Passion Play 2020
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PASSION PLAY 2020 The Definitive Travel Guide The most famous religious drama in the world, a once-in-a-decade event, will draw the faithful to a picture-perfect Bavarian village that honors a commitment townspeople made centuries ago Content Why You Should Go ........................................... 4 Oberammergau - What to Expect ....................5 Booking Early Is Critical ....................................6 Essential Travel Tips for Germany ..................10 Oberammergau, The Town ............................. 12 Nearby Attractions in Germany .....................14 Destinations Beyond Germany .......................16 Ready to go Itineraries ......................................22 Randy Mink, Managing Editor Don Heimburger, Contributing Author Jeffrey Gayduk, Publisher Email: [email protected] Phone: 630-794-0696 Lance Harrell, Senior Project Manager ReligiousTravelPlanningGuide.com The Oberammergau Passion Play, one of Europe’s greatest pageants and tourism draws, is held every 10 years in the German town of Oberammergau. Recounting Jesus Christ’s final days on Earth, the dramatic spectacle will be performed 103 times Why You Should Go between mid-May and early October of 2020. his whitepaper is aimed at faith-band organizations that would like to incorporate the Passion Play into Ttheir spiritual programs for 2020. Besides pro- viding information about the play itself, booking details and other attractions in Oberammergau, the following pages offer additional ideas that will help planners craft an itinerary. Included, for example, are facts on nearby attractions in southern Germany and general tips on travel to Germany, plus brief descriptions of cities in surrounding countries that typically are included in an Oberammergau- inspired trip. The Oberammergau Passion Play is always a bestseller, so early planning is essential. Now is the time to act and ensure your groups a spot in the theater. 3 PASSION PLAY 2020 – The Definitive Travel Guide Oberammergau - What to Expect he excitement mounts as you The play lasts approximately music. The colorful costumes Tnear the Ammergau Alps five hours and is divided into are rich, well-made and realistic and the picture-perfect Bavarian two parts by a three-hour break to Biblical times. Most fabrics village where the play has been for eating, relaxing or exploring for the costumes are purchased taking place every 10 years since the village. From May 16 to Au- in India because of the vivid 1634. There will be 103 perfor- gust 16, Part I is 2:30-5 p.m., with colors and elaborate designs mances of the play in 2020, with Part II running from 8-10:30 available there. Costumes are major roles double-cast. What p.m. It starts an hour earlier be- made right at the theater, are is truly unbelievable is that tween August 7 and October 4, stored there and can be seen as the Passion Play is a local pro- when days are shorter. The 2019 part of a guided tour offered in duction, performed entirely by play was divided into 11 acts. German and English on certain amateur actors who have been days of the week. residents of the village for 20 years or more. Actors begin growing When the play gets close every their beards and mus- When you enter Oberam- 10 years, we get excited and taches beginning on mergau, right away you’ll “ Ash Wednesday the can’t wait for the play to begin,” notice the hustle and previous year, the cos- says Oberammergau Mayor “ bustle surrounding the tumes are made locally village, which prepares Arno Nunn. “Everyone—the by residents, and the diligently for the influx actors and the townspeople— production includes live of thousands of daily vis- hope the play will be a success. animals such as donkeys, itors. As you step off the sheep and doves. About tour bus, you’ll be hand- 2,200 of the town’s 5,500 ed a ticket that will have your Ample restrooms are located on residents will have some part section and seat numbers. the auditorium grounds, and in the play you’re about to wit- there’s a staff of 80 medical per- ness, either on stage or behind The 4,500-seat Passion Play sonnel and other first respond- the scenes, and about 450 of Theater, the largest of its kind ers. Stern Apotheke, a pharmacy, them will be children. There are in the world, has an open-air is a block from the theater should 20 main roles in the play, plus stage that holds hundreds of you need it. The Tourist Infor- another 120 speaking roles as people at a time and a roof that mation Center is close by on well as an orchestra, singers and shelters the audience. Seats are Eugen-Papst-Strasse, and the other actors who are part of the set on an incline, so everyone Passion Play Information Center crowd scenes. has a good view. is located on Dorfstrasse. After the play is over, you will At the door you’ll be handed The pageantry of the play itself have been one of the lucky ones a complete play booklet in is stunning, with many scenes who witnessed this ambitious English; booklets in Spanish, from the Bible portrayed with and rare production, presented Italian and French will likely special lighting effects and only once every 10 years. be available as well. 4 PASSION PLAY 2020 – The Definitive Travel Guide Booking Early Is Critical xcitement for the Passion EPlay is building and as one of the biggest items on the European travel calendar, demand for tickets is high, with some dates are already sold out. The season of 103 performances runs from May 16 to October 4, 2020. For this once-in-a-lifetime, bucket-list event, it’s obvious that church group leaders, travel agents and other group travel organizers should book their Oberammergau tours sooner than later. Tumlare Destination Management, a worldwide company with an office in Waltham, Massachusetts, is the sole officially authorized general sales agent for Passion Play 2020 in North and South America, the Philippines and Japan. It arranges ticket-hotel packages for groups of 10 to 1,000; anything over 1,000 for a single group goes directly through the Passion Play office in Oberammergau. “As time ticks off, space is getting harder and harder to get,” said Darin Minghella. Tumlare’s U.S. director of sales. May and September dates are selling quickly, a reflection of the fact that demand for spring and fall is heavier than summer because many of the playgoers are seniors, a group that tends to travel off-season. Category 1 tickets, the best seats, are limited, so Tumlare is now selling mostly Category 2. (There are six categories in the 4,500-seat theater, a perfect venue for the play as there are no bad seats.) Groups do not have a ticket-only option—they must book a hotel with play admission. The Passion Play is expected to draw 450,000 visitors in 2020, and nearly half the village of 5,500 (including about 450 children) takes part. Only Oberammergau natives or residents who have lived in the village for at least 20 years can be part of the amateur cast of 2,000-plus, whether as actors, singers or musicians. Lead actors prepare for their roles with a September 2019 trip to Israel 5 PASSION PLAY 2020 – The Definitive Travel Guide accompanied by theologians. Rehearsals for the play’s 42nd installment begin in November 2019. While it’s an entirely local production, the level of staging, music and costuming would meet professional standards anywhere. In the recent past, more than 50 percent of playgoers have been from English-speaking countries. The drama is performed in German, but an English text is provided. However, the sheer power and pathos of the story of Christ’s last days on earth—from the entry into Jerusalem to the Last Supper, Crucifixion and Resurrection—transcend any language barrier. 6 PASSION PLAY 2020 – The Definitive Travel Guide The townsfolks’ commitment The town of Oberammergau, in Germany and nearby coun- dates back to 1633, when they a star in its own right, “over- tries like Switzerland, Austria vowed that if God would spare whelms visitors with cute- and Italy. Some operators them any more deaths from ness,” writes guidebook author build Oberammergau around a the plague that had ravaged Rick Steves, who calls it “the Danube cruise. (See itineraries the community, they would Shirley Temple of Bavarian below) perform a passion play every villages.” Tourists snap away Two-night packages that tour 10 years. Their prayers were at half-timbered houses dec- planners book through Tum- answered, and the first play orated with biblical scenes, lare include play ticket, hotel was presented the next year. vignettes of Bavarian life, and accommodations in Oberam- It shifted to decennial years in Grimm fairy tales like Han- mergau or a nearby town, a 1700 and has been performed sel and Gretel and Little Red breakfast, two dinners, shuttle according to schedule, with Riding Hood. You’ll see locals bus to and from the play, pro- the exceptions of 1870 during dressed in dirndls, lederhosen gram book and local tourism the Franco-Prussian War and and Alpine hats. tax. One-night packages also during World War II, when While the Passion Play is the are available. In addition, religious plays were banned by chief selling point of the one to Tumlare can arrange tours in the government. The play was two-week itineraries wrapped Germany and other countries staged in the cemetery over around it, Oberammergau is before and after the big event. plague victims’ graves until 1820, just one stop on an overall tour and in 1830 a stage was erected that visits many other places on the site of today’s theater.