Play is presented – modern pilgrims seeking a long-awaited spiritual fulfillment.

The open air stage is immense, creating the impression of a street in Jerusalem. Children are chasing one another around, vendors show their wares, soldiers on horseback pass by, sheep follow their shepherd, even camels are on stage. The actors all wear realistic period dresses and headgear. In the center of this stage is a sub-stage, as big as one to be found in a small theater, with a curtain that can be raised.

Every spectator has the script of the play in German (in which it is presented), and in English. In this way you can easily follow what is being said. The Play commences at 14:30, with a dinner-break at 17:00, starting again at 20:00 and continuing until about 23:00. However, soon after the start of the second part, it begins getting too dark to follow the script. It is therefore advised to study it beforehand.

At the beginning of each scene a narrator relates some background information of what is to follow. A choir of 50 sing a prelude, assisted by a large symphony orchestra in the pit in front of the stage. The moment the narrator starts to speak, the curtain of the sub-stage is raised, and a “living image” of an event out of the Old Testament, reflecting on the story of the Passion Tragedy as told in the New Testament, can be seen. At first sight this image gives the impression of an immense colourful painting, but then you discover that the people in it are real persons frozen in time, unmoving for the duration of the narrator’s story, and the choir’s prelude.

After becoming accustomed to the wonder of the realism of it all, and the depth of what is depicted, you slowly become immersed in the tragedy played out before your eyes – the Last Supper, the betrayal of Jesus, the mockery of Him, His cruxifiction ... At times you just wish that everything will come to an end ...

One of the most moving moments was when Christ died on the Cross. For that entire day the skies were clear in Oberammergau, but near the end of the first part it became a bit cloudy outside, and a few raindrops fell. When we returned for the second part, a glass canopy was in place above the stage. And at the moment that Christ died, thunder rumbled and lightning was to be seen outside, coinciding with the orchestra imitating an earthquake and thunder! We believe that this was no coincidence.

When we walked back to our hotel, no one spoke loudly; a sort of hushed atmosphere was to be felt. It was then that you realised that thousands from all over the world – from different countries and cultures – also experienced a deeply religious event, and that all of us were brothers and sisters in Oberammergau.