Experience the legendary Passion Play in Oberammergau and take a scenic drive from Munich through the stunning landscapes of the Bavarian Alps. Famous throughout the world it is expected that over 500,000 people will attend the performances in 2010. The play runs from mid May to the beginning of October starting at 2:30pm and finishing at 10:30pm with a break for dinner at 5pm.

Package includes:

Two nights accommodation in Munich

Breakfast Daily

Services of a Tour Director throughout

Two Hours Welcome Reception upon arrival

Transfer to Oberammergau with City Tour of Munich enroute

Two nights accommodation in Oberammergau

Admission to the Passion Play, Category 1 seat

Program Book of the 2010 Passion Play

Entrance to the Oberammergau Museum

Hot Lunch in Oberammergau

Two Dinners in Oberammergau

Shuttle Service in Oberammergau and Nearby Villages

Transfer from Oberammergau to Munich with tour of

Neuschwanstein Castle enroute

Visitor’s Tax in Oberammergau

All hotel tax and service charges

Full payment due by Aug. 13, 2009.
Reservations must be made so early to assure attendance to the Passion Play.

Passion Play History

Imagine a small Bavarian village nestling in the shadows of the Alps in 1633. The Great Plague descended and many lives were lost to this mysterious illness. The town vowed that if God were to spare them from the effects of the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would perform a play every ten years depicting the life and death of Jesus. The death rate among adults rose from one in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633. The adult death rate slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633. The villagers believed they were spared after they kept their part of the vow when the play was first performed in 1634. They have continued to do so every decade since in spite of wars and other problems. 2010 will mark the 41st time.

The play, now performed repeatedly over the course of five months, during the last year of each decade, involves over 2,000 performers, musicians, and stage technicians, all of whom are residents of the village.

The play comprises spoken dramatic text, musical and choral accompaniment and tableaux vivants. The tableaux vivants are scenes from the Old Testament depicted for the audience by motionless actors accompanied by verbal description. These scenes are the basis for the typology, the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, of the play. They include a scene of King Ahasuerus rejecting Vashti in favor of Esther, the brothers selling Joseph into slavery in Egypt, and Moses raising up the bronze serpent in the wilderness. Each scene precedes that section of the play that is considered to be prefigured by the scene. The three tableaux mentioned are presented to the audience as prefiguring Christianity superseding Judaism, Judas selling information on the location of Jesus, and the crucifixion.