THE PASSION PLAY OF OBERAMMERGAU CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Joseph Whitmore Barry dramatic library THE GIFT OF TWO FRIENDS OF Cornell University 1934 Cornell University Library PN 3241.M91 Passion-play of Oberammergau: 3 1924 027 190 598 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027190598 The Passion Play of Oberammergau Uniform •with this Volume oEijerpman: % flr^tnral Pap With reproductions of sixteenth centuiy wood- cuts. 12mo, boards, $1.00 €|)e ^tat of 25etJ)lel)mi A Christmas Play. Edited from old moralities by Professor Charles M. Gayley, of the University of California. Illustrated, boards, $1.25. Christus: Anton Lang The Passion Play of Qberammergau TRANSLATED FROM THK GERMAN TEXT WITH AN ?|t£itorical 3(ntrotiuctton BY MONTROSE J. MOSES NEW YORK DUFFIELD AND COMPANY 1909 Copyright, igog By DUFFIELD AND COMPANY Published November, igog 4 Lstn^ The TTniveraity FresB, Cambridge, U. S, A. To my Friend CHARLES RAl^N KENNEDY DRAMATIS PERSONiE OF THE PASSION PLAY 1890 1900 Oirisius^ Joseph Mayr (1870-71-1880) Anton Lang Dealer in carved goods Potter Ma.ry^ Rosa Lang Anna Plunger Daughter of the Burgomaster Postman's daughter Peter Jakob Hett (also 1870) . . Thomas Rendl Carver Carver John" Peter Rendl Peter Rendl Carver Jiadas* Johann Zwink ..... Johann Zwink Artist-painter Philip Tobias Zvdnk Tobias Zwrink Carver Thaddeas .... Joseph Kurz Joseph Kurz Roadmaker Simon Mart. Hohenleittner . . . Mart.Hohenleittner James, the Elder ■ ■ Andreas Braun Mathias Dedler ■Woodcarver Carver James, the Less ■ • Joseph Klucker Benedikt Klucker Thomas Andreas Lang Anton Mayr Carver Andretu Alois Stadler Alois Gerold Matthco} Alois Gerold Josef Albrecht Carver Barthotome'D) • ■ • Martin Albl Josef Rutz Tailor Simeon, of Bethany ■ Gregor Lechner > Tobias Plunger (1S50) ' Johann Zwink (1870) J Franziaka Flunger (1870) • Gregor Lechner (1850-1880) [vii] 1890 1900 La.za.rus Emanuel Lang Otto Lang Carver Magdalem .... Amalie Deschler .... Bertha Wolf Daughter of the Tailor Daughter of Hotelkeeper Martha. Helene Lang Marie Schwalb Daughter of the Tailor Veronika Elizabeth Zundterer . . . — Pilate^ Thomas Rendl (also 1880) . Sebastian Bauer Carver Carver Caiaphas'^ .... Joh. E v. Lang (also 1860- Sebastian Lang Burgomaster 70-71-80) Verger Armas ' Franz Rutz, Sr Martin Oppeniieder Master-tailor Herod '^ Johann Diemer Rochus Lang Retired Potter Nathanael .... Sebastian Lang, Jr. (also 1880) Gregor Breitsamter Carver ArcMaus Ra.bbi ■ . Sebastian Bauer (also 1880) . Carver Ezekiet^ Rochus Lang Rupert Breitsamter Carpenter Sadok Sebastian Deschler . . . Sebastian Deschler Carver Josue Andreas Wolf Andreas Wolf Joiner Mereric Anton Gastl Josaphai Anton Schiestl Samuel G. Schallhammer . . . . G. Schallhammer Carver Rabinih Eduard Albl Nathan Franz Paul Lang .... Dariabbas .... Johann Lang, Jr Joseph of Arimathaea^ Martin Oppenrieder Andreas Braun Carver (also 1880) Carver (1890) Nicodemus .... Franz Steinbacher (also 1880) William Rutz Master-dyer Baker The Centurion . . . Anton Bartl Simon of Cyrene . . Michael Bauer » Tobias Plunger (1870) « Franz Paul Lang (1860-1870) 2 Jacob Mayr (1830-1850) 5 Sebastian Deschler (1870) ' Sebastian Deschler (1880) ° Thomas Rend] (1870) [ viii ] 1890 1900 Ba.ra.bba3^ .... Johann Oswald Workman Thief [to right] . • . Anton Lang Anton Lang Mason Thief lio leff] ■ . . Eduard Bierling .... Eduard Bierling Rabbi {see Archiia.us Rabbi] Andreas Lang Carver Prologue Joseph Mayr Choragus Johann Diemer (1870) High Priest .... Modestus Stickel (1870) A Pharisee . . . . Franz Paul Lang (1890) Chief of the Traders . Andreas Mayr (1890); Melchior Breitsamter(igoo) Carver "Genius" . . . . Josepha Plunger (1870); Jacob Rutz (1871) Leader of the Chorus . Jacob Rutz (1880-1890) Qaintus Sebastian Lang ( 1870) Roman Captain . . Anton Bartl (1880-1900) Director of the Play . Johann Lang Burgomaster DirectoroftheTableaux Ludwig Lang Director of the Carving School / Ferd. Feldigl Musical Director . . Joseph Gruber . . . . ) Teacher Teacher | Eduard Lang Dealer in Glass Chorus Director . . . Jacob Rutz (also 1880) . . Johann Diemer Smith (1870) Jermish Boy .... Herbert Lang (1900) . . . CHORUS (1890) Soprano Alto Josepha Breitsamter Crescenz Bierling Luzie Lang Antonia Albl Aloisia Mayr Maria Lutz Regina Wolf Magdalena K5pf Maria Samm Johanna Keller Ludovica Gindhart Josepha Steidle Anna Korntheuer Crescenz Klatner 1 J. Allinger (i88o) [ix] Tenor Otto Anderl, Assistant Teacher Anton Lecbner Dominikus Schilcher Alois Lang Korbinian Christa Bass Anton Lutz Joseph Gabler Korbinian Rutz Otto Mangold [This is not a complete list Df players ; it is given in such form that the reader may judge of two essential characteristics of the cast : First, &om decade to decade the actors are shifted to different roles ; and second, cer- tain families in Oberammergau predominate over others in the assignment of parts. Nearly seven hundred villagers appear in the Passion Play.] [X] INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION THE Oberammergau Passion Play is a survival rather than a revival ; its history is almost continuous from the period of the early religious dramas of me- diaeval times, and it retains, however faintly, some of the characteristic features of its prototype. It is true that modern condi- tions have modified the form, have forced the crudities and buffoonery from the text, have softened the character conception of Judas, for example, in precisely the same manner that Shylock has been humanized since the red-wig days before Charles Mack- lin. But the main form and some of the effects are still left, however far from the mediaeval ingenuousness it is being forced by contact with the outside world and modern stage technique. [ xiii ] The vital essence of the Oberammergau Passion Play is the spirit poured into the mod- ified form — a spirit dominating the social, economic, and intellectual life of the people ; time alone will tell whether the communal ideal and whether the communal mission, which guard the minds and hearts of two thousand Bavarian peasants, will be able in isolated reverence to withstand the suffusing forces of civilization ; every decade opens the sluices, and the village of Ammergau has to meet the demands of a transitory and curious crowd. The building of the new theatre for the production of igoo is part example of how time and circumstance work against tradition. A student went to Oberammergau in igoo; in his mind he carried pictures of mediaeval ingenuousness — the triple stage of heaven and earth and hell, the church background and the church-yard, the uncouth humour centred in the Devil, the primitive concep- tions of scene, the simple-minded mediaeval audiences ; none of these did he find at Oberammergau. But with his knowledge of the ancient religious drama, he was better able himself to be a mediaeval and to profit by what is left of the type. You may gather [xiv] together all the dramas in England, France, and Germany, bearing upon Crucifixion and Resurrection incidents and, with proper se- lection, construct a passion play more orig- inal in style, more unique in conception because of the charm which lies in anach- ronism. But after that, it is a dead, a fixed thing, representing a genre wholly depend- ent upon the atmosphere in which it origi- nally blossomed. Because of the very fact that the people of Oberammergau are aloof, simple, childlike in belief, and imbued with an inherited mission, because they have elected to do one thing and to subserve all else to that one thing, the spirit in which they preserve their institution is what makes the Passion Play a living force — to them. Evolution has deprived Oberammergau of much of its agreement with medisevalism ; Sebastian Wild's Devil is no longer used; evil spirits, which once were accustomed to carry Judas from the stage in much the same man- ner as they dominated in the early " Prophets of Christ " or the " Adam " play, have dis- appeared ; even Judas's death-shriek, which once rent the stillness, is no longer allowed, nor has he, since i8go, climbed the tree be- fore his hanging, for fear unnecessary mirth [XV] from the "groundlings" might destroy the conscious humanizing which stamps every role to the smallest part. In another vital respect the Passion Play has become modified; it nowhere accentu- ates the Catholic doctrine from which it sprang; at first Protestantism approached Ammergau warily, with somewhat of an- tagonistic criticism as to bad taste and sac- rilegious intent. But we may take Matthew Arnold's statement as a conservative sum- mary of the reasons for Protestant accept- ance: "It agrees with what is seen ... in literature, in the writings of Dissenters of the younger and more progressive sort, who show a disposition for regarding the Church of Rome historically rather than polemically, a wish to do justice to the undoubted grandeur of certain institutions and men produced by that Church, quite novel, and quite alien to the simple belief of earlier times, that between Protestants and Rome there was a measure- less gulf fixed." In addition, one may note that repeated renovations of the text have been made with a constant desire to reach the brotherhood of man idea ; or, perhaps, as indication of a community sense of good taste; it is this [xvl] feeling which prompted the omission, in the igoo production, of the scene in which Veronica hands Christus a towel on which His image is imprinted. Yet, notwithstanding this departure from the type, there are still sufficient resemblances and relationship to adopt an historical method in dealing with this survival ; the sermons delivered in the church, exhorting the players to be faithful to their parts — the Prologue and Choruses, recitative in content and reflective of the Greek plays — the human grief of the Mother before the ctoss, so like the mediae- val spirit of the Marienklagen — the simple realism of the descent from the cross, sug- gestive of early English, French, and German plays of similar topic — these details are strikingly characteristic of passion play per- formances in general. Unlike the large mediaeval dramas in their prime, the Oberammergau production occu- pies only one day, during which time, be- tween the hours of eight and five, but one intermission is allowed. The seventeen acts form a play about four times the length of an ordinary four-act modern drama. Formerly the mysteries and passion plays stretched over a period of several days in performing. [ xvii ] The Actes des Apbtres contained 6i,go8 lines, while a mystery of the Neis) Testa- ment exceeded 180,000 verses, — according to Petit de JuUeville, sixty-six times the length of Polyeucte. II An understanding of the historical signifi- cance of the Oberammergau Passion Play requires a perspective survey of the sources, a short discussion of the Crucifixion and Resurrection scenes in the early religious drama. Research has established the fact that the beginnings of the modern drama are to be found in the early Church service. The fate of the one was intimately con- nected with that of the other until, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the dra- matic elements slowly encroached and over- balanced the religious, and resulted in a definite separation of the two. One natu- rally would expect to find -dramatic activity centred around the two pivotal events of the church service — Christmas and Easter. While the Easter plays appeared first in the development, the Christmas cycles al- lowed of immediate larger scope, of amplifi- [ xviii ] cation departing from the strict order of the Scriptures. But, for several centuries, the dramatists were careful not to approach those details of Christ's death which formed the most sacred elements in the service. The Resurrection was chiefly dealt with until about the fifteenth century, when the Cruci- fixion received extensive treatment. Despite the encroachment of popular situ- ations and local allusions, the great Tragedy never received anything but reverential handling ; yet through every scene flowed the elements of time and place. From its liturgical period, through its transition stage, to the era of the mystery, miracle, and moral- ity plays, the drama was fraught with social significance, and occupied a vital place in the civic life and in the national development. In the Easter liturgy, after the Surrexit Dominus vere [The Lord hath truly risen], the service proceeded as follows : i. Psalms; 2. The Lord's Prayer ; 3. Blessing ; 4. Mark xvi. ; 5. Three lessons of the day (com- mentaries). The first dramatic element was introduced after the third response ; the choir split in twain, and from one side stepped forth three priests to represent the Maries, while from the other side two ad- [xix] vanced, representing the women at the grave. Scenically, the altar was the holy sepulchre, even as it was the manger during the Christmas celebrations. Proceeding to the altar, the Maries are met by the women who chant, Quem quaeritiSy etc., " Whom seek ye in the sep- ulchre, O Christians ? " The answer is given : " Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified, O dwellers in heaven." The response follows : " He is not here ; He hath arisen, as was prophesied. Go ye and proclaim that He hath arisen from the tomb." Then, either as a response, or in the form of a statement to the congregation, the women at the tomb add : " The Lord is truly risen, as He hath said ; behold, He shall go before you into Galilee, where you shall see Him. Hallelujah, hallelujah ! " Thereafter the officiants resumed the reg- ular service, Te Deum laudamtts. Such interpolations were designated tropes^ and consisted either in entirely new material which was inserted during the service, or in certain passages expanded by the intro- duction of more extensive phrasing. The question and response characteristics were parried further in the accentuation of indi- [xx] viduals from the choir group, who represented different characters engaged in dialogue. The priest was turning dramatist. The tropes are of the tenth century, schol- ars claiming, however, that the form must have existed as early as the ninth century. A description taken from an English record contains the church background for such rudimentary plays.* It reads: "While the third lesson is being recited, four brethren [of the monastery] shall cos- tume themselves, and one of these, who is to act a different part from the rest, shall enter, clothed in a long white garment [alb], and, going to a position at the side of the tomb [altar], shall sit there quietly, holding a palm branch in his hand. And when the third re- sponse has been completed, the other three shall come up, dressed in long flowing gar- ments, and bearing illuminated censers in their hands; and they shall go to the tomb slowly, as if looking for something. And now, when he who is sitting at the tomb ob- serves these approach, ... he shall begin by singing softly, ' Whom seek ye ? ' "Finding the linens from Christ's body, * I have elsewhere treated of the Christmas cycle and of the history of miracle, mystery, and morality plays. [xxi] they shall put down their censers, take up the linens, and spread them out before the clergy, as if they wished to show the Lord had risen, and was no longer wrapped in them. Having sung the antiphony, ' the Lord is risen from the tomb,' they shall place the linens upon the altar." The introduction of the actual person of Christ was preceded in the historical devel- opment by ceremonials in which the cross figured as the symbol. But this reticence did not prevent the trope from being ex- panded until it reached the proportions of a passion play. Such increase or enlarge- ment was mainly secured through emphasis on particular scenes, or through accretion, the crude joining of old material with new to produce a continuous picture. The following extracts from manuscripts of different dates indicate something of the growth in scope and in action. According to a German manuscript of the twelfth century, the Maries on the way to the tomb sing : " Who will roll away for us the stone at the mouth of the sepulchre?" Deacons, as angels, chant : " W^hom seek ye," etc., according to the St. Gall inter- polations, while the Maries respond, " Jesus [ xxii ] of Nazareth," etc., as before. The angels chant, " He is not here," going beyond the St. Gall text with " Come ye and behold the place where the Lord was laid. Hallelujah, hallelujah ! " Those who stand before the altar now sing the antiphony : " The Lord is risen from the tomb. He who for our sakes hung upon the Cross. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ! " Turning to an Italian manuscript of the fourteenth century [Cathedral, Cividale], we iind that, after the antiphony, the Maries proceed to the tomb in order to see the wrap- pings, according to the command of the angels, and, returning to the choir with the wrappings, sing: " W^e came to the sepulchre lamenting, and saw sitting there the Lord's angel, telling us that Jesus was arisen." The Maries now sing: " Behold, .O brethren, behold the linens and the wind- ing sheet, and the body is not found in the sepulchre." After the choir has pro- claimed the resurrection, the service is re- sumed, Te Deum laudamus. Further development was more pro- nounced and more rapid with the introduc- tion of new characters and new text, where heretofore there had been only variation. [ xxiii ] In a manuscript of the eleventh or twelfth century the Apostles Peter and John are introduced, according to the Gospel of St. John, 20 : i seq. Mary Magdalene tells of the resurrection — a scene which follows the customary colloquy of the Maries and the angels. The directions indicate that " while the antiphony is being sung, two priests, representing John and Peter, shall come to the sepulchre, and, taking up the wrapping cloth, shall turn about, come forward, facing the people and the clergy, singing : ' Behold, O brethren, behold the linens and the wind- ing-sheet ; and the body is not found in the sepulchre.' " This action having occurred, the clergy shall give the antiphony as in earlier texts, while the choir does more than interpolate, when they sing : " Let the Jews now tell how the soldiers, guarding the sepulchre, lost the King, though a rock was placed over the en- trance of His tomb. Why kept they not the Rock of Justice? Let them either give back the Buried One, or adore, with us, the Risen One, saying. Hallelujah." From this point the service is resumed. It will be seen that, while these small dramas are distinctly liturgical, the additions [ xxlv ] are not mere Bible paraphrases. The treat- ment is guarded though varied. In John 20 : II seq., the mediaeval dramatist found sanc- tion for the introduction of Jesus. This par- ticular incident was a favourite scene with the celebrants of the thirteenth century, while there is one manuscript dated as early as the twelfth century. A Prague drama in addi- tion contains a scene in which the Maries, on their way to the tomb, stop in order to buy spices and ointments. This dramatic action, as outlined, took place in the church during the service, and was en- acted by the clergy. The recitative character of the dialogue had its educational value, since it made the sequence of events evident to a congregation ignorant of Latin. The ceremonials in which the cross was used, representing the body as well as sym- bolizing the passion of Christ, contain varied colour ; there is much in them to accord with the dramatic and pantomimic character of the liturgy of the Mass. In a description of the Burial of the Cross, according to Cham- bers, one source directs the monks to go shoeless from Good Friday "until the cross is adored." " In the principal service of the day, which begins at nones, the reading of [xxv ] the Passion according to St. John, and a long series of prayers are included. Then a cross is made ready and laid upon a cushion a little way in front of the altar. It is unveiled, and the anthem, Ecce lignum crucis, is sung. The Abbot advances, prostrates himself, and chants the seven penitential Psalms. Then he humbly kisses the cross. His example is followed by the rest of the monks and by the clergy and congre- gation." Then, according to St. Ethelwold : " Let them carry it [the cross] . . . singing anthems, until they come to the place of the mon- ument [sepulchre], and there, having laid down the cross, as if it were the buried body of our Lord Jesus Christ, let them say an anthem. And here let the holy cross be guarded with all reverence until the night of the Lord's resurrection. By night let two brothers or three, or more if the throng be sufficient, be appointed, who may keep faithful wake there, chanting psalms."* The Resurrection Ceremonial is equally as solemn. The source reads : " Uppon Easter Day, betweene three and four of the clocke * This whole subject is graphically treated by Chambers, The Medise^a.! Stage, Vol. II. (Oxford, Clarendon PressJ, pp. 14 seg., p. 310, Appendix P. [ xxvi ] in the morninge . . . two of the oldest Menkes of the Quire came to the Sepulchre, being sett upp upon Good Friday, after the Pas- sion, all covered with red velvett and em- brodered with gold, and then did sence it, either Monke with a pair of silver sencers sittinge on theire knees before the sepulchre. Then they both rising came to the Sepulchre, out of which, with great devotion and rev- erence, they tooke a marvellous beautifuU Image of Our Saviour, representing the resurrection, with a crosse in his hand. . . . Then, after the elevation of the said picture, carryed by the said two Monkes uppon a faire velvett cushion, all embrodered, singinge the anthem of Christus res^rgens, they brought it to the High Altar. ..." * This is a unique picture, with the church or cathedral as a scenic background, the members of the congregation intent on ev- ery movement that brought them their slim knowledge of Bible lore, the story made doubly vivid as they saw it unfolded before them, the priests in ecclesiastical robes, sway- ing through the long aisles, their voices reso- nant in the high arches, their lighted tapers like stars in the shadow. * See Chambers. [ xxvii ] Of the costumes, Chambers,* basing his descriptions on various authorities, writes : " The Maries had their heads veiled, and wore surplices, copes, chasubles, dalmatics, or the like. These were either white or col- oured. At Fecamp one, presumably the Magdalene, was in red, the other two in white. . . . The angels, or angel, as the case might be, sat within the sepulchre or at its door. They, too, had vestments, generally white, and veiled or crowned heads. At Narbonne, and probably elsewhere, they had wings. They held lights, a palm, or an ear of corn, symbolizing the resurrection. The Apostles are rarely described, the ordinary priestly robes^ doubtless sufficed. At Dublin, St. John, in white, held a palm, and St. Peter, in red, the keys. In the earliest Prague ver- sion of the Christ scene, the Christ seems to be represented by one of the angels. At Nuremberg, the dominica persona has a crown and bare feet. . . ." Popular dramatic taste began, during the twelfth century, to contend with the liturgical drama, resulting in changes of vital signifi- cance in form and spirit. The Latin tongue of the tropes was gradually superseded by * The Meduevat SUge, Vol. II. p. 34. [ xxviii J the introduction of the vernacular, at first merely interpolative, but increasing bit by bit until, in the thirteenth century, one finds a play written entirely in French, save for the Latin dramatis personce. This piece is called La Rkswn^ection, and is but the fragment of a manuscript. The scope of the play extends from the time when Joseph asks Pilate for Christ's body, to the moment when Caiaphas and his soldiers guard the tomb, awaiting the predicted resur- rection of the dead. Here the expansion of the subject-matter is striking, and foreshad- ows the extensive fifteenth century mysteries, in which the entire life of Christ was traced, with Old Testament references, a formula characterizing the Oberammergau play. Even though it is a fragment, La Resur- rection marks the transition development in an excellent manner. The prologue is par- ticular as to the stage setting, which was fixed, according to the " stations " of the mediaeval platform. The author, a product of his age, speaks of " don " Joseph and Nico- demus, and refers to the vassals of Caiaphas ; even Joseph in his greeting to Pilate shows the mediaeval spirit of temporal inferiority, by his submissive Monseigneur. And in [xxix] return Pilate, forsaking not his pagan asso- ciations, rejoins : " Let Hercules, who killed the dragon, and destroyed the old Gerion, give wealth and honour to him who greets me so tenderly." The sudden changes in scene called for in so small a drama were ac- complished by the actor merely stepping from one indicated spot to the other, a move- ment which demanded the assistance of the imagination on the part of the audience. It is typical of the development in both the Christmas and Easter cycles that the inci- dents in certain plays became in turn distinct dramas themselves. Adam figjures as one of the Prophets in the " Prophets of Christ"; he also is the centre of a separate action which grew out of a desire to accentuate his impor- tance. This is why the mediaeval dramatist, when he found material already prepared and to his liking, appropriated it ; this is why the two methods of growth, by accretion and assimilation, were dependent upon the idea of common possession which recognized no conscious plagiarism. And so the student meets with cycles around the Virgin and Mary Magdalene which later are conjoined in the greater passion plays. These latter are chiefly preserved in French [xxx ] and German manuscripts, and are so enor- mous in length as to make one marvel at the ponderousness of the roles memorized and enacted. Human and realistic elements crept in, but in characterization there was little effort to do more with the Christ than to reflect the high idealism and fervour of the Bible. Even in the Oberammergau play there is no theatric endeavour to over-ac- centuate Christus. A critic * states that " liter- ally no attempt to define, draw out, or give an interpretation of the character of our Lord is made by the thoughtful enthusiast who rep- resents Him ; that the realisms of the scene and obligato touches of homely character are given principally to the inferior parts." The passion play, so highly developed in Germany, is not a species in the English de- velopment ; yet the English cycles trace the course of events from Creation to the Judg- ment and exhibit the tone of all religious drama ; for, no matter what the national ele- ments might be in England, France, and Ger- many, a common origin, a similar religious impulse, a secularization similar in motive if not in process, served to produce similarity of spirit, especially noticeable because of the * Tyrwhitt. [ xxxi ] similarity of the material employed. There- fore in a Towneley mystery (T. xxiii.) the following Crucifixion dialogue contains much of Oberammergau in essence, besides ex- pressing a characteristic mediaeval naivete. Pilate commands silence under threat to whomsoever breaks it, and thus discourses : I am a lord that mekill [much] is of myght, prince of all lury, sir pilate I hight. Next Kyng herode grettyst of all ; Bowys to my byddyng both greatt and small, Or els be ye shentt [destroyed] ; Therfore stere youre tonges, I warn you all, And vnto vs take tent. After the condemnation, the torturers con- verse among themselves about Christ, " this fals chuffer [boaster]," who claims He can perform miracles, yet is not able to save Himself. They prepare for the Crucifixion : Lo, here I haue a bande. If nede be to bynd his hande. . . . Lo, here a hamere and nales also, fFor to festen fast oure foo. . . . The action progresses, and the torturers reach Calvary with Christ. They mock His Godhead ; if He be true Knight [mediaeval touch], He will sit His horse [the cross] well. [ xxxii ] Then, as they bind His body, the realism of the dialogue becomes intensified : SECUNDUS TORTOR. Knyt thou a knott with all thi strength, ffor to draw this arme on lengthe, Tyll it com to the bore. . . . QUARTUS TORTOR. yit drawe out this arme and fest it fast. With this rope that well will last. And ilk man lay hand to. . . . IJUS TORTOR. Do dryfe a nayll ther thrugh outt. And then thar vs nothyng doutt, ffor it will not brest [burst]. . . . PRIMUS TORTOR. hald downe his knees. . . . TERCIUS TORTOR. Draw out hys lymmes, let se, haue at! . . . PRIMUS TORTOR. hald it now fast thor, And oone of you take the bore. . . . As they begin to draw the cross into place with ropes, they vie with each other in their enthusiasm, and then fall to accusing each in turn of not giving his full effort. When at last the cross is raised, they again mock Jesus, self-satisfied as to their work. Gazing at the cross firmly held, one of them says, "A, it standys vp lyke a mast ! " Then, in His agony, Jesus speaks : [ xxxiii ] I pray you pepyll that passe me by. That lede youre lyfe so lykandly, heyfe vp youre hartys on hight! Behold if euer ye sagh body Buffet & bett thus blody. Or yit thus dulfuUy dight. . . , My folk, what haue I done to the, That thou all thus shall tormente me? . . . What haue I greuyd the? answere me. That thou thus nalys me to a tre. . . . Then follows this paraphrase: Bot, fader, that syttys in trone, fforgyf thou them this gylt, I pray to the this boyn [prayer], Thay wote [know] not what thay doyn, Nor whom thay haue thus spylt. The torturers further show their cruelty by joggling the cross. Without any indication of scene- change, the action passes to Mary's lament, very like the German Marienklagen of the thirteenth century : MARIA. Alas! the doyll I dre [endure], I drowpe, I dare [lie hid] in drede! Whi hyngys thou, son, so hee? My bayll [misfortune] begynnes to brede. All blemshyd is thi ble [complexion], I se thi body blede! In warld son, were neuer we So wo as I in wede. . . . [ xxxiv ] ffestynd both handys and feete With nalys full vnmete, his wounds wrynyng wete, Alas, my childe, for care! . , . John fain would comfort her, but she can- not control the mother-grief. Why may not death slay her also ? Jesus calls her " my mother mylde," assuring her that He suffers for the salvation of the world. The scene again changes without indica- tion, and the torturers offer Christ a bitter drink, bidding Him perform a miracle. They likewise divide His clothes among them- selves. After the Saviour gives up the ghost, which reminds one of the fact that in some of the early dramas the characters included a sepa- rate person for the " gast," there occurs the scene in which Longinus is forced to drive his spear into the body. This and the dia- logue between Joseph and Nicodemus are reminiscent of La Resurrection. Even as the Mary Magdalene scenes occu- pied large and definite space in the Benedikt- beur and Wiener passion plays,* so the Marienklagen, at a period when the Latin- German drama was passing into the vernac- * See Mone and other German references. [ XXXV ] ular, had an individual development, and whether or not they were fragments of larger dramas, it is none the less certain that they formed a genre peculiar to early German drama, and reflective of a pronounced Ger- man Marienkultus. Some authorities believe that the German Christians sang of Mary with the same in- tensity that the minnesingers lauded the national heroes in their lieds and sagas. These Marienklagen,* based upon the Latin "sequence," were subjected to the same transforming influences as the trope ; they were characterized by lyricism and dramatic power, and, because of the few personages required in the performances, were much sought after by village commu- nities. The same human love of the Mother for her Son is reflected and intensified in the Oberammergau Passion Play. Ill There are two characteristics of the Ober- ammergau Passion Play which were com- mon among the miracle plays of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries ; many of them were presented with a direct object of warding * See Froning. [ xxxvl j off the pest, an interesting example being found in 1497, when " Saint Sebastian " was given at Chalon-sur-Saone * — and others contained in their casts entire families. If possible, the early miracles and passion plays were enacted with more grandeur, on a larger scale, and, being more directly under the patronage of royalty, the players re- ceived more adequate remuneration for their services. So large were some of these pro- ductions that special confreries in France were organized with the direct object of giving a single performance of a piece last- ing twenty-five days. That there was small profit to the organizations may be seen by the figures representing the receipts (4,680 livres, 14 sous, 6 deniers) and the expendi- tures (4,179 livres, 4 sous, 9 deniers) of a Passion played at Valenciennes in 1547. The history of passion plays has not re- ceived adequate treatment by the English student ; the material is rich and varied and full of human interest, and its civic charac- ter or connection fraught with grandeur of pomp and with simple superstition. The account-books of the gilds contain entries in- dicating the expense of the costumes, which * See De JuUeville, I. 346. [ xxxvii ] were often borrowed, as were also those used at Oberammergau until 1830, when the com- munity decided to purchase its own ward- robe; now every costume is duplicated, — for bad and good weather. It is the general impression that the Ober- ammergau Passion Play began in 1633 or more probably in 1632, according to Daisen- berger, when Caspar Schuchler, a labourer, brought the scourge to Ammergau ; but re- search has clearly indicated that this survival was subjected to an evolutionary develop- ment distinctive of the genre. Besides which, an examination of the older texts will show that the theatre itself, though departing from the distinctive features of the mediaeval stage, is reminiscent of the latter in the ar- rangement of its stations. The reader can do no better than turn to Hermine Diemer's " Oberammergau and its Passion Play " for a history of the village and its historical connections. With Munich, the Bavarian capital, as a starting-point, medisevalism flows toward Oberammergau, touched by the hand of modern improvement, in the midst of which the traveller meets with legend and monumental landmarks of Bava- rian princes. W^hatever people may say [ xxxviii ] about the close proximity of Munich being a disadvantage to the simple existence of Am- mergau, much of the lustre of Bavarian history has been shared by the little village ; every year steam and electricity bring it closer to the art centre, and there is no doubt that the conquest of mountain fastness in this way will eventually ma:ke it impossible for the peasants or even the better class of vil- lagers to exist untouched by cosmopolitan life. But, to counteract this, there still re- mains the tradition, evidences of which dot the road-ways and decorate the exterior of hall and home. But when change comes to Ammergau, it will gain its effect through mental revolution rather than through the shifting of commer- cial or industrial relations. The spirit of the mountains and the influence of Ettal de- scend, as of yore, into the valley, while the river Ammer refuses to relinquish its ancient associations, just as the river Thames stands a bulwark against the encroachments of trade. The valleys around Unterammergau were the favourite haunts of King Ludwig II. The villages leading to the home of the Passion Play are all associated with German history ; [ xxxix ] they all have had their feudal counts and they all boast of their national advantages and beauties. It is when the traveller reaches Oberau that the spirit of Oberammergau begins to work ; here Daisenberger was born, here Andreas Lang has placed one of his famous Crucifixion groups, here are the crude stations of the cross to which Dean Farrar so emphatically objected on the score of bad art as well as of a lack of religious reticence. From Oberau also the mountain road to Eittal, once so treacherous because of the deep tarns and sudden depressions, leads through scenery of romantic variety. As Madame Diemer expresses it, — after describ- ing the danger of precipice, — the rivulets, "the mountain's tears," trickle down "from eyes of stone, fringed by the dark eyelashes of the pine trees." Yet this country of Tyrolean ruggedness has its gentle aspect also : the roads that lead toward Oberammergau are not strangers to marigolds or gentians or for- get-me-nots, however familiar with the slide of snow or the shifting of ice. The poetic and romantic quality of the environment, the Jesuitical, mediaeval tradition of Ettal Monas- tery, the cross which hovers high above the village of Oberammergau, on a crest known [xl] as the "Kofl" — the panoramic glimpse of the home of the Passion Play, with this cross, the church, and the theatre comprising the first objects to catch the eye — all these are the outward instructions to the novitiate who pilgrimages to this home of religious drama. It is not our object to give the local history of Oberammergau, save as it materially affects the development of the play and its immediate production. The guidebooks in sentimental language will convey the neces- sary data which are in no manner as satis- factory as the album prepared by Madame Diemer or as the records penned by Daisen- berger. In a country where every happening is either born in a train of historic or super- natural occurrences or else becomes the centre of future legend, a book alone might be devoted to such detail.* Ammergau was known to the Romans, whose blood flows in the peasants' veins. It lay along the direct military and commercial route between Augsburg and Verona ; it was concerned with the fate of the Guelfs for over * C. Trautmann : " Oberammergau und sein Passionsspiel." See his descriptions of the founding of Ettal. This monastery, included in a district popularly known as the "priest-pen," was in a group of convents with Benediktbeuren, from which the mediaeval passion manuscript was derived. [xli] two hundred years, and then, in 1314, when the Bavarian Prince Ludwig became Ger- man Emperor, Ammergau rose into prom- inence. For the monarch was visited by a monk who promised him peace if to the holy Mother a monastery was raised in Bavaria for the Benedictine Order. Thus Ettal came into being, and thus early the Ammer valley could boast of Augsburg and Jesuit tradition. I am inclined, with Hartmann, to believe that when Ettal restored the Augsburg road, it linked the Oberammergau Passion Play with the larger history of passion plays in general. The whole art fervour of the Ammergau people seems to have been encouraged by their early association with Augsburg and Nuremberg. The student has to study the mediaeval relationship existing between a German vil- lage and the ecclesiastical institution over- shadowing it. In 1356, Oberammergau " was a parish of its own, which was subservient to the Convent of Rottenbuch " ; hence there was much to be adjusted between the two, an adjustment which, in the case of each, involved the history of the other. One may understand, therefore, how it was that Ober- ammergau should have been greatly affected [xlii] by the state of monastic culture in mediaeval Germany. Ettal influenced both her Passion Play and her wood-carving. Among these monastic bodies the artistic and scientific impulses were strong; espe- cially the latter, since a certain scientific tradition was preserved, which eventually led toward the establishment of a Bavarian Academy of Science (1758). Thus the con- vents were regarded as the centres of a staid intellectual life. The clerical influence was dissolved in 1803, the culmination of a strug- gle involving due consideration of the Ref- ormation, the Counter-Reformation, and the variable attitude of the State toward the Church. The parish and civic interests of the times were closely interwoven. The proximity of the monastery to Ober- ammergau, moreover, influenced her com- mercial prosperity, and in a modified form there developed among her people organiza- tions resembling the mediaeval gilds. Even at the present time, the communal unity of the village, while deeper and more spiritual than the craft motive, suggests a resem- blance to the early Passion organizations. Judged by the standards of the day, Ober- ammergau during this early period enjoyed [xliii] many opportunities and advantages of a cosmopolitan town, for records indicate that not only did artists visit Ettal, but also that Ammergau art students travelled to Augs- burg for instruction. In lieu of direct proof, this fact is significant, establishing a con- nection between the text of the 1662 Pas- sion Play and the Augsburg drama, besides indicating the outside impulse given to the Oberammergau wood-carving which had thus early become famed. The scourge, which represents the popu- lar starting-point for the history of the Pas- sion Play, appeared in the wake of war; since early times the little village has had its quota of disturbance, has suffered the brunt of national strife ; it has been in direct line between contending Palatinates ; it has witnessed repeated inroads, Ettal, in espe- cial, representing the chief centre of pillage. In fact, Oberammergau has experienced di- verse dissensions which characterized un- unified Germany. During the Thirty Years' War, Swedes and Austrians, each in turn, fell upon the community, in the wars of Louis XIV (1680), in the Austrian "War of Inheritance (1740), in the Napoleonic up- heavals (1796-1809), fire and sword left their [xliv] marks in the village. The peace of the Ammergauers has come from spiritual resolve. We have now to bear in mind two sig- nificant dates, — the establishment of Ettal in 1330, and the institution of the decennial performances of the Passion Play. Previ- ous to 1634, the religious drama was exten- sively performed throughout Bavaria. The Benediktbeuer manuscripts are relics of those times; while Munich and Innsbruck records indicate the support of magnificent productions. There is conflicting evidence for those who would connect the development of Oberammergau's drama with the convents of Ettal and Rottenbuch. Madame Diemer, a stanch refuter of Trautmann's assertions in support of Jesuitical influence on the play, denies the connection, while Jackson is authority for the following claim: " Even Daisenberger admitted . . . that the monks of Ettal may have aided the vil- lagers in carrying out their vow. Dr. Hol- land is of the opinion that the Passion Play was introduced into Ammergau simultane- ously with the craft of wood-carving. For both acquisitions, he thinks, they were in- [xlv] debted to the monks of Rothenbuch [Augus- tine order]. The date which he gives is the twelfth century. " And, indeed, as to the supposition that the Passion Play dates from the pestilence of 1633, we have already hinted that it is totally unfounded. Leaving, however, to Ro- thenbuch the credit of having first prepared the text and introduced the religious drama into Ober Ammergau, it is probable that, as soon as the monastery of Ettal was estab- lished, the latter took the immediate guid- ance of any existing dramatic elements into their hands. That both the monks of Ro- thenbuch and of Ettal had religious plays cannot be controverted; for in 1803, when the property of the suppressed Bavarian monasteries was put up at auction, costumes used in the religious plays were sold, and the community of Ober Ammergau pur- chased from Ettal a number of dresses, some of which they still used in 1870." Let us grant, therefore, that throughout Germany the passion play, as a form and as a pledge, was familiar ; that such dramas, together with the high processionals of Cor- pus Christi and minor festival observances, if they did not actually encourage the Am- [xlvi] mergau community to enact the Birth and Death of Christ before 1634, at least induced them to undertake such a production when they were stricken by pestilence; and that thus, once determined, they reached out to- ward their flourishing friends, the com- munities of Augsburg and Nuremberg, the forrrier especially affording them the basis for their play. This evolutionary growth we will consider after we have noted how well and how uninterruptedly the Ammer- gauers adhered to their decennial pledge. For the first production an open-air stage was prepared, and, until 1674, t^e drama was presented with regularity; then it was decided to give the next performance in 1680, so as to have the accepted decade date. About this time the audiences were prom- ised the luxury of seats ! By interdict, in 1770, the Passion Plays around Oberammergau were summarily stopped, but the famous little village pro- tested so effectively, presenting the spiritual and material advantages in such graphic manner, that, for the time being, the restric- tions were removed from this special locality. (Diemer, pp. 67 seq.) Such official opposition was aggravated [ xlvii ] by rough and unseemly handling of particu- lar Passion scenes by the actors * — a coars- ening which was sometimes evident as a concession to popular appeal. But grad- ually the governmental jurisdiction relaxed in its power, and the Ammergauers, ap- proaching their 1780 period, forwarded a petition to the Government, together with a copy of their Passion text, which, according to Blondel, had been modified with an idea to forestall any possible censorship. This modification, unless relating to minor changes, must have referred to the "Weilheim version, considered in Hartmann's study. The Passion Play had an enemy around 18 10 in the Bavarian minister, Count Mont- gelas, who, Schroeder states, had steadily opposed every petition of the Ammergauers, but who, on March 3, 18 11, was chagrined to find that the royal permission was set above his official opposition. It was during this period that W^eiss further revised the Passion language, casting it into more lit- erary form. Oberammergau had thus in many respects received favourable governmental discrimi- * In Jean Michel's " Resurrection," Christ is interrupted in His dis- course by drinking-songs. An interesting field of study is the devel- opment of the French fifteenth century " fou." See De Julie ville. [ xlviii ] nation, not only for the Passion Play, but for the secondary dramas, not unknown during the intermediate years, such as the " Kreuzesschule." However small the vil- lage, and however dependent for its fame upon a single custom, in its local history Oberammergau was not lacking in distinc- tion or in communal activity; the inhab- itants, far from ranking as peasants, often attained comfortable positions, betokening considerable wealth. But the prosperity was reflective of greater activity around ; commercial roadways and monastic impor- tance were the brawn and sinew of the civic life. It is only necessary for us to note two additional facts in the history of Ober- ammergau. The state of Germany in the eighteenth century was marked by violent extremes of religious thought and action; the secularization of the clergy in 1803 was the culmination of a long series of historical events, and, with the fall of Ettal, the judicial court was removed from Ammergau, while commercial depression was followed by the numbing effects of war. The villagers now turned to their Passion Play to save them, but its production in many respects, while [xlix] it brought them fame, hardly afforded them pecuniary gain until later years. In 1870, the performance was interrupted; some of the players, including Christus Mayr, went to the wars ; that is why the decennial regu- larity was broken by the production of 1871. A distinctive feature of the mediaeval relig- ious drama was its close connection with the Church,* being enacted within the church edifice, until its increasing scope and grow- ing popularity forced it into the churchyard, thence into the streets and fields. Previous to 1830, the Oberammergau Passion Play was performed in the cemetery, but there- after it was removed to its present site, where the theatre has undergone numerous modifications and doubtful improvements. After 1830, also, the fame of the village began to attract the tourist; this was due either to the visits of royalty or to the de- scriptive data about the drama which were being published. In 1830, on its removal from the cemetery, the strictly personal and local phase of the * Jackson writes : " In a hundred ways, indeed, the village church is a preparatory school for the Ammergau drama. . . . Among the principal occasions when . . . processions take place, we may men- tion Palm Sunday, Corpus Christi, and a day devoted to thanks- giving, when Mass is celebrated at Ettal." [1] Oberammergau Passion Play departed; by 1840, Ludwig Steub, Guido Gorres, and Baron de Roisin had written their comments and impressions, and, in 1850, Eduard Devrient had made further investigations. The spread in interest, international after a fashion, did not escape severe criticism of an emotional kind, — which, if it served no other purpose, prevented a popular ef- fort to commercialize the play by taking it out of its environment and bringing it to America. Four ancient texts of the Oberammergau Passion Play have been published, with a carefully analyzed commentary, by Dr. Au- gust Hartmann ; they indicate an interrela- tion of a character reflective of the processes of mediaeval growth — not cyclic, but incor- porative. By their evident connection they point to the fact, already stated, that the drama must have been in existence, and most probably was performed, much earlier than 1634; Holland's similar belief was founded upon the rapidity with which the Ammergau peasants put .their vow into execution. Recollecting the importance played by Augsburg in the history of Oberammergau, [li] it is not difficult to accept Hartmann's the- ory that the Ammergau people, in 1634, had at hand the Augsburg text of St. Ulrich and Afra, and that, with such text as a basis, the play penned by the meistersinger, Sebastian W^ild, together with the manuscript credited to "Weilheim" Johann Albl (circa 1609), was incorporated, thus affecting the text of 1662, which is the principal source to consider. Should the student make a careful com- parative study of the early Oberammergau texts, it would be necessary for him to have recourse to the many manuscripts which bear evidence of repeated modification ; every decennial "prompt-book" contains the record. At the same time that he is indicating these changes, there should be some official recording, other than that now preserved in the expense accounts and in isolated notes, of the "business" inserted during rehearsals. Such editing should be done, not so much for its artistic value — since the Passion Drama must always stand on the merits of its last production — as for the historical interest in those details which measure the demands of advancing time. In no way has the text of the Oberam- mergau Passion Play become fixed, and, as [Hi] a matter of fact, the music has been sub- jected to similar modifications which are likely to continue for some while.* In 1750 and 1760, an adaptation of the drama was made by Father Rosner, a Benedictine, and was used by the Ammergauers ; this version was simplified in 1780, by Father Magnus Knipfelberger. One attempt was made (see Sepp's account of 1850) to restore a mediae- val tone to the play by adopting an over- rhythmic verse. The most satisfactory refinement of the text was accomplished by Father Ottmar Weiss (1810-1815), a version which con- tained a prologue attributed to one AUioli. With this to work upon, Daisenberger, who was Weiss's pupil, prepared his Alexandrine form, which deviated from his teacher's book not so much in fundamentals as in ornamental accessories. Trautmann's declarations that the exist- * Defenders of the Passion music believe that it has been hand- icapped by an inadequate orchestra. The musical conductor, Ferdinand Feldigl, has written a pamphlet, "Die Oberammergauer Passionsmusik." The reader is likewise referred to a brochure en- titled " Das Passionsspiel in Oberammergau von Cyrill Kistler," Munich. Dedler's original score was mysteriously spirited away to England. The chief source, therefore, for the present music is Guziel's manuscript (1869), based on an altered Dedler score. The 1900 revision was done by F. Feldigl and Ed. Lang, who resorted to Dedler's church music for additional material. See Diemer, p. ISO. [liii] ence of the Passion Play of Oberammer- gau is due to Jesuitical influence, that in its form and in the very arrangement of its stage it was reflective of the Jesuit school of art, are vigorously opposed by Madame Die- mer, on the ground that the Passion Play is the product of Germanic, national impulse. This view is strictly one of research impor- tance and has no direct bearing here. It may be said of the St. Ulrich and Afra text that in many respects it is typically mediaeval, containing the humanism, the realism, and, to a limited extent, the theology of the Church drama of the period — a theol- ogy, however, neither learned nor systema- tized. In its German, also, the philologist will find sufficient proof to place the manu- script in the fifteenth century, if not earlier. An extended examination of this basic text will reveal many characteristics common to mediaeval drama in general. The Procla- mator is a replica of the fifteenth and six- teenth century Prompter, or, as the French mysteries styled him, meneur du jeu. Through such a role the moral significance of the play was explained, largely depend- ing for effect upon anticipation on one hand, and upon exhortation on the other. The [liv] later developments of this type are the Doc- tour in the morality play, "Everyman," and the Prologue or Chorus in such chron- icle plays of Shakespeare as "Henry V." Another distinctive feature of the St. Ul- rich and Afra text is the "after-piece" which depicts Christ in Hell, where His forerunners — the Prophet group of early dramas — await Him for their salvation, and in which, after the Ascension, the three Maries come to the grave and discover the stone rolled away. The 1662 text begins with a modified prologue taken from Wild's drama ; it then leans very heavily on the St. Ulrich and Afra version. It contains the character of Satan, who generally figured in the Passion Play previous to 1750, and who read a let- ter from Lucifer — a letter aimed to counter- act the good effects of the Prologue. Hart- mann carefully considers this 1662 text; to him I would refer the student. Certain scenes, as given in this manuscript (the orig- inal of which is in possession of G. Lang sel. Erben, Oberammergau) are preserved in the present-day version.* All of this text * Madame Diemer's analysis wfll be an excellent guide for the English reader ; in its attitude it reveals the fact that there are Ammergauers not at all satisfied with the present version of the Passion Play. [Iv] evidence will some day be gathered in ac- cessible variorum form, A complete critical examination would point to the advisability of reviving some of the ancient, effective scenes which have been lost or discarded during the repeated revisions the drama has undergone. In all details bearing upon the text and music score of the Passion Play, the Am- mergauer's dissatisfaction evinces an in- nate opposition to modern influence — an opposition which constitutes its preservative force. External dangers likewise are re- garded askance; Madame Diemer deplores the tendency toward the theatrical in the costuming, in the acting, and in the intro- duction of stage machinery ; she regards the amplification of the theatre as a menace which threatens the pure simplicity of the performance. By 1680, the Passion text of 1662 was well defined. To quote Blondel : " Des remaniements moins heureux furent operes au cours du XVIII siecle : on imagina des episodes demi-burlesques, des diableries de mauvais gout. Des personnifications telles que le Peche, 1' Avarice, I'Envie, furent intro- duites dans le drame ; Satan y joua un role [Ivi] considerable; et, pour ne citer qu'un trait, des entrailles de Judas pendu (sous forme de mannequin) s'echappaient des saucisses que des diablotins devoraient avec avidite: tel etait le gout du temps." The morality characteristics referred to were inserted by Father Rosner. If, according to Trautmann, it is difficult to conceive of the Oberammergau Passion Play as being enacted on the storied pageant wagon, it is not so difficult to imagine the early stage to have been constructed on the same principle as the " stations " which, in France, assumed such large proportions. The 1547 Passion Play at Valenciennes, as described by De JuUeville (see the diagram in Gayley), is a representative type. There is much evidence to sustain this opinion, the central "station" or stage being the only one upon which scenery was moved. So complicated and delicate have the ar- rangements now become for the Crucifixion scene, that an inner stage, directly behind and conjoined with the central one, being concealed therefrom by a drop curtain, is required for the preparations which were once realistically made in full view of the audience. The role of Christus is so exact- [Ivii] ing upon the actors that many have fainted on the cross, overcome with exertion and emotional strain. Anton Lang himself has described the awful moment when one of the bands giving support to his extended arm, slipped, forcing him, through the long Cruci- fixion scene, to hold his arm rigid by sheer muscular exertion. Bearing in mind every possible accident that might befall the Christus, it is not sur- prising to find, in the text-book of the Passion Play for 1815, the following precautionary directions : "They now remove the rope from his feet, and bind him with strips of linen round the body, hands, and arms, round the breast and loins, so that, should he become uncon- scious, he will not fall from the cross." The variations in the different decennial texts suggest stage variations and changes in costumes. There has been no systematic cataloguing of these, and so the student in the future will have to be given access to the community account-books recording the extensive details and enormous proportions of the spectacle. The examination of these early stage directions will throw valuable light on the question as to how much actual [Iviii] dependence Oberammergau placed upon Augsburg and Nuremberg in her prepara- tions until 1811. It was then that Weiss encouraged the beneficiary, Unhoch, in his planning of a new theatre, for ^A^eiss's text called for the stage innovations. About the year 1815, the Ammergauers purchased costumes, where heretofore their chief resource had been the neighbouring convents, which had loaned the necessary vestments to them. The entries of expense are as full of local colour as one finds in the mediaeval gild records — and some of them are as naively ingenuous. Madame Diemer, in most points antagonis- tic to the critic's claim that the Passion Play was subject to Jesuitical influence, in respect to the costumes does grant that the priest's hand is evident. The expense- books, now the concern of the Town Coun- cil, were once regularly subjected to a strict judicial examination. When Daisenberger was appointed pas- tor of Oberammergau in 1845, he began his revision of Father ^Veiss's text, devoting himself chiefly to the lyrical interpolations. In Oberammergau history there are many instances of authors submitting texts for [lix] presentation in place of the old versions, and, in 1888, the matter took official pro- portions when the Government of Upper Bavaria determined that the Passion Play needed new text and new music, — in fact, a complete new setting, — all to be done by Munich artists, Frau v. Hillern * to prepare the prose text. But the latter sensibly real- ized that no change of any kind might be forced upon the Ammergauers, and the Government finally relinquished the idea. Nevertheless, as an evident compromise, the vocal text was altered and made less tedious. Nowhere has modern innovation had such a marked influence as in the mechanical aspects of the Passion Play. If Munich has not yet been able to upset tradition and to replace the old with a " made-to-order " text, she has encroached on the external details which, until 1880, in conception as well as in manufacture, had remained almost entirely in the hands of the villagers. Munich architects and Viennese scene- painters transformed the Passion stage in 1890, adapting to its particular needs devices used in the Munich Court Theatre. In 1900, * Mother of Madame Diemer, the author we have been quoting. [Ix] the hall of the Passion Theatre was con- structed, six iron arches forming the visible skeleton for an auditorium enclosed in the manner of large Exposition buildings — stucco being replaced by a combination of wood and canvas. The guide-books contain sufficient de- scriptions of the theatre to make a repetition unnecessary here ; nevertheless, two special items should be commented upon. The seating capacity of the theatre for each performance is distributed as follows: I. 1598 seats @ 10 marks.* It « Q tt " 6 ti « . it 4 " " 2 " " Royal. 3976 " On reading De JuUeville, the amplitude of the Oberammergau auditorium decreases when one finds the statement that, in 1490 at Reims, a Crucifixion play was produced before 16,000 people. The same authority also states that at Auton, in 15 16, a theatre was erected by the Church and the citizens, capable of seating 80,000 people. But the * 24 cents. [Ixi] II. 496 III. 544 IV. 668 V. 656 VI. 14 record does not indicate whether this calcula- tion was based on one day's attendance, or included the series of days through which the lengthy drama was enacted. As far as Oberammergau is concerned, the number of seats, with three hundred standing - room added, must be multiplied by the number of performances. The Passion is played on Sundays, from May through September; sometimes, if the attendance warrants it, additional dates are announced during the week. In all, counting the dress rehear- sal, there were twenty-eight performances in 1900. The general details of the Passion Play "barn" have now to be conducted in ac- cordance with modern theatre ideas. The old unconscious quaintness has been lost beneath the decorative richness and the mechanical perfection which centre in a stage realism far from simple. The years to come will witness an interesting struggle in which, it is to be hoped, the deepening of a community spirit in the civic body will offset the threatening commercialization of the performance. From reportorial sources I quote the pro- ceeds and expenditures of the i8go Passion [Ixii] Play, so as to suggest some idea of what profits accrue from the decennial " business," as it is called : STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE BURGERMEISTER* 1890 RECEIPTS Marks 1. Tickets of admission . . 665,719.50 2. Sale of Photographs 27,000.00 3. Other Sources 2,004.57 694,724.07 EXPENSES 1. Interest on acquired funds 6,527.60 2. Building expenses, including material . 199,668.85 3. Salaries for Play (747 members) . . . 242,830.00 4. Distribution to 238 householders, 180 m. each 42,840.00 5. Distribution to 29 families, 100 m. each 2,900.00 6. Communal purposes : New hospital, sewers, water supply, roads, river banks, fire-engines, relief of soldiers, relief of poor, etc 99.397-00 7. Other communal purposes : Fund for hospital, articles for church, increase of teachers' salaries, river banks, public lands, technical educa- tion, canals 100,000.00 8. Reserve 560.62 694,724.07 • Published in the New York Nation. [ Ixiii ] The Oberammergau Passion Play — a product of so many hands — is nevertheless usually identified in the mind of every true Ammergauer with three names. There was Father Ottmar Weiss (1769-1843), of Ettal, who, when the monastic secularization occurred, devoted himself to teaching in Oberau, and then did his work on the Passion text; there was Rochus Dedler (1779-1850), schoolmaster and composer, in which latter capacity his tradition domi- nates Oberammergau to-day; and finally, there was the beloved Geistlicher Rath Joseph Alois Daisenberger (1799-1883), whose priestly duties, varied and energetic, did not prevent him from devoting much time to literary labours.* The preacher, the schoolmaster, and the woodcarver constitute the professional fig- ures in Oberammergau, for in no essential should the participators in the Passion be regarded as theatrical devotees, however much the Judas of Gregor Lechner (1870) * Daisenberger's other dramas, many of them given production in the training theatre, are as follows : " Theodolinde," " Otto von Wittelsbach," "Kaiser Ludwig der Baier; oder. Die Stiftung des Klosters Ettal." The religious dramas are: "Der Agyptische Jo- seph," "Naboth," "Judith," "Genoveva," etc. His Passion Play was not performed, though parts of it have been used. [Ixiv] be remembered as the height of dramatic art. These men who play their parts have a large sense of the calling which forms so vital a proportion of their life-work; they are always keenly intent on improving the community spirit in accordance with their tradition rather than with the current time, and in their conception, they seek true feeling, which in some respects is above the subtlety of conscious art. Daisenberger's sermons, as simple as his letters, show no superiority of temper, but a fervour suitable to the congregation before him. His appeal to his player friends shortly before the Passion Play was what one might expect of a pastor to his flock — the same simple purpose and marked sincerity which prompt the Ammergauers when they hear what roles have been as- signed to them by the community Council. These appointments are usually made some time before the actual period of re- hearsal; the elections for igoo were held in December, 1899. One may imagine the feelings of Mayr when the mantle of Christus fell from his shoulders; worse still the feeling of Johann Zwink, son of the famous painter, when, after playing St. [Ixv] John, he found himself cast for Judas. It would sometimes appear as though these electors tried not only to estimate the player's ability to act the role, an ability which a smaller theatre develops during intermediate years between the Passion decades, but likewise that they attempted to strengthen individual weakness by spiritual requirement. The one tremendous failing of Josef Mayr was his temper, which mounted to heights of ungovernable rage; imagine the psychology which entered into his preparation for the part of Christ! IV The chief charm of Oberammergau is its hold upon medisevalism in the richest sense. It is unnecessary to question the literary value of the play as a genre, since its weight is, or rather should be, spiritual. The Ammergauers live to ripe old age; they become veritable patriarchs, physically adapted to Bible roles. Such men as Sebas- tian Deschler and Jakob Hett and Bvirger- meister Lang are purveyors of tradition ; in fact, all Oberammergau draws its life from tradition. That is why it is essential to [ Ixvi ] realize the connection between the past and present, and it is the fear that some day the gap between mediaevalism and modernism will become impossible to bridge that dis- turbs the true lovers of the Passion Play. What it means to the individual depends upon the attitude of the individual; there is little critical comment of a literary nature to be made upon the materials which are at the basis of a religion. Probably one might detect in the Passion Play a determined unification of events for the purpose of accentuating the designs of the Jews, — a motivation outside of the Bible intent, — and a careful delineation oi Judas, around whom some of the most powerful stress of the play centres ; otherwise the drama fulfils its initial mission. It is externalized for the purpose of inward effect; its art phases should strive to re-create the Bible story. If this is accomplished, then the Passion Play, as a survival* satisfies one of the essential requirements of the early religious drama. * As an offshoot of the Oberammergau Passion Play, we should note the Swiss Passion Play, as given since 1890 at Selzach. Other minor examples are likewise to be found, but they are sporadic efforts to reproduce, rather than a growth emanating from the very life of a people. [IxviiJ In preparing this translation of the Pas- sion Play, I have relied chiefly upon the German of three texts : that of Daisenberger, edited by Professor Brentano ; W. T. Stead's stenographic reproduction of the dialogue; and the Huttler, Fischer edition of i8go (Munich). I wish here to take the oppor- tunity of expressing my indebtedness to Dr. August Hartmann's " Das Oberammer- gauer Passionsspiel in seiner altesten Ge- stalt" and to Walter S. Manning's transla- tion of Hermine Diemer's (nee von Hillern) " Oberammergau and its Passion Play." It is a pleasure to acknowledge also the courteous assistance given me by the New York Astor Library, Harvard University, Columbia University, Mr. Louis How, and Mr. Samuel M. Weller. MONTROSE J. MOSES. [ Ixviii ] THE PASSION PLAY THE PASSION PLAY FIRST DIVISION From the entrance of Christus into Jerasalem until the moment of His being taken prisoner on the Mount of Olives, I. REPRESENTATION Prologue CHORUS (Qioragus). Bend low, bend low ini holy love, God's curse hath bowed an humbled race. Peace unto you! From Heaven above. Where righteous wrath in justice reigns, Yet pales before the touch of grace, — So saith the Lord, " Eternal pains Of Death from the Sinner I release. I will forgive — he shall have peace ! " Thus came His Son to free the world. Oh, praise To Thee we raise, And thanks. Eternal One. Thus came His Son ! I [I] TABLEAU : The Expubion from Pa.ra.dise THE EXPULSION This first picture serves as an introdadion. Adam and E