Because of Corona, the 42nd Oberammergau Passion Play was postponed by two years, now it's premiere. The focus: the suffering and death of Jesus. For the first time, a Muslim plays a major role.
Frederik Mayet as Jesus at the Passion Play 2022 in Oberammergau
“Everyone's got it again,” announced director Christian Stückl before the curtain goes up on May 14 for this year's premiere. Passion fever has long been rampant again in Oberammergau, Bavaria, says Stückl. Until October 2nd, the people of Oberammergau will climb onto the huge open-air stage almost every day and tell the story of Jesus Christ, his life and death and resurrection, singing, making music and acting.
Even the corona virus has the – originally planned for 2020 – 42nd Passion Play, with which the people of Oberammergau are still fulfilling an old vow from 1633 to this day. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), 84 people from the small town died of the plague.
The villagers then vowed to perform the passion story of Jesus every ten years so that God would put an end to the disease. Unlike today, there were no vaccines, masks and distance requirements in the Middle Ages. The people only had their prayers.
Passion play is cultural heritage
Even today, about half of the residents work as amateur actors, in the choir or in the orchestra. The five-hour performance begins in the afternoon with the entry into Jerusalem and tells the story of the Passion through the Last Supper to the crucifixion. It ends in the evening hours with the resurrection. From May 14th to October 2nd there are 103 performances. There are only no plays on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Jesus on the Way of the Cross – scene at the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Bavaria
For the fourth time in a row, Christian Stückl took over the management of the game. Stefan Hageneier is responsible for the stage design and Markus Zwink for the music. Some of the rituals of the theater spectacle seem outdated: All men, except those who embody a Roman, are obliged to let their hair and beard grow from Ash Wednesday of the previous year in order to appear more real during the play. Each of the approximately 5400 residents can play – but the adult actors must have lived in Oberammergau for at least 20 years. All roles are double cast. So about half of the village is on stage, including almost 500 children.
Judas – played by a Muslim
However, there is one special feature at this year's Passion Play: With Cengiz Görür, a Muslim from Oberammergau takes on the role of Judas for the first time, alongside Jesus the most coveted of the 21 main roles. Just 30 years ago, only Catholics were allowed to play in the Passion Play in Oberammergau. “As a child, I didn't know exactly who Jesus and who Judas was,” Görür recently told Der Spiegel. “It's a role, and I've prepared well.”
The theater built for the Passion is 120 years old and can hold almost 5,000 visitors. It is – because of its special construction and technology – a listed building, also because of its historical importance for popular and amateur theatre.
Protected monument – the open-air theater of the Passion Play
The Passion Play itself was included in the list of intangible heritage of the Federal Republic of Germany by the World Cultural Organization UNESCO in 2014.
The celebrity came by train
The open-air game, which today normally brings millions into the municipal coffers every ten years, gained notoriety beyond national borders in the 19th century. The expansion of the railway line to the neighboring Murnau suddenly made travel easier. The London travel agency Thomas Cook also catered for international guests. Celebrities such as Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, Max Reinhardt, John D. Rockefeller and Henry Ford suddenly came to Oberammergau.
Along with Rochus Rückel, Frederik Mayet is one of the two Jesus actors from Oberammergau. “Two years ago we were about to premiere and suddenly Corona came into the world and has extremely determined our lives,” says the actor. “Now there's the terrible war in Ukraine.” This changed the view of the play, of Jesus and of his message, but: “I think the message of the passion play is always relevant.”
Jesus actor Frederik Mayet during a rehearsal for the Oberammergau Passion Play
Among the first sentences he and Rückel speak on stage are these: “There is a time of fear in Israel. Cries of war fill the land, poverty and disease will take you away.” The current crisis shows what poverty and illness mean and how small the human being is. “And despite medical progress, not much further than 2000 years ago,” says the Jesus actor, “or 400 years ago, when the plague broke out here in Oberammergau.”
Jesus' agony on the cross
h2>
In the Passion Play, both hang on the cross for a good 20 minutes, their bodies secured with nails, loops and ropes. “It's pretty awkward hanging there, so exposed and half naked,” says Jesus actor Mayet. Jesus speaks the last words on the cross, convulses in the agony. It may take several minutes of immobilization before he is finally taken off the cross. “Sometimes that's quite exhausting.”
Jesus gathers his twelve apostles for the last supper – and breaks it Bread. Scene of the Oberammergau Passion Play 2022
Once again this year, the special reputation of the Passion Play precedes it. The advertising drum has been banging for months. Nevertheless, according to the organizers, tickets are still available. Ten years ago, around 500,000 people from all over the world made the pilgrimage to the major event. Because of the corona pandemic, there has been no theater or concert in Oberammergau in the past two years. The traditional costume association did not hold any garden parties, there was no nativity play, and some of the restaurants were closed for months. Social life lay fallow. Now the tide is turning. The Oberammergau Passion Play is back.