Oberammergau - Passion Play

I was doing some research tonight in anticipation of the Passion Play in Oberammergau in 2010.

For those of you who don't know the story, the town of Oberammergau, Germany was being ravaged by the Plague in the 1630s. The townspeople cried out to God to save their town with the promise to perform a Passion Play about the life of Jesus Christ.

Not one more soul perished and the town has been putting on a Passion Play once every 10 years ever since. In 2010, it will be the 41st performance.

For the first time, the 2010 show will start in the middle of the afternoon. After a couple of hours, there will be a break for dinner. Then the show will conclude in the evening.

I had the opportunity to attend in 2000, and it was amazing. The play is put on by more than 2,000 local townspeople, who begin growing beards, constructing sets and rehearsing more than a year in advance. The outdoor theater - partially covered - offers tremendous accoustics. While the play is in German, translation books are readily available, and it's easy to follow along.

The town itself is nestled in Bavaria and offers many nice dining choices and lots of shops featuring the local woodcarving.

The premier is in mid-May 2010 with 102 performances before the conclusion in early October.

When I went in 2000, we took the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Munich, tour Neuschwanstein Castle and Dachau before heading further north. Many of the organized tours being planned for 2010 include trips through the Alps, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary and France.

Tickets will go fast - more than 500,000 people attended in 2000 - so let me know if you're interested in going, and we can start planning right away.