CHAPTER XIII
The Home of the Passion Play—Oberammergau
Nestled at the foot of the mountains in the highlands of Bavaria, is the little village of Oberammergau, the home of the world-famous Passion Play. Although of German extraction, these humble people were opposed to war with all their power, but when it came they were compelled to submit. One of the saddest pictures during the war was that of these people as it was given by Madaline Doty, which was published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1917.
This writer said: "The village was silent and the people were in great distress. There were no carriages or even push carts; no smiling people, no laughter, and no gay voices were heard. Old people sat about as if dazed. Five hundred and fifty out of eighteen hundred population had gone to war." The village was bankrupt. There was no money. It was like a plague-stricken place. The theater building was locked up. The little stores had nothing to sell. No person was allowed more than one egg per week and but few could get that. People were on the point of starvation.
During the season of 1910 the writer made the journey to Oberammergau on purpose to see the Passion Play and this chapter is but a brief description of it. Journeying from Zurich, Switzerland, to Oberammergau a stop was made at Munich. From that place there is but one little dinky railroad and one of the greatest mobs I ever got into was at the depot in Munich. A thousand people were trying to get on a train that could carry only a few hundred. Finding a porter who was persuaded to open a compartment with a silver key a half dozen of us had a comfortable place. The distance to the mountain village is less than one hundred miles, but it took from five in the evening until midnight to reach it.
Having purchased a ticket for the play on the following day weeks before, and with it lodging for two nights, a gentleman took me from the depot to the home of one of the players and I went to bed. Early the next morning while eating breakfast at the home, on looking through the door I discovered that one end of the house was a cow stable. Going from the house all that was necessary was to follow the crowd, for people seemed to be coming from everywhere. Passing through the winding, narrow streets, soon the large theater building was reached.
This building is one hundred and forty feet square. The roof is supported by six gigantic arches that are sixty-five feet high in the center. The floor is built on an incline so that every one of the four thousand seats is a good one. The stage reaches entirely across the building and is in the open air, the whole end of the building open. At each end of the stage are small buildings representing the Palace of Pilate and the Palace of the High Priest. Back about twenty feet from the edge of the stage is a covered stage with a curtain and in which the tableaus are arranged. There are fourteen entrances to the building.
The large orchestra is just in front of the stage but lower than the people, so unless one happens to be near the platform the musicians cannot be seen at all. The end of the entire building being open, the rain beats in and the cheapest seats are those where one is likely to get wet should it rain. The orchestra is kept dry by a large canvas that is pulled out when the rain begins. Back in the inner covered stage is a network of ropes, pulleys, lances, arms for Roman soldiers, dishes for banquets, costumes and wardrobes for the players, all in perfect order and ready for use at a moment's notice.