Passion Play

a form of Mystery Play representing the life and death of Christ. It was extremely popular in the Middle Ages when Mystery Plays were in vogue. It was considered especially appropriate for presentation during Holy Week. After the Reformation such plays ceased to be presented in Germany among Protestants, but were kept up in the Roman Catholic communities of Bavaria, the Tyrol, and the Salzburg Alps. In the eighteenth century they were forbidden by the Bavarian government, an exception being made in the case of the village of Oberammergau, whose inhabitants still present the play every ten years. The Passion Play at Oberammergau does not seem to be a survival of the old Mystery Plays, however, but is a solemn act of religious worship. The custom was instituted in 1633, as the result of a vow. The villagers had escaped a plague raging in the neighborhood, and in consequence vowed to celebrate this festival once in ten years. The performance takes place on the Sundays and saints' days of summer in an open air theater holding about 6,000 persons. If the "pilgrims," as the spectators are called, exceed in number the capacity of the theater, the play is repeated on Monday. On days when the play is to be presented the performers attend special mass soon after daybreak, and about six in the morning another mass is read for the "pilgrims," none of whom must behold the spectacle without this ceremony. Protestants, too, intending to be present, receive the communion. One instance is told of a group of Protestants renting a barn, since no other place offered. They gathered on the hay in the loft and received the sacrament before witnessing the sacred scenes of the Passion Play.

The play occupies about nine hours. Before each scene a tableau of appropriate significance from the Old Testament is shown. Between 600 and 700 persons, all residents of the village, are engaged in its presentation. The principal parts are hereditary in certain families. To act the part of Christ is considered one of the greatest of earthly honors. The man who plays it must lead a pure and blameless life lest he dishonor his great office. Anton Lang has taken the part several times, including the presentation of 1910. It is said that the natural poetic temperament of the man has been emphasized by a deep realization of what he believes to be the greatest of earthly honors. Many claim that his face has come to bear a resemblance in features and expression to the pictured face of Christ.

The artistic temperament of these people, their deep religious fervor, the earnestness with which preparation is made for the performance, and the reverence with which it is regarded, unite to make the Passion Play a most interesting and impressive spectacle.

See Oberammergau