Passion and faith in Oberammergau, Germany

Villages in the Bavarian Alps go to sleep early on summer nights. Silence rolls down from the mountaintops along with an eiderdown blanket of fog. A cowbell chimes. A few lights flicker, then go out.

But not this summer in Oberammergau, about 50 miles southwest of Munich, where the lights are on five nights a week and 2,000 villagers stay up late to fulfill a vow their staunchly Roman Catholic ancestors made almost 400 years ago when the village was threatened by the plague. To stave it off, town elders promised to perform the Passion of Christ every 10 years. The first production, staged in 1634 on a platform atop the town cemetery, proved a success because, thereafter, the Black Death bypassed Oberammergau. Since then the village has broken its pledge only twice: in 1770, when Passion plays were banned in Bavaria, and in 1940 during World War II.

As the tradition persisted and word got out, people came to see the faithful little town honor its vow, including Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845-86), who built Linderhof castle in a valley near Oberammergau, part of a building spree that helped earn him the soubriquet “Mad Kind Ludwig.” He liked the production so much that he gave silver spoons to all the leads except for Judas, who got a tin one.

In 1880 English tour company Thomas Cook added Oberammergau to its brochure, spurring the Passion’s popularity among people from English-speaking countries, who still make up about 60% of the audience.

Article source: https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-oberammergau-20100606-story.html