OBERAMMERGAU

Oberammergau is the name of a village in Upper Bavaria where a celebrated Passion play is presented by the villagers every ten years. In 1633 the villagers vowed to put on the Passion play every ten years in thanksgiving for deliverance from the plague. It may, however, have been performed before 1634. The play takes up to eight hours to perform. It was performed at ten-year interval from 1634 to 1674, and then in the decimal years from 1680 to the present with the only exceptions being in 1870 when it not performed due to the Franco-Prussian War, in 1920 because of the aftermath of World War I, and in 1940 because of World War II. Extra performances were held in 1934 and in 1985 to celebrate the 300th and 350th anniversaries. Adolf Hitler attended the 1934 performance. The text of the Passion play has been changed several times. Originally in verse, it is now in prose. The oldest text can be traced to 1600 and shows influences from the Passion plays held at St. Ulric and at St. Afra in Augsburg. For the 1985 performance the text was revised in view of charges of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism. The Passion play of Oberammergau still occasions ecumenical concerns, particularly among Jews, for its perceived anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism.

[d. p. sheridan]

Oberammergau Village in upper Bavaria, s Germany, famous for its passion play. The performance takes place once every 10 years, in fulfilment of a vow made by the inhabitants in 1634 during an outbreak of the plague.

Oberammergau a village in the Bavarian Alps of SW Germany, which is the site of the most famous of the few surviving passion plays, which has been performed by the villagers every tenth year (with few exceptions) from 1634 as a result of a vow made during an epidemic of plague.

Oberammergau (Passion play): see PASSION.