Oberammergau: The 42nd Passion Play has begun – Bavaria

Every ten years, in accordance with a plague vow from 1633, the residents of the alpine village perform the “play of the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Around 2,100 locals are taking part this time, more than a third of the approximately 5,200 residents.

The premiere begins with an ecumenical service

The Passion Play in Oberammergau was opened with appeals for peace from the Catholic and Protestant Churches. “Violence does not have the last word, power does not have the last word,” said the Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Reinhard Marx, on Saturday after a service shortly before the premiere. The passion story of Jesus contains a fascinating message about overcoming violence, healing the world, and giving people hope.

The Evangelical regional bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm had previously said in a joint sermon with Marx: “In any case, one cannot simply see the Passion Play as a historical play these days. The passions of the people are far too obvious today.” He referred to people in crisis and war zones such as Ukraine or Yemen. “Violence is always defeat,” said Bedford-Strohm. “Guns can never make peace.” At the same time, however, one cannot stand by and watch when people are at the mercy of the brutal violence of an aggressor and when, in the end, only the stronger prevail.

Jewish prayer after the sermon

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After the sermon, the choir intoned the “Shema Israel”, one of the most important prayers of the Jews. The greeting of peace was given in Hebrew, Ukrainian and German.

Game director Stückl is at odds with the Catholic Church

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Director Christian Stückl, who is staging the Passion for the fourth time, describes himself as a Catholic, but at odds with the Church. According to the abuse report, he “made his way to the service because there are people in town who care about it,” he said mirror. Oberammergau belongs to the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which caused horror in January with an abuse report.

Stückl has modernized the game

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Stückl fundamentally modernized the play and freed it from Christian suspicions about Jews. He integrated many Jewish elements and thus shows that Jesus was a believing Jew and that the conflict surrounding him was an inner-Jewish one.

Söder and other celebrities at the premiere

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Around 4,400 guests were invited to the more than five-hour premiere performance in the afternoon – including prominent figures from politics, culture and society. Among them are Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder and Landtag President Ilse Aigner (both CSU), Saxony-Anhalt Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU), the Apostolic Nuncio Nikola Eterovic, the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, and his predecessor in office, Charlotte Knobloch. The guest list also includes actress Uschi Glas and her colleagues Ben Becker and Dieter Hallervorden, as well as former soccer goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.

Honor for longtime contributors

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With great applause from the audience, Stückl and Mayor Andreas Rödl (CSU) honored citizens who had already taken part in the Passion Play eight, nine and ten times. About a dozen men are playing for the tenth time. The games only take place every ten years. Nevertheless, the actors are not over 100 years old. There were additional games, explained Stückl.

After all, some women are playing for the eighth time. He was particularly pleased about that, said Stückl. “That didn’t exist before.” Because until 1990 only unmarried women or women up to the age of 35 were allowed to play. In a dispute that lasted more than ten years, a group of women then went to the Bavarian Administrative Court in Munich and – with the support of Stückl – fought for the right to play for all women and thus equal rights. The 60-year-old Stückl is also there for the eighth time – and for the fourth time as the game director. His father Peter Stückl (79), who has one of the main roles in his tenth Passion, is also among the jubilarians: as in 2010, he is the high priest Annas.

In addition to the ten-year passion cycle, there were two passions out of sequence: the so-called Rosner rehearsal of 1977, with which an older, allegorical text version was tested, and the 1984 jubilee passion for the 350th anniversary. Adults are only allowed to play if they were born in the village or have lived there for 20 years. Among the participants are 450 children, some of whom come from refugee families.

The village is busy until autumn

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From early summer to late autumn, for four and a half months, almost half the village is busy with the opus: around 2,100 of the 5,200 residents in Oberammergau take part in the Passion Play. About 450,000 spectators are expected for a good 100 performances. With almost 4,400 seats, the Oberammergau Passion Theater is the largest open-air stage with a covered auditorium in the world. The municipality could take in a double-digit million amount by autumn 2022. The total costs amount to around 45 million euros.

About 75 percent of the tickets have been sold

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Proven leading actors will be on stage. Jesus (Frederik Mayet), Maria (Maria Hecht) and some other actors already had the same role in the 2010 Passion. The more than 100 performances until October 2nd will be rotated. Around 75 percent of the approximately 450,000 tickets have already been sold.