Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1910-10-11
An Impressive Religious Memo.
rial As Seen By An Annap-
Olitan
A DRAMATIC SPECTACLE
Intense Interest In A Religious Classic
The Marvel OF The Age

; three hours trip that one could wish
longer. Perhaps it SCENE d especially
beautiful one showery morning last
August because of the dramatic way
which curtain of cloud suddenly
lifted at the further end of Lake
Starnberg, revealing the Bavarian
, Alps rising sheer out of the plain.
This beautiful stretch of water, by
the way, has a penitential interest
: in being the scene of mad King Lud-
wigs vagaries during his brief reign
and of his suicide after he had been
deposed.
To commemorate the piety of the
Oberammagau villagers in their faith
full performance of the Passion Play
he once gave them a marble monu-
ment of the crucifixion scene, and
probably there is not house in the
village today without portrait of
Ludwig the Second, and a cherished
tradition that he was not insane at
all, but the victim of cruel plot.
Lake Starnberg lies about half an
hour from Munich. After skirting
the shores for few miles, the train
winds directly into the mountains,
masses of regimental frs lying on
their TANKS, and at their feet Gimp
ses of lake and mountain stream.
The crowded cars toll slowly up the
| steep grades even with two locomo-
tives pulling, and one pushing, for the
rest of the trip it is better to go out
and stand on car platform, where
one can enjoy wide panorama.
You soon notice a feature in the
landscape that hints at Oberammagau,
that is, the number of shrines and
crosses that stand by the roadside, in
| the corner of the fields, or on the
crest of some high hill. And there is
never even handful of cottages
without its round-topped church
| tower.
Toward the end of the third hour
the height of the grade is reached.
From that point an electric engine
| takes the train downhill into a little
| fiat valley almost surrounded by
mountains and threaded by the river
Ammer. High on crag that over
hangs the valley we see a tall metal
cross flashing in the sun and in the
centre of the plain Oberammagau.
This is distinguishable from any
other mountain village in Bavaria by
the great theatre.of the Passion Play,
which we instantly recognize as far
| as the village can be seen from the
train.
On leaving the train we were hard
ly in the mood for mystery play.
There was too much that was discon-
certing and amusing in the wild jam
of tourists, all trying to get tickets
for their accommodations at the same
instant from one despairing man, and
in the apostolic curls and gay tyro-
lese costumes of the Oberammagau
youth who stood ready to take your
valise and guide you to your quarters.
These latter, however, seemed used
to being stared at, for they merely
looked patient and served everyone
with a quiet courtesy that would
strike one of our negro porters dead.
A walk of five minutes brought US
to the village proper and to the house
where we had been assigned.
1t is true that a travellers imme-
date surroundings room, service
and food-make a great difference
with his liking the place he has
come to see, and, as our own eXper-
fence left nothing to be desired,
this account may be partial to
Oberammagau, its people and its
play. But as far as l could see
our quarters were typical. Our host
was Anton Lechner, the Prolog of the
Passion Play, skilled wood carver
and teacher of carving in the local
crafts school. His house was of the
general type, pretty Swiss cottage
with wide caves, its white stucco
walls relieved by the green vines
over the doorway and masses of scar
let geraniums at the windows. On
one wall was fresco painting of the
Virgin and child seated on clouds
with radiant golden background.
These paintings on the outside of the
cottage, by the way, reveal the tastes
of the owners. Some are gay, with
pictures and ornament and others
are almost entirely plain.
The atmosphere, hospitality and
refinement that we found in the
Lechner household make it delight
full memory. II had heard a good
deal about the peasants of Ober
amamgau, but the worst examples of
peasant / saw there were certain
loud. mouthed tourists in an automo
bile. The villagers are simple. man.
nered, but they are better bred and
better educated than anyone would
imagine from hearing the patronising
gush that has been printed about
them. $50
These advantages have come through
the Passion Play. If there ever was
a town where practical communism
fiourished, it is Oberammagau. There
is no "Play Trust, no lions share of
the profits from the decennial per-
formances for anybody. There is
nothing but honor for the individual
performers and the profits are applied
to charities and the public welfare.
This has meant a sewerage system
and modern plumbing, concrete walls
for the Ammer, where it passes thru
the village macadam streets, good
common school and latest acquisition
"a splendidly equipped crafts school
where wood-carving, pottery, and the
like are taught. Indeed, it would be
gratifying if one could believe that
two-t thirds of all the American visi-
tors could speak and write as pure