"Oberammergau" a Oberammergau Travel Page by debtravers

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Passionplay 1980

Spent that summer working in a hotel whilst the locals were performing the 'passionspiele' ..... this came about back in 1633 when the black death was raging over Europe.... the plague was brought into the village and killed 1/3 of its people....the locals pledged to re-enact the suffering, death and resurrection of jesus christ every 10 yrs if its people were spared. The first play was performed in 1634 in the graveyard surrounded by freshly dug graves of all the plague victims... After that no-one else died and the play is performed by oberammergau locals every ten years.... Never got to see it myself (to my shame...my one day off a week was too precious to sit through 8hrs or so in a theatre) so have to do that one day.....