The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-05-20
FAMOUS PASSION PLAY
THE MOST REMARKABLE RELIGIOUS
DRAMA IN THE WORLD.
How the Trial and Crucihxion Of
Christ VIII Be Represented This
Year at Oberammergau.

Dy far the most interesting ana extrdoful-
nary performance TO be witnessed in Eu-
rope Having had the good fortune to be
spectator of the Passion Play" I can in
dorse this estimate of the feelings excited
by this religious drama enacted by the
simple inhabitants OF a remote and Sc
cluded village in the Bavarian Alps.
As the Passion Play will be repeated
this year, the first performance occurring
on May 20, all the world will have its at
tention drawn to Oberammergau. The
drama is repeated every tenth year. In
1870 1t was postponed on account Of the ter
rible war between France and Germany,
but 1t was performed the next year. For
three and a half centuries 1t has never
been missed.
Oberammergau is forty-five miles from
Munich The railway ride to Murnau is
twenty-five miles, and it is one panorama
Of beautiful scenery, varied with lakes.
hills and forests.
The village stands at an altitude consid-
erably above Unterammergau. and the
tourist has fair height to climb. As he
enters the village he passes the splendid
and colossal Calvarienberg, or Crucifxion
Group, sculptured by Professor Halbig.
Coming into Oberammergau I was aston
ished at the great extent of the village. 1t
is perfectly rustic and makes not the
slightest attempt to look like a town. but
it contains about 1,400 inhabitants, and con-
sists of large wooden houses, for the most
part detached and scattered over much
larger area than is the case in an ordinary
English or American village.
The whole atmosphere of Oberammergau
is religious. All the frescoes on the houses
are quaint representations of Bible SUBJ
jects. The combination of the religious and
artistic instincts in this place is unique.
Every intelligent visitor quickly becomes
conscious of this popularity, and the peo-
PIE are raised in his estimation according
ly. There is gentle refinement among the
villagers which makes it delightful to So
journ among them. The manners of the
little children are captivating. Give a lit
tie boy a present of pfennig or any other
trifling coin and he thanks you by clapping
his hands twice in the quaint way of the
country urchins in Bavarian villages.
NOT A MIRACLE PLAY.
The passion Play is generally but quite
enormously supposed to be a survival of
the middle age miracle plays or mysteries
It had no connection with them, but had
a peculiar origin. In the year 1888 Bavaria
suffered from a terrible visitation of the
plague. In order to obtain security for
their village as the scourge approached the
people Of Oberammergau vowed that If
immunity were granted them they would
every tenth year perform drama COM
memorating the sufferings of the Re-
deemer.
When the season Of the performance ar
rives all is excitement and hustle at
Oberammergau. All through the summer
thousands of visitors pour in from all parts
of the world. AT the performance sat next
to a most intelligent Japanese student, who
told me that he was spending two years at
Berlin University. This young gentleman
spoke both English and German excellently.
and he entered with perfect appreciation
into the occasion, seeming to be intensely
interested.
The scene Of the drama is an immense
open-air theater constructed of steel and
capable of accommodating 5000 spectators.
This structure is always crowded to ex-
cess. The performance takes place every
Sunday and every saints day through the
summer. 1t lasts for ten hours but nobody
seems to feel the slightest fatigue At
o'clock in the morning a signal gun is fired
and the play begins. There is an interval
of an hour for dinner in the middle of the
day.
None but inha bitants of Oberammergau
are permitted to take any part in the
"Passionspiel" Practically the entire
adult population may be said to be en-
gagged. To them this drama is the greatest
act of worship. About 700 of the villagers
are engaged in various parts of it.
The Passion Play is a very composite and
elaborate affair. 1t mainly represents
however. the experiences of the Savior
during the last week of His life Nothing
is omitted. even the resurrection is in
cluded. Anything more intensely realistic
it would be impossible to imagine. 1 con-
tinually thought must be in Jerusalem
and that the actual scenes of the worlds
great tragedy were taking place before my
eyes.
All through the long day people were
weeping In all parts of the theater Strong
men were at times sobbing more than
women, and the demonstrations of feeling
were not confined to the poor. ignorant
peasants of Bavaria, Tyrol and Austria.
REMARKABLE ACTING.
Cultured English and American ladies
and gentlemen broke down under the ten
sion Of emotion excited by the acting Of
Anastasia Krach the wonderful woman,
who, though only a simple villager, repre-
scented with consummate art the Virgin
Mary, and by the real genius of Joseph
Mayer, the common wood carver, who has
for three decades taken the part of Christ
It is almost incredible that poor Alpine
villagers should be capable Of displaying
the dramatic power of these unsophisti-
Gated inhabitants Of solitary Bayarian
village.
Extraordinary vivacity characteries the
acting 1t is vivid in the extreme Part of
the intense realism arises from the strange
resemblance Of the central figure and chief
parsonage, Joseph Mayer. to the ideal like
ness Of the Savior. This resemblance is as
tonishing. The majesty, dignity. tenderness
and beauty Of Mayors face, with the pow
er, pathos and music of his voice, make
him one of the worlds great actors,
though he Is never seen in any dramatic
capacity OF the stage of the Passion
SPIEL" To take the part of Christ in this