The History: 18th Century

1700

The eighth performance. Parish priest Thomas Ainhaus takes over as producer, rewriting and improving the script.

1720

Parts of the text that Fr Karl Bader (1652 - 1731) revised and rewrote still exist. They are in the baroque theatrical tradition.

1730

An Augustinian monk, Anselm Manhart (1680-1752) from Rottenbuch, created a new version of the play. He introduced the allegorical figures of Envy, Avarice, Death and Sin as adversaries for Jesus. The director for four productions between 1730 and 1760 was Max Erlböck, the parish priest (1690-1770).

1750

The 13th Passion Play season. The Oberammergauers were confronted with a problem. With Europe influenced by the Age of Enlightenment, many thought that performing Christian plays on stage was inappropriate. The solution came from a Benedictine monk, Ferdinand Rosner (1709-1778). Both pious and theatrical, the monk from the Ettal (Et Valley) wrote 8,457 verses of his ‘Passio nova'. It was a tour de force.

Oberammergau’s performance became a role model for other Passion Plays in Bavaria. Rosner’s script was widely distributed in the region.

1770

Suddenly, passion plays were prohibited in Bavaria. Despite pleading by the Oberammergauers, their application for special permission was rejected.

Their plea reveals the popularity and drawing power of the play in southern Germany and Austria. They pointed out that: "Over routes coverring 20, 30 and more myles, from Bavaria, the Tyroll, Swabia and the Empyre, as well as sutch cityes as Munich, Freysing, Landshut, Innspruck, Augspurg and other playces, hastened not onlie simple citizeyns but also traydespeople, personnes of aristocratyc characterre and scholares to witnesse this sacred perforrmance.... which they dyd prayse with alle satysfaction attendyng the same at alle tymes with alle seemyng personnal satysfaction as they did hoape to acquyre."

Beyond this, there were "no risyble, childysh and taystelesse exhybitions or personages", and, first and foremost, the principal roles were played by men, "the same having travelled throughout alle Europe, thus enaybling themme to differentiayte betweene those elementes deemed symple-minded and repulsyve in other places and those which are approapriate to sutch a saycred perforrmance."

The Benedictine monk, Ferdinand Rosner

1780

The year of the 15th Passion Play season. Of all the villages, Oberammergau alone received special permission. This time, the script was a new version by the Benedictine monk M. Knipfelberger from the Ettal (1747-1825). Called simply ‘The Old and New Testament', it avoided any reference to the subject matter of the Passion.