This once-every-10-years Passion Play in Germany should be on your bucket list

Oberammerguau, a tiny city in Bavaria, has been staging the Passion of Christ every decade for the past 380 years.

The tiny city of Oberammerguau, located in the mountains of Bavaria, Germany, is known for its talented wood carving craftsmen, its NATO School and the 380-year-old tradition of Passion Plays.

During the 17th century, Oberammerguau, like much of Western Europe, was dealing with the deadly spread of the bubonic plague. According to a local tale, its citizens vowed to God that if he stopped the spread of the disease they would stage a theatrical play honoring Jesus’ Passion every ten years. A few months later, the death rate in Oberammergau declined, so its citizens kept their word. The first Passion Play, written by a group of Oberammergau citizens, was performed on Pentecost day 1634 on a stage built near the pestilence cemetery where many plague victims had been buried.

Since then, the four manuscripts that form the play’s text—originated by combining a Passion play from the 15th century and a Christian Reformation tragedy by Sebastian Wild—have been staged by Oberammergau people every 10 years, with the exception of 1940 due to World War II.

The performance, covering the last days of Jesus from his arrival in Jerusalem to his crucifixion through dramatic text, music and

Article source: https://aleteia.org/2018/09/11/this-once-every-ten-years-passion-play-in-germany-should-be-on-your-bucket-list/