Passion Play

This past weekend, I went with Elizabeth down to Oberammergau to see the Passion Play. This play is put on every ten years and is a huge deal. Here is a bit of background info on it...

The Oberammergau Passion Play dates back to a vow made in the year 1633. At that time the plague raged in the entire region. Many people died. It was then that the people of Oberammergau vowed to portray the "Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ" every ten years. From that moment on, not one person succumbed to the Black Death.

The stage...

In order to be in the play, you must have been born in Oberammergau or have lived there at least 20 years. If not, you can't participate. Even though all the cast members were locals, the play was absolutley amazing! It is so well perfected. The play is nearly 6 hours long and spoken in all German. It was a bit difficult to follow along, but we figured out that buying the script and following along made it a lot easier. The actors did such an amazing job, the scenes were beautiful, and the costumes were explicit!! I am so glad I got to go. The ticket was super expensive, so I was debating on whether it was worth it. Now that it's all over, I'm so glad I decided to spend the money. It was a once in a lifetime experience!!

We left Schweinfurt at 6:00 on Saturday morning. It took us a long three hours to get down south. I drove about 3 of it, but then we started to hit the mountains and the windy roads along side a river. I'm not a pro at the stick shift yet, so Elizabeth took over at that part! I can handle the autobahn, but these roads were a bit rough for me! Once we got to the town, we had quite a bit of time before we needed to be at the theater. Elizabeth and I had a great time walking around the town and doing some shopping. It's a very quaint town with a lot of character! I loved walking around it!

The play is split into two because it is so long. They take a break right at supper time so everyone can go eat. We went with a large group, so that was fun. I haven't had German food for a long time... so I enjoyed it! After the play was over, Elizabeth and I were wide awake. We were supposed to go to a nearby town to spend the night. We weren't too keen on it because five of us would have been stuck in one room. Instead, we decided to tackle the 3 hour trip home! Elizabeth started driving and got through a good portion of it. Once the road started getting blury for her, I finished it off. I crawled into bed around 5:00 in the morning! But it sure did feel good to sleep in my own bed!!

Definitely a trip I won't forget! I bought a picture book and have the script, so will get to enjoy that and remember it for years to come!