The Greeley tribune., 1910-07-07
THE pIErY OF oBERAMMERGAU

of Oberammergau" appeared In re- ,
cent issue of Litery Digest and is re-
printed by the Tribune:
1T is not our aim to shine III Tue
art of acting; that would be pre-
sumptuous and ridiculous in simple
country people. but it must be the
earnest desire of each one to try ana
represent wortnIly this most hoiy
mystery"
Thus spoke Pastor Daisenberger
in his sermon to the peasant actors
of Ober-Ammergau before the pro-
duction of the Passion Play In le'V'
In these simple, devout words OF
their minister, Archdeacon Farrar
found the echo OF deeply religious
feeling which anImates the peasants
of the bavarian village, to when
again this year so any OF the sor-
did outer world nave thronged.
There is no taint of commercialism
nor worldly ambition. we are assur-
ed in the hearts of these peasant act
ors. Time and again have they re-
fused lucrative offers to produce
Lnelr historic drama SioS " he'S' 'i'N
they do not, it is said. yield to the
temptation to extort money from the
tourists who invariably flock to Wit
ness the performance. Even the re-
cent floods have given proof now
| they can bear adversely.
In the preface of her recent book
on "Ober-Ammergau", throughout
which the religious spirit of the viii
lage is especially emphasized, Jose
phine Helena Short says:
There is no other village like
Ober-Ammergau. The people there
| the united by one ideal. the fulfill-
ment of vow made by their fore
| fathers nearly three hundred years
ago. They feel that they We're born
| for this purpose, and to it they de-
vote their lives. They represent
their Passion Play now with the
same love and reverence with which
they have given it through the CEN
turies."
| After the visitation of the plague
in 1868. the people of this little vii
lage, 2,745 feet up among the fir
clad Bavarian highlands, made
|
tragedy every ten years, and the
chronicle states that from his time
| on not single man died, though
many still had symptoms of the
plague about them.
The play itself is a descendant OF
the mystery plays of the middle
ages:
THE text that was used in 1864
| is still preserved in the village, and
the examination made by scholars
convinces them that it was taken in
part from text used in Augsburg
| In the fifteenth century. and from
text by Sebastian Wild, meistersins-
er in Nuremberg. in the middle OF
the sixteenth
| THE Passion text is scriptural and
therefore free from secrarian color
ing. The speeches of the Christus
l are tai ken almost word for word
from the new testament narrative.
The music. composed by Rochus
Dedlar. an Ober-Ammergau school
| master. in 1920, is simple and beau
school master at Ober-Ammergau is
that he shall be musician and also
be able to compose music.
| me COSluuieS are utduc vi tue
finest materials. to Withstand the ex-
posure to sun and rain throughout
the summer. Many of the stuffs are
imported from the Orient. Every
decade all the principal characters
have new costumes. the old ones be-
ing used for rainy days or for the
'people'-that is. the crowds repre-
sented in the play.
| A. u-tOu 10 ~ q n
kind are allowed in the Passion
Play. few months before 1t is
given the men and the boys OF the
village allow their hair to grow.
(The day after the last performance
Of the summer there is a general vii
lage hair cutting. The barber on
this occasion literally wades amost
knee deep in wavy locks.)"
Originally produced in the village
church, the drama is now enacted In
sheltered auditorium containing
1000 seats. 1t Is hardly accurate to
| speak of the villagers as peasants,
says this writer Most OF them are
artists-carvers or sculptors in wood
by long heredity, with strong. fine.
beautiful faces. unconscious nobility.
and gentle courtesy of manner.
Their art is almost entirely religious
in theme.
Anton Lang. the present Christus
OF the drama. is potter and stove
maker. gentle. earnest soul. un-
spoiled by life rich in experience
In 1900 he visited Rome and had a
private audience with the pope. The
following year he visited England,
where he received marked attention
from the Archbishop Of York and
the Bishop of Durham. Ottilie
Twink. young. unmarried woman
| aa the village tradition demands