The History: 20th Century

1922

1930

The 1930 Passion Play was attended by Rabindranath Tagore, Henry Ford and the Papal Nuncio, Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII). The flood of spectators was totally unexpected. The total of 311,127, included some 100,000 foreign visitors. This 32nd Passion Play season saw modern theatrical techniques for the first time. Georg J. Lang's innovative production was simple, relying on great acting rather than dramatic scenery.

Lang and his brother, architect Raimund Lang, replaced the 1890 stage with an uncomplicated new stage, expanding the seating to 5,200.

1934

The 33rd Passion Play season attracted 440,000 spectators, thanks to the special performances for the play's 300th anniversary. Admission prices and railroad tickets were drastically reduced. The Reich's new régime demanded that ‘Germany calls you!' be printed on the posters and tried to mould the play ideologically, labelling it ‘peasant drama', inspired by the ‘consecrating power of the soil'.

Hitler took advantage of Oberammergau's popularity by attending performances shortly before elections were held. The Catholic Church conferred the Missio canonica (official permission to teach) on Oberammergau. An attempt to commission Leo Weismantel (1885-1964) to revise the text failed following protests from conservative circles.

1950

The 34th Passion Play season, attended by 480,000 spectators. This Passion Play was marked by the horrors of the war that had just ended. The play was seen as an opportunity to show an international audience the ‘other Germany', with its western Christian tradition. In conjunction with the performances, there was an art exhibition entitled ‘1,000 Years of Christian Art and the Sign of the Passion'. Among the spectators were Federal President Heuss, Chancellor Adenauer and the Bavarian Governor, Erhard Höchster. Representatives of the Allied Powers included General Eisenhower. Instead of the planned 33 performances, there were actually 87. Yet, thousands were still unable to get tickets.

1960

Christian and Jewish Critics claim the play to portray a negative image of Judism. Abbot Dr. Johannes M. Höck works in minor changes to the script, but in the end, the play itself remains almost unaltered to the 1930 performance. (35th season)

1970

The 36th Passion Play season, attended by 500,000 spectators. Directing the play for the last time, G. J. Lang looked for an author who could produce a text more in keeping with the times. But he was unsuccessful, so the 1930 script was retained almost unaltered. Criticism was voiced on the part of both Christian and Jewish observers, suggesting the play was anti-Semitic. The Abbot of Ettal, Dr. J. M. Höck, made small corrections to the text.

1977

In 1975, the community commissioned Schwaighofer to stage a rehearsal of the Rosner text. The artist designed settings, masks and costumes. Alois Fink created a performance version and composer Wolfgang Fortner provided new music. In 1977, there were eight performances, well-received by press and public. In a referendum, however, the majority voted against Rosner's text for the 1980 season. The town council reversed this decision, and initially voted in favour of the new text. However, a newly-elected town council decided to use the Weiss-Daisenberger text for the 1980 play. Jewish organizations boycotted the play. In the end, over 530,000 spectators attended the production by director A. Preisinger (1912-1989) that was largely based on the Lang staging.

1980

The 37th Passion Play season also marked the 350th anniversary. About 480,000 spectators attended. Under the guidance of director Hans Maier, some careful changes were made to both the text and the settings. For the first time, women were given voting rights in the election of the Passion Play Committee. However, the only women permitted to take part were unmarried citizens of Oberammergau under the age of 35.

1984

The Jubilee performances (38th season). The 1980 and 1984 stage sets were redesigned by the director Hans Maier.

1990