Oberammerguau, a tiny city in Bavaria, has been staging the Passion of Christ every decade for the past 380 years.
The tiny city of Oberammerguau, located in the mountains of Bavaria, Germany, is known for its talented wood carvingcraftsmen, its NATO Schooland the 380-year-old tradition of Passion Plays.
During the 17th century, Oberammerguau, like much of Western Europe, was dealing with the deadly spread of the bubonic plague. According to a local tale, its citizens vowed to God that if he stopped the spread of the disease they would stage a theatrical play honoring Jesus’ Passion every ten years. A few months later, the death rate in Oberammergau declined, so its citizens kept their word. The first Passion Play, written by a group of Oberammergau citizens, was performed on Pentecost day 1634 on a stage built near the pestilence cemetery where many plague victims had been buried.