THE OBER-AMMERGAU 
 PASSION PLAY 
 
 {Reprinted, by permission, from the "Times'') 
 
 With some Introductory Remarks on the Origin an: 
 
 Development of Miracle Plays, and some Practical 
 
 Hints for the use of Intending Visitors 
 
 by the 
 
 Rev. MALCOLM MacCOLL, M.A. 
 
 Fourth Edition, with a Xew Appendix/ giving a continuous description of the 
 Scenes and Tableaux of the Play, in the order in which they take place. 
 
 RIVINGTONS 
 Hontton, <%forfc, an* Cambufa&e 
 
 1871 
 

/ff/L 
 
 DAYS ON WHICH THE PASSION PLAY IS TO BE 
 ACTED IN 
 
 1871. 
 
 June 24. 
 
 
 
 
 July 2 
 
 9 
 
 16 
 
 25 
 
 August 6 
 
 14 
 
 20 
 
 27. 
 
 September 3 
 
 9 
 
 17 
 
 24 
 
 If on any of these, days there are more visitors than the theatre 
 will hold, the play is repeated on the following day. 
 
 NAMES AND AGES OF THE PRINCIPAL 
 DRAMA TIS PERSONS. 
 
 Character. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Age. 
 
 Christ . 
 
 Joseph Mair 
 
 26 
 
 Peter 
 
 Jacob Hett . 
 
 60 
 
 John 
 
 Johannes Zwink . 
 
 19 
 
 Virgin Mary 
 
 Franziska Flunger 
 
 24 
 
 Mary Magdalene . 
 
 Josepha Lang 
 
 26 
 
 Herod . 
 
 Franz Paul Lang . 
 
 55 
 
 Pilate . 
 
 Tobias Flunger . 
 
 • - 54 
 
 Judas . 
 
 Gregor Lechner . 
 
 50 
 
 Caiaphas 
 
 Johann Lang 
 
 35 
 
 Annas . 
 
 Gregor Stadler 
 
 50 
 
 Nathaniel 
 
 Paul Froschl 
 
 63 
 
 Ezekiel . . 
 
 Sebastian Deschler 
 
 49 
 
 Joseph of Arimathea 
 
 Thomas Bendl 
 
 3i 
 
 Nicodemus 
 
 Anton Haafer 
 
 64 
 
 Roman Centurion . 
 
 Joseph Zwink 
 
 48 
 
 Barabbas 
 
 Johann Allinger . 
 
 56 
 
 Choragus 
 
 Johann Dimmer . 
 
 40 
 
 Principal Contralto Singe 
 
 r Josepha Flunger . 
 A 1 
 
 22 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 'THHOSE who intend to visit Ober-Ammergau 
 this year will be glad to learn that the prin- 
 cipal characters remain unchanged. A few of the 
 actors in the subordinate parts, among them 
 Simon of Cyrene, " have remained behind in 
 France," as Madame George Lang euphemistically 
 puts it in a letter which she has been good 
 enough to write to me. Joseph Gutzjell, the con- 
 ductor of the orchestra, and my kind host last 
 year, has left the place ; but the villagers are very 
 musical, and they have supplied his place without 
 difficulty. 
 
6 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 In answer to numerous inquiries, I here subjoin 
 a table of my expenses last year from London to 
 Ober-Ammergau : — 
 
 » £ s. d. 
 
 London to Cologne, 2nd class, via Dover 
 
 and Ostend . . . .290 
 
 Extra for 1st class on board steamer .050 
 Difference on 1st class from Verviers to 
 
 Cologne . . ' ... . . . o 5 10 
 
 Cologne to Bingen (steamer), 1st class .060 
 Bingen to Nuremberg, 2nd class . . o 16 o 
 Nuremberg to Munich, 2nd class . . o 1 1 o 
 Munich to Weilheim, 2nd class . .026 
 Weilheim to Ober-Ammergau, carriage 
 
 and pair . , , . . .110 
 
 £5 l6 4 
 It will be observed, first, that this does not in- 
 clude hotel expenses; secondly, that the journey 
 was made all the way by second class, except on 
 three occasions, when I travelled first class ; thirdly, 
 that I went out of my way in going to Nuremberg. 
 I have omitted also some extra expenses for lug- 
 
Preface. y 
 
 gage, because they were quite unnecessary. Hotel 
 expenses are, of course, a matter of taste ; but, if 
 wines are dispensed with, six shillings a day will 
 easily cover every thing. I hired a carriage from 
 Weilheim to Ober-Ammergau ; but I might have 
 made that part of the journey by omnibus for 
 about three shillings. On the whole, I have no 
 doubt that one may go to Ober-Ammergau by 
 Cologne and Munich, and return within a fortnight, 
 for £15. This would include all necessary expenses, 
 and would enable the traveller to have a second- 
 class ticket all the way to Ober-Ammergau and 
 back. By taking the steamer from London to 
 Antwerp, or Ostend, and travelling third class, I 
 believe the trip could be made for £10, provided 
 the traveller can speak German. But I would 
 not advise any one to attempt it, even by the 
 cheapest route, with less than £15 in his pocket. 
 
 A through-ticket from London to Munich saves 
 trouble ; but it is a mistake as regards expense. 
 Let the traveller take his ticket from London to 
 Ostend (if he goes that way), a second ticket from 
 
8 The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 Ostend to Verviers, and a third from Verviers to 
 Cologne, and he will save at least ten shillings 
 between London and Cologne. 
 
 I hope to see the Passion Play this year again 
 myself ; and I have not the smallest fear that my 
 second visit will mar the favourable impression of 
 my first. 
 
 London, May 24, 1871. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 T T is a trite observation that the drama, both 
 ancient and modern, had a religious origin. 
 The Grecian mythology was the source, and fur- 
 nished much of the materials, of the tragedy of 
 Greece. In addition to that public worship of 
 the gods in which there was nothing of mystery 
 or concealment, there were, as every body knows, 
 a variety of Mysteries in which only the initiated 
 could share. In these Mysteries there does not 
 appear to have been any exposition of doctrine 
 or any course of oral instruction. It was not the 
 intellect that was addressed, at least primarily and 
 directly, but the bodily senses and the imagination. 
 After the initiatory rites of lustration and sacri- 
 fices, all the rest was an elaborate drama in which 
 were represented the diversified adventures and 
 
io The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 various transformations of certain deities, with their 
 relations — sometimes malign, sometimes beneficent 
 ■ — to the human race. This circumstance had an 
 enduring influence on the subsequent drama of 
 Greece, which retained to the end a semi-mythic 
 character. The scene and characters are almost 
 invariably laid in a remote past, and represent the 
 results of actions rather than the actions them- 
 selves. The heroes of the national legends are seen 
 on the Greek stage, not struggling or scheming, 
 vanquishing or being vanquished, but in still and 
 solemn repose — in a state of misery or happiness, 
 rather than on the way towards it. There is thus 
 no development of character, no play of human 
 passion ; and hence the use of the mask, which 
 concealed the features of the actors, and gave to 
 the face the appearance of preternatural impassive- 
 ness ; hence also the liberal employment of tableaux 
 vivants to illustrate and interpret the successive 
 acts. Another reason for this characteristic of 
 the Greek drama was, no doubt, the immense 
 size of the ancient theatres. Any one who has 
 
Introduction. 1 1 
 
 seen an old Greek theatre will understand the simple 
 impossibility of any acting which required the visi- 
 ble expression of human emotions. Every citizen 
 had a right to a seat — generally to a free seat. 
 The theatre of Syracuse, for example, which is still 
 in tolerable preservation, is 467 feet in diameter, 
 and contains 61 tiers of seats ; and any one who 
 has looked across its vast depth will hardly con- 
 sider 30,000 as an exaggerated estimate of the 
 audience which it was capable of seating. No 
 human organ could send articulated words across 
 that space, and no play of features, however lively, 
 could be seen by those who sat at the back of the 
 theatre. Artificial means were therefore necessary, 
 both to increase the size of the human figure and 
 face, and to swell the volume of the human voice. 
 
 The early Christian Apologists denounced the 
 Greek Mysteries in the severest language. Clement 
 of Alexandria, who took so favourable a view of 
 Greek philosophy as a preparation for the Gospel, 
 pronounces the sternest condemnation on the 
 demoralizing influence of the Mysteries, into which 
 
12 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 he seems to intimate that he himself had been 
 initiated before he became a Christian. But the 
 early Christians were not satisfied with denouncing 
 the impure Mysteries of Pagan mythology ; they 
 did not rest content with driving out the evil spirit, 
 leaving the house " empty, swept, and garnished." 
 They took pains to show that they had mysteries 
 of their own with which to tenant it, mysteries 
 which were as purifying and ennobling as the 
 heathen Mysteries were loathsome and degrading. 
 And thus the Christian drama rose gradually on the 
 ruins of the Greek theatre. A considerable dra- 
 matic element enters into the composition of all 
 the early Christian liturgies, and still more into 
 the circumstances attending the celebration of the 
 principal festivals of the Church. The eye was 
 constantly appealed to, in order to deepen and 
 confirm the impressions made by oral instruction 
 on the understanding. And as soon as Christianity 
 emerged from the Catacombs, and found itself in 
 the enjoyment of freedom, it made a bolder and 
 more direct attempt to enlist the sympathies of its 
 
Introduction. 13 
 
 converts by means of dramatic representation. We 
 find Greek tragedies on sacred subjects almost 
 coeval with the establishment of Christianity, and 
 there is direct evidence to their representation 
 at Constantinople. One of these is the "Dying 
 Christ " of St. Chrysostom, which was acted in 
 Church, partly in tableaux vivants, and partly in 
 dialogue. St. Gregory Nazianzen, too, and other 
 early Christian writers, dramatized portions of Holy 
 Scripture on the model of the ancient Greek plays. 
 These religious plays made their way gradually 
 from the East to the West. We have records of 
 convent plays in Germany as early as the time of 
 Charlemagne. But the religious drama does not 
 appear to have taken firm root in the West till 
 about the eleventh century, when a great impetus 
 was evidently given to its popularity — probably by 
 means of the Crusades, which introduced into 
 Western Europe many of the customs of Eastern 
 Christendom, and, among the rest, the passion for 
 the scenical representation of religious subjects. In 
 no country did the Miracle Plays attain an earlier 
 
14 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 popularity than in England. Matthew Paris tells 
 us that a graduate of Paris, called Geoffrey, after- 
 wards Abbot of St. Alban's, while teaching a school 
 at Dunstable, caused the legend of St. Catherine 
 to be acted in that town, Geoffrey himself, with 
 some of his scholars, taking the principal parts in 
 the play. This was in the beginning of the twelfth 
 century, but no manuscript of the play has come 
 down to us. The earlier of these religious dramas 
 were all written in Latin, and as most of the 
 spectators were unfamiliar with that language, it is 
 probable that the play was acted chiefly by means 
 of tableaux vivants and pantomime. The earliest 
 Mystery Play which has come down to us in the 
 English language is " The Harrowing of Hell." It 
 belongs to the earlier part of the fourteenth century, 
 and consists of a prologue, epilogue, and interme- 
 diate dialogue. The principal dramatis persona are 
 Dominus and Sathan, Adam and Eve. The best 
 known, however, of the English Mystery Plays, and 
 the most famous, are those called the "Chester 
 Mysteries/' of which a good edition was published 
 
Ifitroduction. 15 
 
 thirty years ago, by the Roxburgh Club. Warton 
 refers them to the beginning of the fourteenth 
 century, while Roscoe, on the other hand, denies 
 them an earlier date than the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century. The truth lies probably between 
 the two, and we may feel tolerably safe in placing 
 the origin of the Chester Mysteries at least as early 
 as the beginning of the fifteenth century. They 
 cannot be called, popular though they were, 
 a favourable specimen of the religious drama. 
 There is not much evidence of genius in any of 
 them, and some of them belong to the lowest and 
 coarsest type of comedy. Indeed, the Miracle 
 Plays, especially in England, soon degenerated into 
 buffoonery, and were frequently placed under the 
 ban of the Church, as tending to bring sacred things 
 into contempt. As early as 1360 we find Bishop 
 Grandison of Exeter forbidding the acting of plays 
 at Christmas 1 . But their popularity at Court and 
 among the masses proved too strong for Episcopal 
 
 1 See Mr. Prebendary Walcott's "Sacred Archaeology," 
 p. 448. 
 
\6 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 censures. Edward III., in particular, was pas- 
 sionately fond of these entertainments ; and Mr. 
 William Longman, in his interesting and learned 
 life of that monarch, gives the following inventory 
 of articles used in a play performed at Guildford 
 during the Christmas of 1347 : — 
 
 " Eighty-four tunics of buckram of divers colours, 
 forty- two vizards of divers forms, twenty-eight 
 crests, fourteen painted cloaks, fourteen dragons' 
 heads, fourteen white tunics, fourteen peacocks' 
 heads with wings, fourteen tunics painted with 
 peacock's eyes, fourteen swans' heads with their 
 wings, fourteen tunics ornamented with stars of 
 beaten gold and silver, fourteen likenesses of 
 women's faces, fourteen likenesses of men's faces 
 with beards, fourteen crests with mountains and 
 conies, fourteen dragons' heads, twelve men's 
 heads and as many elephants' heads, twelve men's 
 heads with bats' wings, twelve wild men's heads, 
 seventeen virgins' heads, five hoods of long white 
 cloth, worked with blue men dancing, three har- 
 nesses, two of which were of white velvet, worked 
 
Introduction. 1 7 
 
 with blue garters, and diapered throughout with 
 wild men ; and, for the king himself, a harness of 
 white buckram, inlaid with silver, namely, a tunic 
 and shield, with the king's motto, 'Hay, Hay, 
 the Wythe Swan, by God's Soul I am thy man.' " 
 
 Akin to the Mystery Plays were the Moralities. 
 These were allegorical dramas in which abstract 
 qualities were represented on the stage, and may 
 be regarded as an intermediate link between the 
 Mystery Plays and the modern drama. The repre- 
 sentation of abstract qualities led by an easy pro- 
 cess to the introduction of individual character, and 
 to the representation of ordinary life and manners. 
 In the violent struggles of the Reformation the 
 stage was largely used by each side as a weapon 
 of offence against the other. The marriage of 
 Luther was satirized in a Latin Morality, which 
 was acted in Gray's Inn, in the year 1529 2 . The 
 Reformers were not slow to retaliate ; and so pro- 
 fane and indecent did some of these representations 
 become that we find them prohibited in Privy 
 2 Hallam's Lit. of Europe, i. 439. 
 
i~8 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 Council ordinances under Henry VIIL, Edward 
 VI., and Mary. From the time of Henry VIIL, 
 especially, the Moralities were directed against the 
 vices of the clergy, and of the monastic orders in 
 particular ; and the popularity which these satires 
 against clerical delinquencies acquired shows how 
 rife the body of the people were for a reformation 
 of the Church, at least in the matter of discipline. 
 Collier, speaking of Henry VIII.'s prohibition of 
 these plays, says,— 
 
 "That nothing could be a greater profanation 
 and abuse. These representations were made by 
 some of the Gospellers. The subject of the enter- 
 tainment was the immoralities and disorders of the 
 monks and clergy ; they took the liberty likewise 
 to ridicule their religious worship. The mob was 
 pleased with these theatrical shows, in hopes, it 
 may be, of being set free from discipline and re- 
 straint. The clergy complained, as they had reason, 
 against such licentious sport. This, they said, was 
 the way to let in atheism, and make all religion 
 a jest ; for if people were allowed to burlesque 
 
Introduction. 1 9 
 
 devotion, and make themselves merry with the 
 ceremonies of the Church, they would proceed to 
 further extremities, and laugh the nation out of 
 their creed at last. The judicious and better sort 
 of reformers disliked these courses, but the politi- 
 cians of that party countenanced this licence and 
 made great use of it, and upon what motives they 
 went is not difficult to discover 3 ." 
 
 In the summer of 1549 a proclamation was is- 
 sued against Miracle and Morality Plays, in which it 
 is stated that "the arguments of these entertain- 
 ments of the stage went upon seditious subjects, 
 arraigned the government, and exposed the consti- 
 tution to contempt ; that a great many tumults 
 and disorders had been occasioned by this liberty ; 
 that therefore, from the ninth of the present 
 August (1549), till the Feast of All Saints next 
 coming, no person was to act any stage performance 
 in English in any part of the realm, on pain of im- 
 prisonment and further punishment at the king's 
 pleasure." 
 
 3 Eccl. Hist. v. 92. 
 B 2 
 
20 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 The Moralities and Miracle Plays, however, held 
 their ground for a good century afterwards, and 
 were witnessed on various occasions by Elizabeth, 
 James I., and Charles I. Their last refuge was 
 the City of London, where the relics of the old 
 Moralities are still to be seen in the pageantry of 
 the Lord Mayor's Show. 
 
 As the subject of this little book is a German 
 Passion Play 4 , a few words may be appropriate on 
 the development of the religious drama in that 
 country. 
 
 As I have said above, convent plays — that is 
 Miracle Plays acted under the superintendence of 
 the monks, and generally in the cloisters of the 
 convents — were known in Germany in the time of 
 Charlemagne. But the earliest specimen that has 
 come down to us is the manuscript of a dozen 
 
 4 The word " Passion-Play " was applied exclusively to 
 the representation of Christ's Passion and Resurrection, as 
 distinguished from the Miracle Plays or Mysteries, which 
 had to do with the lives of the Saints. 
 
Introduction. 1 1 
 
 dramatic plays, composed, for the edification of 
 her nuns, by a remarkable woman, Hrotsvitha, 
 Abbess of the convent of Gandersheim. She was 
 born in 930, and tradition says that she was by 
 birth a Greek princess. Her plays are written in 
 Terentian Latin, and were frequently acted within 
 the walls of the convent " to the joy and edification 
 of the nuns." 
 
 From this time we read of similar plays and 
 representations in Germany, as well as in Italy, 
 Spain, France, and England ; but they were all 
 written in Latin, and the German muse took two 
 centuries from the time of Hrotsvitha to learn the 
 common language of the people. First the dia- 
 logue was translated into German, and then the 
 strophes and anti-strophes of the chorus. Then 
 the whole play assumed a German dress, and the 
 costumes were those of ordinary life at the time. 
 The man who personated Christ appeared as Van 
 Eyks represents Him in his pictures, with a papal 
 tiara, a rich tunic studded with pearls, and a stole 
 and pastoral staff. In the Epiphany Plays the 
 
22 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 Three Kings wore the costly dress of the knights 
 and merchants of the time — velvet and fur coats, 
 and rare foreign stuffs. The ordinary actors wore 
 the costumes of common citizens and peasants, 
 with pointed shoes and head-circlets of tinkling 
 bells. 
 
 One of the earliest and simplest of the German 
 Mystery Plays was the " Lament of the Virgin on 
 the Death of Christ," a sort of religious dirge, 
 acted on Good Friday by way of preparation for 
 the joy of the Easter festival. It was modelled, both 
 in the melody and form, on the " Meistersang," 
 which occupied an intermediate position between 
 the gaiety of the " Volkslieder" and the gravity of 
 the chorale. There is a great variety of these 
 " Mary's Laments," and they may possibly have 
 suggested the well-known " Stabat Mater." 
 
 To the "Mary's Lament" succeeded the Passion 
 Plays, representing the Passion, Burial, and Resur- 
 rection of Christ. At a later period the Ascension 
 of Christ was represented, and also the Assumption 
 of the Virgin — a tradition that floated westward, 
 
Introduction. 23 
 
 probably in the wake of the Crusaders and pilgrims. 
 The "Destruction of Jerusalem" and the " Day of 
 Judgment" were also among the earliest of the 
 religious plays of Germany. 
 
 In the beginning of the fourteenth century the 
 German religious drama made a decided step for- 
 ward. Till then the representations took place 
 in the churches. Now, stages were erected in the 
 streets and market-places, with several stories one 
 above another, to give greater scope for scenical 
 display. The number of actors was also greatly 
 increased — sometimes amounting to several hun- 
 dreds — and the whole thing was conducted on a 
 much more expensive and elaborate scale. The most 
 celebrated of the early German plays, and which 
 obtained the widest popularity, was the "Ludus 
 de Decern Virginibus;" or, " Tragedy of the Ten 
 Virgins." It was brought out in Eisenach in 1332, 
 and with such overpowering effect that it threw 
 the Landgrave Frederick into a fit of apoplexy, 
 which he never got over, and of which he died 
 two years afterwards. He was a prince of in- 
 
24 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 
 
 domitable spirit, as he had proved not only under the 
 cruel treatment of his profligate father, Albert the 
 Bearded, but even more in the struggle which he 
 maintained, at last successfully, for his rights 
 against two Emperors and against Vladimar, 
 Margrave of Brandenburg. The evening of his 
 life promised to end calmly and happily ; so that 
 he was called Frederick the Joyful, in allusion to 
 the peace and joy of his later years, as contrasted 
 with the sadness of his childhood and the stormy 
 period of his contest for his rights. On the whole, 
 he did not appear a very likely man to be killed 
 by a Mystery Play ; but so it was. 
 
 It happened thus. In 1332 the inhabitants of 
 Eisenach and the neighbourhood were anxious to 
 celebrate the return of peace by means of some 
 public entertainment ; and the Pastor of Eisenach, 
 willing to gratify their wishes, suggested the per- 
 formance of a Miracle Play. The subject chosen 
 was the Parable of the Ten Virgins, which was 
 dramatized by a Dominican monk, and acted by 
 brothers of the Order. The piece has considerable 
 
hitrodtiction. 25 
 
 merits, and a short outline of it may be interesting, 
 and also help to explain the extraordinary effect 
 which it produced on Frederick the Joyful, though 
 the pomp of the scenery, and the vigour and 
 solemnity of the acting, to which Johannes Rothe 
 testifies, must be left to the imagination. Every 
 scene has its corresponding sacred songs and 
 antiphons, as well as recitations and dialogues. 
 
 First appears the " Dominica Persona," or 
 person who takes the part of Christ, with Mary 
 and the Angels singing in the top story of the 
 stage, which represented Heaven. Then the Vir- 
 gins of the Parable, in two divisions, and already 
 differing in dress and aspect, make their ap- 
 pearance on the second floor, representing the 
 world. After some singing an angel announces 
 the Play to the people thus : — " Silence ! Good 
 people, and take heed. We bring you news of 
 the dear Son of God, Jesus Christ. Oh ! how 
 sweet to name His name !" 
 
 Christ Himself then bids His angels fetch those 
 who had been invited to His feast : Dicite invitatis : 
 
26 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 Ecce prandiunt Menm paravi ; Venite ad Nuptias. 
 Whereupon two angels descend among the Virgins, 
 and exhort them to be ready to go into the feast 
 with loins girt and lamps burning. As the angels 
 ascend into heaven and the curtain falls, the 
 Wise Virgins take up the strain of Christ's mes- 
 sage and exhort each other to perseverance and 
 watchfulness. The Foolish Virgins, on the other 
 hand, encourage each other to procrastinate. God 
 did not mean His creatures to be for ever worry- 
 ing themselves. He gave life in order that it might 
 be enjoyed. Time enough to begin thinking of 
 death when age approaches. God does not desire 
 the death of a sinner, but on the contrary wishes 
 him to return and live, and one may therefore 
 safely trust to His mercy. When the zest of life 
 is gone, one may then cut off one's hair, and go 
 into a convent, and mortify the flesh. And so 
 the Foolish Virgins dance merrily off the stage. 
 
 A third scene follows, in which one of the Wise 
 Virgins comforts her sisters in their afflictions. 
 They are despised and rejected of men, but it is 
 
Introduction. 27 
 
 for their Master's sake. They are now sharing His 
 sufferings, but He will soon return as the Bride- 
 groom of His virgin choir, and they will enter with 
 Him to the marriage feast. 
 
 The next act represents the Foolish Virgins, 
 slumbering heavily after a revel, and slowly 
 awakening, but only to find that their lamps have 
 gone out, and they have not wherewith to replen- 
 ish them. They are seized with consternation, and 
 after a hurried canvassing of various schemes, they 
 go at last to the Wise to borrow oil. They make a 
 most touching appeal, but the Wise Virgins refuse, 
 for they have none to spare — no superfluous graces 
 which they can afford to impart to others. The 
 distracted suppliants rush about every where to 
 relight their lamps, but in vain. And meanwhile 
 the Bridegroom appears. An angel announces His 
 arrival to the Wise Virgins, who, being ready, at 
 once join the bridal train and enter into the 
 wedding chamber. Christ bids Mary place them 
 beside her, and she, executing her Son's command, 
 puts crowns on their heads, and promises them 
 
28 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 
 
 the supreme joys of heaven. The Wise Virgins 
 then sing the Sanctus and Gloria in Excelsis, and 
 Christ holds His feast with His ransomed guests. 
 
 While this is going on, the Foolish Virgins stand 
 outside, and implore to be admitted. They bewail 
 their folly, appeal to His bitter death and tender 
 mercy, remind Him that they are weak women, 
 and appeal to His love for His own Virgin Mother. 
 But the answer is, " Too late. Ye have wasted 
 your lives, and never more can enter in." The 
 wretched suppliants then address their prayer to 
 " Mary, Mother, Maid," and adjure her by her 
 pity, of which they had heard so much, and 
 which they now so sorely need, and for the honour 
 of her sex, to intercede for them to her Divine Son. 
 Mary promises to try, but fears it will be in vain. 
 She kneels, and earnestly entreats her Son to for- 
 give the Foolish Virgins. He explains to her the 
 impossibility of breaking His eternal laws even to 
 oblige her, and refuses her petition. There is then 
 a representation of hell, with the devils carrying off 
 the lost, the Foolish Virgins among them. At this 
 
Introduction. 29 
 
 sight the Virgin kneels again before her Son, points 
 to her motherly heart, which the sword had pierced 
 for love of Him, and once more asks pardon for 
 the Foolish Virgins. Christ answers her gently, and 
 tells her that a too late repentance makes salvation 
 impossible, and the Foolish Virgins must now go into 
 that state which they have prepared for themselves. 
 
 Then follows a graphic description of the 
 terrible memories and unavailing regrets of the 
 lost, and the joyful surprise of the saints at being 
 rewarded so much beyond their deserts. 
 
 This was a view of the Gospel which excited 
 and terrified Frederick the Joyful. "What means 
 this Christian faith," he exclaimed, "if God will not 
 pity us even when Mary and the Saints intercede 
 for us ? " He started for Wartzburg in a towering 
 passion, and was "so infuriated that it was five days 
 before the learned could make him understand the 
 Gospel." But that fright was too much for him. He 
 was seized with apoplexy, and never left his bed 
 again till he was carried two years afterwards to 
 his grave in the Chapel of St. John at Eisenach. 
 
30 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 It is impossible to read the " Tragedy of the 
 Ten Virgins" without being struck with the 
 healthy and elevated morality which runs through 
 it. It may be assumed, I suppose, that the 
 drama of a period is a fair index of its moral 
 and religious condition. If this be granted, we 
 may argue that the state of society which is 
 depicted in the " Tragedy of the Ten Virgins " 
 could not have been so hopelessly bad as some 
 declamations on the vice and ignorance of the 
 " Dark Ages " would lead us to believe. When 
 we reflect, too, that the " Tragedy " is the com- 
 position of a Dominican preacher, we may infer 
 that mediaeval divines were not so incapable of 
 preaching the pure Gospel as they are sometimes 
 represented. 
 
 From the end of the fourteenth century we have 
 copious notices of dramatic representations in 
 various parts of Germany. Some of them were 
 on a very large scale, both as regards the accesso- 
 ries of the play and the time it took to act. In 
 some instances it took more than a week to get 
 
Introduction. 3 1 
 
 through the performance ; and so realistic was the 
 representation, that serious accidents sometimes 
 occurred. In a Passion Play in Metz, in 1437, the 
 priest who acted our Lord's part nearly died on the 
 cross. He was taken down in a state of insensi- 
 bility, and another priest took his place, and went 
 through the rest of the play. Another priest who 
 played the part of Judas all but succeeded in 
 hanging himself. 
 
 It was customary for the man who personated 
 Judas to have a black bird — a raven if possible — 
 under his robe, which flew away when the suicide 
 took place, to represent the Traitor's black soul. 
 Sometimes, too, a dummy was made to play the 
 role of Judas in the suicide scene, and it was so con- 
 trived that the rope broke at the proper time, and 
 the figure fell and burst open. Another variation was 
 to let Judas drop through a flaming aperture 
 representing hell, amidst the crashing of boards and 
 the shouts of the spectators. 
 
 In the fifteenth century a writer of the name of 
 R. Bart composed a gigantic Play, which consisted 
 
32 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 of eight thousand verses, and embraced the whole 
 Bible history from the creation of the world to the 
 resurrection of Christ. There is, however, as far 
 as I know, no record of its having ever been acted. 
 
 These Plays, and especially those that represented 
 our Lord's Passion, found a genial home among 
 the picturesque valleys of the Tyrol, where they 
 maintained their ground long after they were driven 
 out of the plains. Some remnants of them still 
 survive in secluded places ; but the only place 
 where the old Passion Play is still performed in 
 its integrity, and with all the splendour and more 
 than the reverence of ancient days, is Ober-Am- 
 mergau. 
 
 In 1780, on the manifestation of a move- 
 ment in favour of putting down Miracle Plays, the 
 inhabitants of Ober-Ammergau received from the 
 Churfurst, Karl Theodor, special permission to con- 
 tinue the representation of their Passion Play. In 
 1790 this privilege was renewed, but all similar 
 plays elsewhere in Bavaria were forbidden, partly 
 on the ground of their interfering with industry, 
 
Introduction. 33 
 
 and partly for moral and religious reasons. In 
 1 8 10 another attempt was made by the Bavarian 
 authorities to put down Miracle Plays, and no ex- 
 ception was made in favour of the decennial Passion 
 Play of Ober-Ammergau. The villagers sent a 
 deputation to Munich to plead the cause of their 
 Passion Play before the ecclesiastical authorities, 
 but in vain. They then addressed themselves to 
 the king's chaplain, Anton Sambuga, who succeeded 
 in obtaining for them the usual royal sanction. 
 
 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play had in the 
 meantime undergone various revisions. The most 
 considerable of these revisions took place in the 
 beginning of this century. The play was then 
 entirely rewritten and rearranged by Dr. Ottmar 
 Weis, one of the monks of Ettal, and afterwards a 
 pastor in the neighbourhood of Ammergau. He 
 died in 1843, at the ripe age of 72. The last 
 revision of the Play was made between 1840 and 
 1850, by Anton Aloysius Daisenberg, a pupil of 
 Dr. Ottmar Weis. 
 
 Up to 1830 the Play was always acted in the 
 
 C 
 
34 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 churchyard of Ober-Ammergau ; but, in that year, 
 the pastor of the village refused the use of the 
 churchyard, and the inhabitants were thus com- 
 pelled to hold the representation outside the village. 
 In the end this was a great advantage, for the 
 churchyard was too confined ; and, in addition, the 
 numerous gravestones seriously interfered both with 
 the acting and the scenery. 
 
 Whatever profits remain, after defraying the 
 necessary expenses of the Play, and making a 
 contribution to a Reserve Fund, are devoted to 
 charitable purposes. In i860 the number of 
 visitors was 60,000, and the proceeds were 54,000 
 florins. 
 
 I have been asked by several to give some 
 practical information for the use of intending 
 visitors to the Ober-Ammergau Passion Play, and 
 I do not know that I can do better than copy the 
 following letter which appeared in the Times of 
 June 27. It puts in a clear and concise form the 
 information which I had myself collected on the 
 subject : — 
 
Introduction. 35 
 
 To the Editor of " The Times" 
 SIR, — I was one of those who were present at 
 the Passion Play at Ober-Ammergau, which is so 
 admirably described by your correspondent, who 
 has entered into the whole spirit with which it is 
 carried out. Anxious that others should enjoy 
 such a privilege, I collected on the spot whatever 
 information I thought might be useful to others, 
 and I now forward it to you. 
 
 Ober-Ammergau may be reached from three 
 quarters. 
 
 1. From Munich by Weilheim (2 J hours' rail), 
 and thence by carriage or omnibus in four or five 
 hours. 
 
 2. From Innsbruck by carriage in twelve or 
 fourteen hours, by Zirl, Seefeld, and Partenkir- 
 chen, a most beautiful road. An omnibus leaves 
 the Moonshine, Innsbruck, every Saturday morning 
 at 5 A.M., reaching Ammergau at 8 P.M. ; fare, three 
 or four florins. The charge for a carriage is forty 
 or fifty florins. 
 
 3. From Bale, via Constance to Lindau, and 
 
 c 2 
 
36 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 thence by rail to Kempten (two hours and a half), 
 and on by carnage in twelve or fourteen hours to 
 Ammergau by Fussen and Steingarten, skirting 
 the foot of the mountains. Carriage thirty florins. 
 
 Travellers would do well to arrive on Friday 
 night or early on Saturday, to see the influx of 
 the country people late in the evening. Rooms 
 and tickets should, if possible, be secured before- 
 hand. 
 
 Sebastian Veit (Madam Veit speaks French as 
 well as German), George Igwinck, and John Lang 
 are among many who receive strangers, and if 
 their rooms are full they will provide others, and 
 give every local information as to carriages and 
 routes. There is no difficulty in finding con- 
 veyances to leave Ammergau after the perform- 
 ance. Letters should be directed, " Ober-Am- 
 mergau, Bavaria." Board and lodging cost from 
 three and a half to five florins per day. The fare 
 is simple, but good ; and the accommodation is 
 perfectly clean, but of a humble character. 
 
 The days fixed for the ensuing months are 
 
Introduction. 37 
 
 July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 ; August 7, 14, 21, 28 ; Sep- 
 tember 8, ii, 18, 25, 29. 
 
 I remain, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 June 25. M. S. 
 
 I will only add to the information supplied in this 
 letter that the most direct route from England to 
 Ober-Ammergau is by the Rhine and Munich. 
 Those who do not mind a five hours' sea-passage 
 will find the Dover and Ostend route very pleasant. 
 By leaving Charing Cross in the morning (at 7.30 
 I think) they will arrive at Cologne about 10.30 
 the same evening. If time is no object, they can 
 go up the Rhine by steamer ; but the only part 
 of the river that is at all worth seeing is that be- 
 tween Bonn and Bingen. The best plan, therefore, 
 would be to take the train to Bonn, catch the 
 steamer there, and leave it at Bingen. From 
 Bingen there are various routes to Munich ; but 
 the lover of the picturesque will probably prefer 
 to go a little out of his way, to see charming old 
 Nuremberg. The distance from Bingen to Nurem- 
 
38 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 berg is from five to six hours, and from Nuremberg 
 to Munich somewhat less. Munich will repay a 
 sojourn of two or three days. The hotels are ex- 
 cellent, and most reasonable. I stayed for ten 
 days at the Vierjahreszeiten (Four Seasons), which 
 is supposed to be the best in Munich, and I can 
 recommend it in terms of unqualified praise. I 
 paid less than I should pay at a second-rate hotel 
 in Paris, and I fared as well as I should fare at 
 one of the first-class. My experience is confined 
 to the Vierjahreszeiten, but I was told that the 
 other hotels in Munich are also excellent. It is 
 safer to engage rooms beforehand. I was there in 
 the beginning of June, and even then the hotels 
 were very full. 
 
 The visitor to Ober-Ammergau ought, if possible, 
 to arrive there on Friday, and he should leave 
 Munich by the first train (6.30 A.M.). He can; 
 either take the train to Weilheim, where he can 
 hire a carriage at a very moderate price to Ober- 
 Ammergau (my friend and I paid 17J. for a very 
 good carriage and pair) ; or he may leave the train 
 
Introduction. 39 
 
 at Starnberg and go by steamer (which meets the 
 train) to Seeshaupt, a distance of fifteen miles. From 
 Seeshaupt omnibuses and diligences run to Mur- 
 nau ; and at Murnau, which is about two and a half 
 hours' drive from Ober-Ammergau, he will have 
 no difficulty in getting a vehicle of some kind, espe- 
 cially if he gets there on Friday. Murnau is a 
 nice clean town, and has an excellent inn, the 
 "Post." The sail on the Starnbergsee makes the 
 journey a few hours longer — a drawback for which 
 the scenery on its banks hardly makes up. The 
 view of the snow-capped peaks of the Tyrolese 
 mountains from the deck of the steamer is cer- 
 tainly very pretty ; but that is almost the only 
 view worth seeing which the traveller misses 
 by declining the steamer and going on to Weil- 
 heim by the train. I went by Weilheim and re- 
 turned by Seeshaupt ; so that I give the result of 
 my own observation. 
 
 Those who wish to make certain of lodgings in 
 Ober-Ammergau should write beforehand to some 
 person in the village. The writer of the letter given 
 
4-0 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 above mentions several names, to which I may add 
 Madame George Lang, and Joseph Gutzjell, the 
 schoolmaster of the village, and also the conductor 
 of the orchestra at the Passion Play. Letters 
 should be written in German. 
 
 Visitors should be careful to provide themselves 
 with opera-glasses, as the seats in the covered part 
 of the theatre are at a considerable distance from 
 the stage. 
 
 It is strictly forbidden to take notes during the 
 performance, and a transgression of this rule ren- 
 ders the delinquents liable to expulsion from the 
 theatre. 
 
THE 
 
 OBER-AMMERGAU PASSION 
 PLAY. 
 
 {From an occasional Correspondent}) 
 
 Ober-Ammergau, 
 
 Whitsunday. 
 
 '^pHROUGH the kindness of a friend I was 
 fortunate enough to secure a room here 
 before I left England. Still I thought it prudent 
 to take time by the forelock, and my friend and 
 myself accordingly got up at five o'clock yesterday 
 morning, and after a hurried breakfast found 
 ourselves in the train at Munich at half-past six. 
 About half-past eight we arrived at the Starn- 
 bergsee, a pretty lake, fifteen miles long and three 
 and a half broad. A steamer is in waiting here 
 to convey to the other end of the lake such pas- 
 sengers as wish to vary their journey in that way. 
 We were anxious, however, to reach our destination 
 with as little delay as possible, and therefore went 
 on by rail to Weilheim. The line skirts the west 
 
42 The Obcr-Ammergaii Passion Play. 
 
 bank of the lake, so that we did not lose much of 
 the views by declining the steamer. About half- 
 past nine we reached Weilheim, where we found an 
 abundance of vehicles of every description waiting 
 the arrival of the train. The distance from there to 
 Ober-Ammergau is about twenty-seven miles, and 
 we engaged a two-horse chaise to take us all the 
 way for the moderate sum of seventeen shillings. 
 For the first twenty miles of our drive we passed 
 through an undulating country, prettily wooded 
 and well cultivated, and reminding us occasionally 
 of English park scenery. Before us stood the Bava- 
 rian highlands, with their fantastic peaks peering 
 like spectres through the gradually dissolving mist, 
 and their lower parts draped in a blue transparent 
 
 .veil of tremulous haze. At Murnau, a handsome 
 little market town, we stopped for an hour and a 
 
 'half to rest our horses and to dine. Then, after 
 another hour's drive through the open country, we 
 entered a magnificent mountain gorge, not unlike 
 the Pass of Killiecrankie, in Perthshire, but far sur- 
 passing it in wild grandeur. Our road, which now 
 
The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 43 
 
 became so steep that our horses had much difficulty 
 in dragging the empty carriage after them, followed 
 the course of the Loisach, a stream which murmurs 
 gently enough at this season of the year, but which 
 must make music of a different sort when it is 
 swollen by winter floods. On each side of the 
 Loisach rise almost perpendicularly two lofty moun- 
 tains, covered to their summits with pines, and as 
 you look back, after a quarter of an hour's ascent, 
 you see the entrance of the pass as it were shut in 
 by the giant forms of the Zugspitz and Wetterstein, 
 two wild, bare mountains streaked with snow, the 
 one nearly 10,000 feet, and the other over 7000 feet 
 high. As we approach the summit of the pass we 
 see in the distance, high above the valley, what 
 looks like a huge dome surmounted by a cross, with 
 two weights hanging down from each arm. On 
 inspecting it through the glass, however, the dome 
 turns out to be the summit of a rocky precipice, 
 called the Kofel, which rises perpendicularly to the 
 height of at least 2000 feet over against the village 
 of Ober-Ammergau. On the top of this precipice 
 
44 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 the pious villagers have erected a colossal cross be- 
 tween two young pines, which look in the distance 
 like pendant weights. At the top of the pass, on 
 a grassy slope of the mountain, stands the Bene- 
 dictine monastery of Ettal. What an eye those 
 Benedictines had for scenery ! The chief of their 
 houses, Monte Casino, stands on a craggy steep 
 befitting the position which it so frequently occu- 
 pied in the Middle Ages as the refuge and strong- 
 hold of religion and civilization. But, as a rule, the 
 Benedictines made their home, where it was pos- 
 sible, in some secluded mountain nook, away from 
 the turmoil of the world, as became their studious 
 habits. The monastery of Ettal was founded in 
 1332 by the Emperor Ludovic, was suppressed in 
 1803, and is now in the possession of a Bavarian 
 nobleman, who uses part of it as a brewery. It has 
 some good pictures by Tyrolese painters, and a fine 
 ceiling by Knoller ; but the most curious object in 
 it is a miraculous image of the Virgin, which, ac- 
 cording to the legend of the place, was presented to 
 Ludovic by an angel. In front of the monastery is 
 
The Ober-Ammergau Passion Blay. 45 
 
 a tall may-pole, which was gaily decorated yester- 
 day as we drove past. 
 
 Three miles beyond Ettal lies the village of Ober- 
 Ammergau, in the valley of the Ammer, a small 
 clear river from which the village takes its name. 
 It is completely shut in by mountains. On the 
 south-east towers the frowning Kofel, having on 
 each side of it jagged peaks covered with pines. 
 On the opposite side of the Ammer, on which the 
 village stands, the mountains, though high, are 
 softer. They are clothed with pine ; but imme- 
 diately behind the village are green grassy slopes. 
 The village was in a glow of sunshine, and looked 
 its very best as we drove into it at half-past three 
 yesterday afternoon. We made at once for the 
 house of the worthy woman who had promised to 
 provide lodgings for us. She was as good as her 
 word. Her own house was full, but she had secured 
 rooms for us in the house of the village school- 
 master, Gutsjell by name. Nothing could be better, 
 for our host is not only the schoolmaster of Ober- 
 Ammergau, but in addition the postmaster and 
 
46 The, Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 sexton, and on this occasion the conductor of the 
 orchestra at the Passionsspiel. He is a talkative, 
 intelligent, and most obliging man, and while his 
 wife was preparing our dinner he volunteered to 
 show us over the theatre, and give us our choice of 
 places for the performance, which is fixed for to- 
 morrow, so as not to interfere with the high festival 
 of to-day. 
 
 The theatre, a wooden erection, is just outside the 
 village, between two rows of poplars, and is evi- 
 dently constructed after the model of an ancient 
 Greek theatre. The proscenium is exposed to the 
 sky, except a portion in the middle, where most of 
 the acting and all the tableaux vivants are performed 1 . 
 On the front gable of this covered part a village 
 artist has painted a star-spangled firmament, with 
 the figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and 
 crowned by a carved representation of the fabled 
 pelican suckling its young from its pierced breast. 
 On the left of the proscenium, as you face it from 
 
 1 The stage is 118 feet broad, 168 feet deep, and contains 
 a surface of 20,000 square feet. 
 
The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 47 
 
 the auditorium, is Pilate's house, and on the right the 
 house of Annas, the high priest ; and beyond, along 
 the open. space on either side, 3'ou see the streets of 
 Jerusalem stretching away in the distance. The 
 seats in the auditorium rise tier behind tier, as in 
 a Greek theatre. Four-fifths of them are open deal 
 benches, uncovered and roofless. Behind these, 
 and separated from them by a wooden partition, 
 is a row of comfortable cane-bottomed chairs, and 
 in the centre of the row are two large arm-chairs, 
 which our host told us were intended for royal 
 personages. Behind the chairs are tiers of wooden 
 benches stuffed and covered with canvas. This part 
 of the auditorium is roofed with a wooden scant- 
 ling, which shields it effectually from rain and sun % 
 Admission to all parts of the theatre is by ticket, 
 and the highest price is five shillings, so that the 
 managers of the Passion Play cannot be accused of 
 avarice, for the demand is so great that they might 
 really charge any thing they liked. 
 
 This morning, at eight o'clock, I attended high 
 mass in the village church. The church, which is 
 
48 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 
 
 by no means small, was as full as it could hold, and 
 I never saw a more devout congregation. Every one, 
 old and young, had a book in the vernacular, and 
 evidently followed the service without difficulty. 
 After the Nicene Creed the priest retired into the 
 vestry, where he left his chasuble, and ascended the 
 pulpit in his alb and stole. He knelt down and said 
 a short prayer in silence, then stood up and gave 
 out the notices for the week, after which he read the 
 whole of the Gospel for the day, and founded on it 
 a good extempore sermon of half an hour's length, 
 impressing on his flock, among other things, the 
 necessity of holy dispositions for the contemplation 
 of the spectacle which they were to witness on the 
 morrow. After the sermon and the ascription at 
 the end of it, he said, in German, " The Lord be 
 with you ;" to which the congregation with one 
 voice responded, " And with thy spirit." He then 
 turned to the east, and began the Apostles' Creed 
 in the vernacular, the congregation repeating it after 
 him with a heartiness which I have seldom heard 
 equalled. After the Creed all knelt down, and said 
 
The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 49 
 
 the Lord's Prayer in German, after which they sang 
 a litany, also in German, the men and women sing- 
 ing alternate verses. After the litany the priest 
 left the pulpit, put on his chasuble, and went on 
 with the rest of the mass. In addition to the high 
 mass at eight, there were five low masses, one every 
 hour from three o'clock to eight, and they were all 
 well attended by devout communicants. There were 
 several other services all through the day, and the 
 church was full at all of them ; nor did the women 
 predominate, as is the case in too many places on 
 the Continent. 
 
 It has been raining with but little intermission 
 the whole of to-day, and I begin to fear we shall 
 have a wet day for the Passio?isspiel to-morrow ; but 
 Herr Gutsjell is a man of cheerful temperament, 
 and he assures us that the rain of to-day is a sign of 
 a fair morrow. The village is crowded with visitors, 
 and I wonder greatly how the inhabitants manage 
 to provide for such a large influx of strangers. There 
 are more, too, coming, and they will continue to 
 come all through the night. I have just taken a 
 
50 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 
 
 stroll outside the village, and the whole valley seems 
 alive with travellers, some on foot, a few on horse- 
 back, and others in vehicles of every shape and 
 size. Many of them must sleep in the open air in 
 spite of the rain, for the village contains but 1300 
 souls, and there must be seven times that number of 
 strangers in it to-night. 
 
 Many of your readers are, of course, acquainted 
 with the origin of the Ammergau Passion Play ; 
 but for the sake of the multitude who are not so 
 well informed, it may be well to give the history of 
 it in a few words, as it will help them to follow the 
 detailed account of the play which I hope to send 
 you in my next letter. 
 
 In the year 1633 there raged in the neighbour- 
 hood of Ammerthal (Valley of the Ammer) a deadly 
 plague which threatened to depopulate the districts 
 infected. These were Partenkirchen, Eschelohe, 
 and Kohlgrub — all separated from Ammerthal by 
 a rampart of mountains. The Ammerthalers took 
 every precaution to protect their valley from the 
 dread contagion, but without avail. A native of 
 
The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 51 
 
 Ammerthal, who worked during the summer in 
 Eschelohe as a day-labourer, evaded the quarantine, 
 and entered the valley by a secret path in order to 
 celebrate among his family an annual church festi- 
 val. He carried the infection with him, and on the 
 second day after his arrival he was a corpse. In 
 three weeks eighty-four of the small community were 
 carried off, and the mourning and terrified survivors, 
 despairing of human succour, made their supplica- 
 tion to God, and registered a solemn vow that if He 
 heard their cry, and removed the plague, they would 
 represent every ten years, " for thankful remem- 
 brance and edifying contemplation, and by the help 
 of the Almighty, the sufferings of Jesus, the Saviour 
 of the world." So runs the local tradition, which 
 goes on to say that the prayer was heard, " for not 
 a single person died of the plague after the vow 
 was made, though many were infected with it." In 
 the following year the first fulfilment of the vow was 
 made, and our Lord's Passion was first represented 
 in Ober-Ammergau, and has been continued since 
 then without intermission every ten years. The 
 D 2 
 
5.2 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 sanction of the King has to be obtained before each 
 representation, and is given as a matter of course. 
 Within the last fifty years the Play has been im- 
 proved both in the text and in the music ; in the 
 former by one of the monks of the Ettal Monastery 
 named Ottmar Weis, in the latter by Rochus 
 Dedler, who was born in the year 1779, became the 
 schoolmaster of Ober-Ammergau in 1802, and died 
 in 1822. His bones lie in the village churchyard, 
 but his soul still lives among the grateful villagers 
 in the sweet music which he bequeathed to them, 
 and which they resolutely refuse to publish. They 
 will not suffer a single melody or bar of it to be 
 copied. Libretti of the play may be had in abun- 
 dance ; but these do not contain a note of the 
 music, and of the words only the chorus songs. The 
 rest is committed to writing and learnt by heart, 
 but is kept secret among the performers. Visitors 
 are forbidden to take notes during the performance. 
 And now I think I have given your readers as 
 much information as is necessary by way of prepara- 
 tion for my next letter. 
 
The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. ^ 
 
 Ober-Ammergau, 
 
 June 8. 
 
 Neither visitors nor natives, I take it, had much 
 sleep here on Sunday night. A band of music 
 paraded the village in the early part of the evening, 
 and all through the night the air was alive with the 
 sound of human voices, the tread of many feet, and 
 the rumbling of carts and carriages, with now and 
 then the boom of a gun. The inhabitants began 
 the day with solemn acts of worship to Him the 
 details of whose passion were about to be acted 
 before their eyes " for thankful worship and edify- 
 ing contemplation." There were masses every 
 hour, from three o'clock to seven. Our landlady 
 had our breakfast ready for my friend and myself 
 at six, and we bent our steps towards the theatre 
 about seven. The day was gloomy. It rained 
 all through the night and early morning ; but now 
 only a few drops fell at intervals. Still the weather 
 looked any thing but cheerful. The sky was leaden 
 and sullen, and the surrounding mountains were 
 covered with thick mist down almost to their base. 
 
54 The Ober-Ammcrgati Passion Play. 
 
 On reaching the theatre a few minutes after seven 
 we found it full almost to overflowing, except the 
 comparatively small portion which was roofed over. 
 This was about half full. We presented the tickets 
 which Herr Gutsjell had procured for us, and were 
 shown into the two best seats in the theatre — the 
 arm-chairs intended for royalty, which I mentioned 
 in my last letter. Royalty had not put in an 
 appearance on this occasion, and so our kind host 
 managed to get the vacant chairs assigned to us. 
 Considering that the Play lasted eight hours and 
 a half, with an interval of an hour in the middle, 
 it was a great boon to be seated in a comfortable 
 arm-chair, with a ledge in front for one's book. 
 Before the clock struck eight the theatre was as 
 full as it could hold, and presented a picturesque 
 appearance. Every variety of dress was repre- 
 sented, from the last Paris fashion to the tra- 
 ditional costume of the Tyrolese mountaineer, 
 which consists of a shooting-jacket with green 
 collar and facings, a waistcoat adorned with rows 
 of shining buttons, short breeches reaching within 
 
The Ober-Ammcrgau Passion Play. ^ 
 
 two inches of the knee, and green woollen leggings 
 which cover the calf, but leave the knee and about 
 an inch of the small part of the leg exposed. 
 The foot is encased in a short sock, which rarely 
 appears over a stout boot that reaches to the ankle, 
 and the head is covered with the graceful hat 
 and waving plume which are so becoming in their 
 native home, where they harmonize with the rest 
 of the costume and with the character of the 
 scenery. Over this costume, when it rains, the 
 Tyrolese hunter wears a loose covering with a 
 hole in the middle for the head to pass through, 
 somewhat like the Moorish burnous. Sometimes 
 it is nothing more than a blanket ; but if the 
 wearer happens to be a dandy, he aspires to a more 
 costly material ; or, if he cannot afford that, he 
 fashions his burnous out of sheepskins, with the 
 long wool outside, and dyed according to his 
 fancy. A man sat some benches below me en- 
 veloped in one of these woolly coverings of light 
 sky-blue. Some of the women were bareheaded, 
 with the hair gathered up behind in a variety of 
 
5<5 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 
 
 tasteful arrangements, and others wore sealskin 
 caps, not unlike the fur cap which the Russians 
 wear in winter, except that the crown, instead of 
 being flat and circular, is divided into two cones. 
 
 The orchestra took their places about a quarter 
 before eight, and played a pleasing overture. When 
 that was finished a gun was fired, and as its last 
 echo died away among the mountains, the chorus 
 entered at eight o'clock precisely. It consists of 
 twenty singers — eight men and twelve women — 
 the men in the middle, with six women on each side. 
 They are all dressed alike, and, with one excep- 
 tion, have long flowing hair, smooth faces, and 
 sandalled feet, so that in some cases it is difficult 
 to distinguish the sex except by the voice. The 
 dress consists of a loose robe, over which a white 
 muslin tunic, trimmed with lace, falls down to the 
 knee, and over this again a long mantle, open in 
 front and reaching almost to the ground. The 
 mantles and robes were of different colours — some 
 purple, some crimson, and others blue ; but all the 
 tunics were white. The chorus entered from corre- 
 
T.ht Ober-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 57 
 
 sponding doors on either side of the proscenium, and 
 arranged themselves in a row according to height, 
 the tallest in the midst, and the rest diminishing in 
 stature on each side of him till they presented the 
 form of an unstrung bow. The play consists of a 
 series of acts in the life of our Lord, each preceded 
 by one or more types from the Old Testament, 
 represented in tableaux vivants, and the duty of the 
 chorus is to explain each type, with its appropriate 
 lesson, to the audience. The coryphaeus, a hand- 
 some bearded baritone — the only man in the 
 chorus who had any hair on his face — sang or re- 
 cited in monotone a short explanation of the type 
 and ensuing act. Then the chorus sang a fuller 
 explanation, which generally concluded with a moral 
 addressed to the audience. This was sung in har- 
 mony, and interspersed with trios, duets, and solos. 
 When the chorus have sung their part about half 
 through they divide in the middle and hie off to 
 the right and left of the drop scene. As they are 
 doing this the curtain rises and you see the type 
 in tableau. Those tableaux are quite wonderful for 
 
58 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 their vivid realism and artistic grace. After the 
 chorus have done singing the curtain falls, the 
 chorus move off the stage to the right and left, and 
 there is a pause of a very few minutes, during 
 which the orchestra plays. Then the curtain rises 
 again, and some incident in the life of our Lord is 
 acted by the respective characters. The dialogues 
 in these acts are sometimes very long, and are not 
 given in any of the published libretti ; but the 
 elocution is so distinct that you hardly lose a word 
 even at the distance where I sat. There is a promp- 
 ter's box on the stage, but I do not know whether 
 it was occupied. Anyhow, a good deal of the acting 
 occurs at such a distance from it that the prompter's 
 office must be somewhat of a sinecure. It must 
 require an unusual effort of memory to remember 
 all the parts ; but there was not a single hitch from 
 the beginning of the play to the end. 
 
 The play opens with a prologue explanatory of 
 two tableaux. In the first Adam and Eve are being 
 driven out of Paradise by an angel wielding a 
 flaming sword. In the second tableau a cross is 
 
The Ober-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 59 
 
 seen with a figure clasping it in a kneeling attitude, 
 and a group of little children kneeling before it, 
 while the chorus, also kneeling, sing a plaintive 
 melody, of which the words are — " Eternal One ! 
 hear Thy children's stammering prayer (for a child 
 can only stammer), who, with holy awe, assemble 
 to worship before the great sacrifice." And then 
 the audience are addressed in the moral, " Follow 
 by the side of our great Redeemer, until He has 
 passed through His rough and stormy way and 
 through His hot and bloody agony has gained for 
 us the victory." 
 
 The curtain here falls, the chorus retire, and 
 when the curtain, after a short interval, is again 
 raised, you see a motley .crowd of men, women, 
 and children, in oriental dresses, and with branches 
 in their hands. They are singing merrily and 
 dancing with joy, and as the end of the gay pro- 
 cession comes in sight you see in the midst of the 
 rejoicing throng a striking figure, clad in a purple 
 robe and crimson cloak, riding an ass. He has a 
 handsome face, but his look is worn and sad, and 
 
60 The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 
 
 his dark brown hair, which is parted down the 
 middle, falls over his shoulders. This is Joseph 
 Mair, who represents the part of Christ this year. 
 His face is of an olive complexion, but the skin of 
 his neck is beautifully white. He stands considerably 
 over six feet, and has a figure which a sculptor might 
 covet for a model. As the procession winds down 
 the slope of Olivet the crowd sing out a song of 
 welcome to the Son of David, who comes in the 
 name of the Highest to take possession of David's 
 throne. On entering the streets of Jerusalem Christ 
 dismounts, goes straight to the Temple, and drives 
 out those who are profaning it with the worship of 
 Mammon. 
 
 The next representation opens with a tableau of 
 Joseph's brethren plotting his death, of which the 
 chorus, as it does in all the tableaux, gives the ex- 
 planation and points the moral. This is followed 
 by a conclave of priests and Pharisees, discussing, 
 with much animation of speech and gesture, the 
 propriety and the means of putting Jesus to death. 
 The next tableau represents young Tobias taking 
 
The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 61 
 
 leave of his parents, and is followed by a second 
 in which the forlorn bride in the Canticles adjures 
 the maidens of Jerusalem to give her tidings of her 
 Beloved. This tableau is the only one in the whole 
 play that can be called tame, but it is redeemed by 
 the sweetness of the song in which the bride and 
 maids of Jerusalem address each other. These two 
 types introduce Christ taking leave of His mother 
 and friends in Bethany, where Mary anoints Him, 
 and Judas murmurs at the waste. In the fourth 
 representation King Ahasuerus puts away Vashti, 
 and raises Esther to her forfeited throne. The song 
 which explains this tableau brings out with great 
 skill the typical character of Vashti's deposition 
 and Esther's elevation, the former signifying the 
 rejection of the Jews, who had obstinately re- 
 fused the King's summons to the Royal feast, the 
 latter representing the call of the despised Gentile 
 race. But these last are warned at the end of the 
 song that the doom of Vashti will be theirs if, 
 like her, they presume on their privileges, and 
 abuse God's erace. 
 
6 2 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play, 
 
 When the curtain is again raised Christ is seen 
 with His disciples going over the brow of Olivet on 
 His last journey to the guilty city. On the rising 
 ground on the opposite side of the valley you see 
 the towers, and walls, and battlements of ancient 
 Jerusalem in the soft glow of sunset, with the gilded 
 dome of the temple crowning the sacred height. 
 The sight of His own city, beautiful and impeni- 
 tent, sleeping in fancied security on the brink of 
 death, overcomes the Saviour. He stops and be- 
 wails with tears her coming doom, because she 
 knows not the time of her visitation. This is acted 
 with great pathos, and is rendered still more im- 
 pressive by the beautiful song which introduced it, 
 and the refrain of which, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem !" 
 is ringing in your ears — now rising in tones of an- 
 guished warning, now dying away in a wail of despair. 
 
 Meanwhile two of the disciples, Peter and John, 
 had been sent before to provide a room where 
 Christ might celebrate His last Passover, and you 
 see them in the distance entering Jerusalem. They 
 meet a lad carrying a pitcher, to whom they dis- 
 
The Ober-Ammcrgan Passion Play. 63 
 
 close their errand. He takes them to his master, 
 who, on hearing whose messengers they are, gladly 
 accedes to their request. Judas in the meantime 
 conceives the idea of betraying his Master. When 
 the others leave the house of Bethany, after the 
 incident of the anointing by Mary, he stays be- 
 hind, dallying with his own tempting thoughts. 
 Presently one Pharisee, and then another, join him 
 and artfully give shape and direction to the vague 
 brooding of the avaricious man. At first he is 
 startled and horrified by the suggestion that he 
 should satisfy the longings of covetousness by the 
 betrayal of Christ. But the suggestion has taken 
 root in his heart, and at last he promises to go 
 to the Sanhedrim to seal the compact of betrayal. 
 Here the curtain drops, and the next scene dis- 
 closes in succession two typical tableaux — the first 
 representing the Israelites fed with manna in the 
 desert, the second displaying in the midst of the 
 crowd two men carrying between them on a pole a 
 huge bunch of grapes from Canaan ; while in front, 
 to the right and left, are the chorus explaining, in 
 
6\ The Ober-Ammergati Passion Play. 
 
 song, that the manna from heaven and the grapes 
 from beyond the Jordan signify the mystical bread 
 and wine in the Blessed Sacrament. Here, as in 
 some other tableaux, there were nearly 300 figures in 
 every variety of posture, yet the most minute in- 
 spection failed to discover a single ungainly attitude 
 or ungraceful pose, and they were all — even mites of 
 children three years old — as motionless as marble 
 statues. To these beautiful tableaux succeed the 
 celebration of the last Passover and the institution 
 of the first Eucharist. Our Lord and His disciples 
 appear in a sitting attitude, evidently after the 
 picture of Leonardo da Vinci ; but Christ does not 
 pass on the consecrated elements after the manner 
 of the Presbyterian Sacrament. He goes round 
 the group and administers personally to each, after 
 which He girds Himself with a towel and washes 
 the disciples' feet. And then the chorus, out of 
 sight, sing a solemn hymn ; and, immediately after, 
 Christ gives the benediction, and as the curtain is 
 falling you see the disciples following their Master 
 to the Garden of Gethsemane. 
 
The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play, 65 
 
 The next tableau represents the sons of Jacob 
 selling Joseph to the band of the Midianitish mer- 
 chants, of which the chorus explain the connexion 
 with the sinful bargain of Judas, and warn the 
 audience against the too frequent tendency of 
 Christians to repeat, through covetousness, the 
 traitor's crime. This is followed by a scene repre- 
 senting the two tempters already mentioned leading 
 Judas into the presence of the assembled Sanhedrim. 
 After some chaffering on the part of the Council to 
 reduce the price of blood, and some faint hauntings 
 of better feelings on the part of Judas, the wretched 
 man at length agrees to accept thirty pieces of 
 silver, and counting them with the hurry of a guilty 
 conscience, and dropping them into his bag, he 
 rushes out, but not without a final menacing warn- 
 ing from the priests to be true to his promise and 
 not to forget the concerted sign by which he is to 
 indicate his Master. Before the bargain is con- 
 cluded, however, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arima- 
 thea plead for justice, and protest against the pro- 
 ceedings of the Council ; but they are reviled and 
 
66 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 brow-beaten, and leave the Council in high in- 
 dignation. 
 
 The next type is a tableau of Adam and Eve, 
 with seven children, tilling the ground in the sweat 
 of their brow, which the chorus explain as typical 
 of Christ's bloody agony in the Garden of Olives. 
 This is followed by a second tableau typical of 
 Judas's kiss of treachery. It represents a company 
 of soldiers disposed in various attitudes, and in the 
 foreground Joab with his sword thrust into the side 
 of Amasa while in the act of kissing him. The 
 chorus meanwhile sing an impassioned apostrophe 
 to the rock of Gibeon, at which the assassination 
 took place, and which stands out bare and desolate 
 behind the assassin and his victim. The curtain 
 falls, rises again in a few minutes, and you see a 
 third tableau signifying Christ's triumph at the very 
 time His enemies were mocking Him, and vainly 
 imagining that they had Him completely in their 
 power to do with Him as they listed. This type is 
 Samson, who appears a prisoner in the house of 
 Dagon. One of the pillars on which the house 
 
The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 6y 
 
 stands is broken by his side, and the other is clasped 
 in his left arm, and about to yield to his mighty 
 embrace. 
 
 After these three tableaux, Christ appears with 
 His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, and 
 endures His agony. This is acted with remarkable 
 naturalness, but with exceeding reverence. When 
 the Saviour falls to the earth the third time beneath 
 the bloody agony, an angel, with a chalice in his 
 hand, appears over His head and addresses Him in 
 words of comfort. This appears to strengthen Him, 
 and He returns to the three disciples, whom He finds 
 again asleep. He exhorts them to watchfulness, 
 and tells them that the traitor is at hand. The rest 
 of the disciples are in the background, and are 
 suddenly roused from their sleep by the approach 
 of the soldiers, led by Judas, who carries a lantern. 
 Then follows an exact repetition of the Gospel 
 narrative — the kiss of Judas and Christ's reproach- 
 ful question, the inquiry addressed to the soldiers 
 as to the object of their search, and their sudden 
 
 prostration at the sound of His dread name, the 
 E 2 
 
68 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 maiming of Malchus by the impetuous Peter, and 
 the healing of the wound by Christ, who rebukes 
 Peter, and tells him that He has no need of carnal 
 weapons, since legions of angels would hasten to 
 His side if that were compatible with the recovery 
 of man's fallen race. The soldiers then rush upon 
 Him, bind His hands behind Him, and lead Him 
 away. The disciples escape ; but John, followed 
 timidly by Peter, returns and goes after the mourn- 
 ful procession. 
 
 This finishes the first part of the Play, and there 
 is an interval of an hour. It is a little after twelve 
 o'clock, and most of the audience leave the theatre 
 to move their limbs and take refreshments. 
 
 At one o'clock the theatre is again full, and the 
 second part of the Play begins with a very effec- 
 tive tableau of the scene described in the 22nd 
 chapter of the 1st Book of Kings. Ahab and 
 Jehoshaphat, in royal apparel and each holding a 
 sceptre, are seated on their thrones. In front of 
 them are some courtiers and a crowd of Jezebel's 
 false prophets ; and close to Ahab stands the only 
 
The Ober-Ammcrgciu Passion Play. 69 
 
 prophet of the Lord, Micaiah, and Zedekiah, the 
 chief of Jezebel's prophets, in the act of smiting him 
 on the cheek. This, as the chorus explain, is a 
 type of Christ struck by the soldier for answering 
 the High Priest truthfully, and is a parable of the 
 fate of truth in every age. " Lies, hypocrisies, and 
 flatteries you may easily buy with roses and laurels ; 
 but you must bow before the truth, for it scorns to 
 flatter, and is not amenable to bribes." After the 
 tableau Christ is dragged by a crowd of soldiers and 
 frantic priests before the house of Annas, who pre- 
 sently appears above the multitude on the balcony 
 of his house. A dialogue ensues between Annas 
 and the shouting multitude below, and then Jesus 
 is led up to the balcony and questioned by the 
 High Priest about His doctrines. Christ appeals to 
 the publicity with which He had spoken and acted, 
 and refers the High Priest to those who had heard 
 Him and seen His works. Thereupon a soldier 
 strikes him, and is mildly answered in the words of 
 the Gospel. Annas then sends Christ to Caiaphas, 
 and the curtain falls. 
 
70 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 The next scene represents Christ arraigned before 
 Caiaphas, found guilty, and condemned to death. 
 The Gospel narrative is strictly adhered to in all 
 its details, and the whole scene is acted with great 
 power, but with an entire absence of any thing 
 approaching to irreverence. The conduct of the 
 soldiers and other persecutors is, of course, irreve- 
 rent enough, but the Object of their indignities pre- 
 serves such a majestic calm and such dignified bear- 
 ing through it all, that pity, mingled with indigna- 
 tion and awe, absorbs the feelings of the audience. 
 The part of Peter, too (represented by Jacob Hett), 
 is acted exceedingly well in this scene. He who 
 was so bold a while ago now creeps stealthily after 
 St. John (Johann Zwink) towards the High Priest's 
 door, and refuses to enter till John has got special 
 permission for him from one of the servants. And 
 even then Peter skulks about the place as if afraid 
 of his own shadow. Now and then he approaches 
 the fire, round which the soldiers are discussing the 
 great event of the night, but shrinks back the 
 moment he observes any one looking at him. 
 
The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 71 
 
 During one of these vain attempts to warm him- 
 self the threefold denial is made ; and at the iast 
 cockcrow Jesus is dragged in with His hands tied 
 behind Him, and He gives a look to Peter which 
 drives the conscience-stricken man out into the 
 night to weep bitter tears of repentance. This 
 scene is preceded by two tableaux. The first repre- 
 sents Naboth stoned to death for blasphemy on the 
 evidence of false witnesses. In the second Job sits 
 miserable, by the side of a brick-kiln, against which 
 his wife is leaning with a smile of fiendish mockery 
 on her face as she tempts her afflicted husband to 
 " curse God and die." 
 
 In the next scene, the Sanhedrim, after delibera- 
 tion, confirm the sentence of death passed on 
 Christ before the tribunal of Caiaphas. While 
 this is going on Judas appears upon the scene, 
 full of remorse for what he has done. The con- 
 ception of the traitor's conduct among these vil- 
 lage actors appears to be that he had betrayed 
 his Master partly through avarice and partly from 
 a vindictive grudge in consequence of the rebukes 
 
72 The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 
 
 and warnings which Christ had mercifully ad- 
 dressed to him on various occasions ; but that he 
 had no suspicion of the fatal tragedy in which his 
 treachery was to end. He knew his Master's 
 miraculous powers, and had seen Him more than 
 once frustrate the evil designs of His enemies 
 when He seemed quite at their mercy. Doubt- 
 less He could baffle their plots on this occasion 
 also, and Judas would thus have the opportunity 
 of pocketing his bribe, and putting an affront on 
 his Master without the fear of any more serious 
 consequences. But when he sees that Christ either 
 cannot or will not save Himself, and must really 
 die, the full magnitude of his crime fills his soul 
 with horror, and he rushes into the midst of the 
 Council to express his remorse, and, if possible, to 
 turn them from their purpose. But his wild grief 
 and vehement expostulation are heard with cold 
 mockery by those who have used him for their 
 purpose, and who now remind him that he has 
 received his reward, and that his remorse is no 
 concern of theirs. This is more than the miser- 
 
The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 73 
 
 able man can bear. He flings the bag containing 
 the price of blood among the assembled priests, 
 and rushes out. Presently he is seen again wan- 
 dering about in the open country, and preparing, as 
 the curtain falls, to commit suicide from the branch 
 of a neighbouring tree. Gregor Lechner acts this 
 part uncommonly well. It is preceded by a tableau 
 in which Cain, holding a club, stands over the corpse 
 of his murdered brother, and a woman with five 
 children, one of whom is leading a lamb, occupies 
 the background. Meanwhile the chorus sing an 
 explanation of the tableau, which is remarkable for 
 its subjective conception of hell. Instead of the 
 coarse materialism of mediaeval imagery, the hell of 
 the sinner is depicted as a fire burning from within. 
 Cain and Judas flee from the haunts of men, and 
 the latter " flings from him, in wild haste, the 
 intolerable burden of life." But in vain. The un- 
 dying worm and the quenchless flame are within 
 the sinner's ruined soul. The faces of his fellow- 
 men and the scenes of his crimes — from these he 
 may escape ; but he cannot escape from himself, 
 
74 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 and is therefore in hell, wherever his local habita- 
 tion may happen to be. 
 
 In the next scene, which is preceded by a tableau 
 of Daniel's enemies accusing him of blasphemy 
 against the gods and treason against the King, 
 Christ is accused before Pilate, who, after much 
 discussion, sends Him to Herod. The latter re- 
 ceives Him with a certain amount of courtesy, for 
 he hopes to see some manifestation of mysterious 
 power. But Christ preserves a dignified silence, 
 and Herod, in disappointed anger, gives Him up 
 to the brutal mockery of the soldiers, who array 
 Him in a white sheet, and lead Him back to 
 Pilate. The scene before Herod is introduced 
 by a tableau representing King David's servants 
 insulted by the King of Ammon, as related in 
 % Samuel x. 
 
 The next scene, before Pilate's judgment-seat, is 
 a long and exciting one, and is a faithful render- 
 ing of Gospel history, with the addition of a few 
 embellishments, such as the introduction of Barab- 
 bas between two gaolers, and subsequently of the 
 
The Ober-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 75 
 
 two thieves. This scene is divided into two parts, 
 each introduced by two types in two separate 
 tableaux. In the first division Joseph's brethren 
 are showing their father the coat of many colours 
 stained with blood. To this group succeeds a 
 tableau of Abraham on Mount Moriah in the act of 
 slaying his son. His uplifted arm is arrested by 
 the voice from heaven, and he sees a ram with its 
 head fast in a thicket. This is explained by the 
 chorus as typical of our Lord crowned with thorns. 
 The tableaux of the second act of the scene in 
 the judgment-hall are (1) Joseph elevated to the 
 second place of honour in Egypt, and riding in 
 Pharoah's chariot in the midst of a rejoicing mul- 
 titude ; (2) the children of Israel in the desert 
 drawing lots for the scapegoat. 
 
 We now approach the last act of the sacred 
 drama ; and the attention of the audience, which 
 has never flagged through all these hours, becomes 
 almost painfully intensified. The face of Nature, 
 too, harmonizes well with the feelings of the vast 
 multitude. The sky above looks gloomy and 
 
j 6 The Obcr-Amrnergau Passion Play. 
 
 threatening, and the picturesque forms of the sur- 
 rounding mountains are concealed in a winding- 
 sheet of mist. 
 
 The next scene is introduced by three tableaux 
 in succession, all typical of the last acts of the 
 Passion. In the first Isaac is seen ascending 
 Moriah with the wood for the sacrifice on his back. 
 His father holds him by the hand, and with the 
 other hand carries a brasier containing the sacri- 
 ficial fire. This is followed by two tableaux of 
 wonderful impressiveness. The Israelites are en- 
 camped in the wilderness, and the fiery flying 
 serpents are among them ; some darting through 
 the air, others creeping on the ground, where little 
 children are innocently playing with them, all 
 ignorant of danger till they receive the fatal wound. 
 The curtain falls, and when it rises, almost im- 
 mediately, the same multitude is seen, but in dif- 
 ferent attitudes. In the midst of them is a cross, 
 and suspended from its arms a brazen serpent, 
 on which the eyes of the wounded are fixed, 
 obedient to a sign from Moses. The curtain falls 
 again, and there is an interval of breathless sus- 
 
The Obcr-Ammergaa Passion Play. 77 
 
 pense. Then the sound of many voices is heard, 
 and presently a horseman riding a grey charger 
 emerges at the head of an excited procession from 
 one of the gates of Jerusalem. As the procession 
 winds its way slowly into view, the mother of 
 Christ and Mary Magdalene, with other women 
 and St. John, appear some way off, coming from 
 an opposite direction. They are greatly agitated, 
 and as they scan the advancing throng they see, 
 turning the corner of Annas's house, the Man of 
 Sorrows, blood-stained and bent beneath the 
 weight of His heavy Cross, which He evidently 
 cannot bear much farther. Some of the soldiers 
 observing this, seize hold of Simon of Cyrene, who 
 meets them accidentally, and compel him to bear 
 the Cross. At this point Veronica, accompanied 
 by two other women, comes out and fulfils the part 
 assigned her in the legend — the only incident in 
 the play which is not directly founded on Scrip- 
 ture. As He approaches Calvary, Christ addresses 
 the daughters of Jerusalem in the well-known 
 words, and in a short time He passes out of 
 sight. 
 
78 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 
 
 When the last of the procession has vanished, 
 the chorus come on the stage in black mantles 
 and sing a mournful song, bearing on the passion 
 of Him " who loves, is silent, endures, suffers, 
 and forgives." And through the melody of the 
 song you hear the discordant strokes of a hammer, 
 and shudder at the scene of which those ominous 
 sounds too surely tell. When the chorus have 
 finished their song the curtain rises, and you see 
 two crosses erect, each bearing its victim. Be- 
 tween them, stretched upon the ground, is a 
 taller cross with a sad, wan figure nailed to it. 
 It is slowly raised and fixed erect into its socket. 
 The head of the Crucified One is crowned with 
 thorns, and his face bedewed with blood. You see 
 the nail-heads in his hands and feet, and the blood 
 oozing from the wounds. Of course, you know 
 that his hands are not pierced with nails, but you 
 try in vain to penetrate the illusion and discover 
 the means by which he is fastened to the Cross. 
 Herr Gutsjell, the conductor of the orchestra, 
 assured us that even he did not know the secret ; 
 
The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 79 
 
 it was revealed in the strictest confidence only to 
 the man who personated Christ, and to those who 
 nailed him to the cross and took him down. I 
 had a good glass, but the most careful scrutiny 
 failed to discover any thing bearing the semblance 
 of a cord or bandage, except round the right wrist, 
 where I fancied I detected something like a strap. 
 The figure is covered with a close-fitting flesh- 
 coloured raiment, and it is just possible for a strap 
 to be fixed round the body and wrists without 
 detection on the part of the audience. There is a 
 small rest for the feet, but as they are placed one 
 over the other, the relief afforded by the rest cannot 
 be very great. There are certainly no cords used, 
 and the body is certainly released from the Cross 
 by the extraction of nails, not by the undoing of 
 bandages. You see the nails actually extracted 
 from the hands and feet, and the rigid limbs drop- 
 ping helplessly down. A nail was also extracted 
 behind the middle of the back, and here, of course, 
 there must have been some clasp to hold the body ; 
 but it was impossible to see any thing. The physical 
 
80 The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 
 
 effort required on the part of the person crucified 
 must be very great. He hung exactly seventeen 
 minutes, and after he was taken down you could 
 see the limbs of the Cross damp with his per- 
 spiration. The whole circumstances of the Cruci- 
 fixion were gone through— the seven words on the 
 Cross, as they are called, and all the other incidents 
 recorded in the Gospels. Nature lent her aid to 
 the verisimilitude of the scene, for there was a 
 sombre hue over all the land as the pale figure 
 cried, " It is finished," and dropped his head upon 
 his breast. At this point a lad pushes his way 
 through the crowd, and, rushing up to the High 
 Priest, tells him that the veil of the Temple is rent 
 from top to bottom. Amazement, not unmingled 
 with terror, is depicted on the faces of the High 
 Priest and Pharisees at this strange intelligence ; 
 but, instead of softening their hearts, it makes them 
 more malignant, and they give expression to their 
 rage by gnashing of teeth and violent gesticulations 
 towards the central Cross. The two thieves were 
 corded to their crosses, and their arms were not 
 
The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 81 
 
 stretched out, but drawn round and resting on the 
 transverse limbs, so that their endurance was not 
 put to any severe trial. 
 
 By and by Joseph of Arimathea appears armed 
 with an order from Pilate to take the body of 
 Jesus. Thereupon two soldiers approach the 
 crosses with mallets in their hands. They strike 
 each of the thieves in the legs and chest ; but when 
 one of them goes up to the Cross of Christ, Mary 
 Magdalene stays his raised arm and pushes him 
 back. Another soldier then pierces the left side of 
 Christ with a spear, and a red stream issues out 
 of the wound. The descent from the Cross — a 
 most difficult achievement — was managed in a way 
 that it is impossible to praise too highly. Two 
 ladders were planted against the Cross — one before 
 and one behind, the top of the former reaching to 
 the feet of what appeared to be the corpse. Two 
 men mounted and placed a long strip of linen (not 
 a large cloth like that in Rubens's picture) across 
 the chest and under the arms of the body, the 
 ends being drawn up behind and allowed to fall 
 
8 % The Ober-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 
 
 to the ground over the arms of the Cross, so as to 
 supply a fulcrum to the man who was holding on 
 from behind. As the last nail was drawn out from 
 between the fingers, this man released his hold of 
 the cloth, and the arms, head, and upper part of 
 the body dropped gently over the shoulders of the 
 man in front, who thus slowly descended with his 
 burden to the ground. Let any one consider how 
 he would feel going down a ladder with a heavy 
 body over his shoulders, and he will have some 
 idea of the "art concealing art" with which this 
 was done, and with such seeming ease. 
 
 If one were to judge the Play by a high standard 
 of taste, one might wish that it ended with the 
 Crucifixion, for after that it deals with facts be- 
 longing to an order of ideas and relations which 
 have no counterpart in human experience, and 
 which therefore cannot be represented in human 
 action. But it must be borne in mind that this 
 striking religious drama is intended for the edifica- 
 tion of a simple people who have warm hearts and 
 lively imaginations, but are not much given to 
 
The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 83 
 
 abstract reasoning ; and we ought to regard the 
 question from their point of view, and not from the 
 point of view of critical tourists. The Play, as it 
 stands, is a marvellously impressive and living 
 picture of man's Fall and mysterious Redemption, 
 and the picture would be incomplete and the 
 lesson but half finished, if the Resurrection and 
 Ascension were left out. 
 
 My part, however, is to chronicle facts, not to 
 discuss them, and I shall therefore relate in a few 
 words what followed the scene of the Crucifixion 
 and Burial. Two tableaux succeed each other, 
 one representing a storm-tossed ship with the tail 
 of a whale disappearing under the waves near it, 
 and on a distant shore Jonah is seen standing 
 after having been disgorged out of the dis- 
 tended jaws of the whale. The other tableau 
 represents the Egyptian host struggling in 
 the avenging waves of the Red Sea. This is 
 followed by the various incidents of the Resur- 
 rection — the alarming earthquake, the confusion of 
 the Roman guard, the supernatural opening of the 
 
 F 2 
 
84 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 sepulchre, the various visits of the Disciples and 
 women to the empty grave, the different appear- 
 ances of Christ, the meeting in Galilee, and the 
 final ascent from Olivet, with the apparition of 
 the two Angels. The chorus now appear on the 
 stage for the last time, and sing a jubilant song of 
 triumph. And as they retire the audience, giving 
 vent at last to their long-suppressed emotions, 
 applaud heartily and for the first time. 
 
 So ended the most remarkable relic still sur- 
 viving of the old religious drama. I went to see 
 it with very mixed feelings. From what I had 
 heard and read, I was prepared for a striking 
 exhibition, but also half prepared for some rude 
 shocks to one's natural sense of religious propriety. 
 So impossible did it seem to represent on a public 
 stage and in a worthy manner the sublime story 
 of Gethsemane and Calvary. Well, I have seen 
 it, and I shall go home with the conviction that 
 the thing is not impossible where a vivid faith and 
 an intense devotion are combined in the repre- 
 sentation. I have never seen so affecting a spec- 
 
The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 8$ 
 
 tacle, or one more calculated to draw out the best 
 and purest feelings of the heart. It is, of course, 
 impossible to answer for the feelings of others ; but 
 I can say for myself, and for several other spec- 
 tators of the Play whom I have consulted, that 
 there was nothing from the beginning to the end 
 that need shock the most sensitive religious instinct. 
 We are too apt to forget that the deepest and 
 the most lasting impressions are generally those 
 which reach the mind through the eyes. A good 
 portrait of an absent friend gives a far better idea 
 of him than the most brilliant verbal description ; 
 and this is true in a special degree of minds not 
 accustomed to trains of reasoning. By means of 
 images imprinted on the eye, their minds will grasp 
 in a few hours a whole series of facts which it 
 would take months, perhaps years, to convey to 
 the understanding without the aid of pictorial 
 representation ; and even then the impression will 
 not be half so real or so enduring as that which 
 passes through the avenues of the senses. Here 
 in a single day the history and destiny of the 
 
86 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 human race were engraved on the minds and 
 hearts of some thousands of persons in a way they 
 are never likely to forget. I do not say, though 
 I think it highly probable, that the same effect 
 could not be produced by means of written or oral 
 instruction ; but I say, without hesitation, that it 
 could not be produced for years. I am not ashamed 
 to confess, for my own part, that I have realized 
 here, with a vividness I never felt before, the mar- 
 vellous unity which binds together the Old Testa- 
 ment and the New, so that a series of compositions 
 separated from each other by every circumstance 
 of time and place and authorship are instinctively 
 felt to be one book, teaching one high morality, 
 telling the same tale of sorrowful hope, and point- 
 ing to one central mysterious Figure, in whom type 
 and psalm and sacrifice find their meet accomplish- 
 ment. And certainly, if one tests the Play by the 
 evidence of its fruits, the verdict must be in its 
 favour. The people of Ober-Ammergau are re- 
 markable for their honesty, their intelligence, and 
 their religious earnestness. The Play is acted at 
 
The Obcr-Ammcrgan Passion Play. 87 
 
 sufficiently long intervals to prevent that familiarity 
 which is apt to breed contempt, and at sufficiently 
 short intervals to renew the impression and carry it 
 on in an unbroken series of instruction. There is 
 nothing in the Play which could offend the most 
 rigid Protestantism. Even the single legend which 
 it sanctions is deprived of its miraculous element 
 — namely, the impression of Christ's face on the 
 handkerchief of Veronica. The effect on the in- 
 dividual actors, too, appears to be excellent, and 
 pre-eminently so in the case of him who acts the 
 part of Christ. He is a wood-carver by trade, and 
 his bearing is modest, gentle, and deeply devo- 
 tional. He has no objection to converse with 
 strangers on the subject of the Play ; and to an 
 inquiry whether he did not feel much fatigued after 
 his physical and moral exertion during the day, 
 he answered, quickly, "Ah, but the honour of it !" 
 All the actors, male and female, are selected with 
 strict reference to character, and care is taken to 
 assign the bad characters in the Play to persons of 
 thorough respectability, so that no suspicion of a 
 
88 The Ober-Ammergaii Passion Play, 
 
 slight can be felt. Tobias Flunger, who acts the 
 part of Pilate this year, played the part of Christ 
 in 1850. He is a modeller and drawing-master, 
 and his daughter Franziska plays the part of St. 
 Mary. Josepha, his other daughter, a strikingly 
 handsome girl, is the principal contralto in the 
 chorus. On the whole, the women's acting is not 
 so good as the men's, but they labour under the 
 great disadvantage of having to strain their voices 
 in order to make themselves heard across the great 
 distance which separates them from the back of 
 the auditorium. Altogether between 500 and 600 
 actors take part in the Play. On the Monday in 
 Whitsun week the audience amounted to quite 
 6000, and there was a second representation on 
 the following day, for those (also amounting to 
 thousands) who could not find room the first day. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 GIVING A CONTINUOUS DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 THE SCENES AND TABLEAUX OF THE PLAY 
 
 IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY TAKE PLACE. 
 
Introductory Scene. 
 
 The Choryphaeus announces the opening of the 
 drama, and immediately after the Chorus sings, 
 " Prostrate yourselves in holy awe, generation 
 bowed down by the curse of God," &c. 
 
 While singing the two last verses the Chorus 
 separate in the middle, fall back to the right and 
 left, and by doing so allow the spectators a full 
 view of the middle theatre. The curtain rises, and 
 discloses two pictures, Adam and Eve driven out 
 of Paradise, on the one side; on the other, Abraham 
 going to offer up Isaac, who is lying bound on 
 the altar. In the background is a ram in a 
 thicket. 
 
 During the exhibition of this tableau the Chorus 
 sing, " Behold, as Isaac once, yonder on Moriah, 
 so will the beloved Son Himself fall in Golgotha, 
 
The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 91 
 
 as a great sacrifice to God to pay the sinner's 
 debt." 
 
 The curtain falls. The chorus, reassuming their 
 former position, sing on, "Merciful God, Thou 
 givest Thy only begotten Son unto death, to ran- 
 som sinners, who shamefully despised Thy com- 
 mandments, and to take the curse from them." 
 
 The curtain rises again. In a misty back- 
 ground is seen a high cross, and praying figures 
 before it. The chorus are silent, and sink upon 
 their knees ; meanwhile children's voices (behind 
 the scenes) are heard singing the following : — 
 
 " Eternal One ! listen to the stammering 
 voices of Thy children. For a child can only 
 stammer," &c. 
 
 This sung, the chorus part, and retire to right 
 and left behind the scenes. 
 
 Such is the introductory scene. 
 
 First Scene. 
 The chorus have scarcely left the front of the 
 stage when the distant cry of Hosannah is heard, 
 
92 The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 
 
 joyously heralding the Saviour. The curtain rises. 
 The middle stage, in its whole length, is open to 
 view, so that the sunny mountain landscape behind 
 forms the background. Children carrying branches 
 of palm-trees emerge from the side streets. Men 
 and women swell the throng. The Saviour ap- 
 pears, clad in a dress of lilac, with a dark red 
 robe over it. His disciples are almost all clothed 
 poorly. In moving on, the people leading the 
 procession are for some moments lost to view 
 behind the scenes on the middle stage, but re- 
 appear in one of the by-streets, and proceed 
 through the arch across the front stage, thus 
 giving the whole of the train a double motion, 
 which has an exceedingly rich and lively effect, 
 and apparently magnifying the multitude. The 
 hymn of welcome which follows, sung by the 
 people, is set to beautiful music. 
 
 While the rejoicing people assemble in groups 
 on the middle stage, a number of high priests and 
 scribes approach through the streets opposite. 
 The cleansing of the Temple follows. Some amuse- 
 
The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 93 
 
 ment is caused at the consternation of the profane 
 traffickers as they see their liberated lambs and 
 doves escape, and their money upset. The priests 
 try to instigate the people against Him. But He 
 rebukes their hypocrisy, and encourages the mul- 
 titude to fortitude and perseverance. The priests 
 mutter vengeance, and Christ takes leave of the 
 people and returns to Bethany. 
 
 Second Scene. 
 
 The chorus appear again on the front stage. 
 The choryphaeus begins by observing how the 
 jealousy of the chief priests and Pharisees has its 
 prefigurement in the Old Testament, in the con- 
 duct of Joseph's brethren. The song that follows 
 enlarges on this theme. 
 
 "Ha! are the villains gone ? Is the odious 
 form unveiled, and in broad light ? The patch 
 of feigned virtue is torn from the coat of sin. 
 Scourged by a stinging conscieiicer (Remark on the 
 spiritual turn here given to the scourging in the 
 Temple.) " Let us — thus they wildly cry — think 
 
94 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 \ 
 on revenge, and begin the plot concerted long 
 
 ago." 
 
 The curtain rises. The pit in Dothan is shown, 
 into which Joseph was cast by his brothers. Two of 
 them are looking down into it, while the others are., 
 standing in different attitudes. The chorus, mean- 
 while, sings, "Reveal, O God, to us the mystery" 
 (namely, of the apparent triumph of wrong-doing). 
 The song connects throughout the plot against 
 Joseph and that against Christ. 
 
 The curtain falls, but the chorus continue in 
 impassioned strain to invoke vengeance on the evil 
 doers. Then the chorus pass into a softer mood, 
 recognizing that vengeance belongs to God, and 
 sing a song of resignation and humility before the 
 mystery of the Incarnation. 
 
 The curtain rises. The chief priests are in coun- 
 cil — Annas and Caiaphas presiding, seated in chairs 
 raised above the others. At their side, but lower 
 down, sit two rabbis, or clerks of the high priests, and 
 to the right and left the rest of the Council. Annas 
 is dressed in white, Caiaphas in red ; and both 
 
The Ober-Amviergau Passion Play. 95 
 
 have high gold-embroidered tiaras on their heads. 
 Annas is calm and astute ; Caiaphas passionate 
 and boisterous. The latter addresses to the assem- 
 bly a passionate invective against Jesus as the 
 destroyer of their religious polity and of their 
 nation. But there is a difficulty in apprehending 
 Jesus. Two members of the Council thereupon leave 
 the assembly, and then return accompanied by a 
 crowd of fanatic and greedy Jews, who are ready to 
 betray Him for a bribe. While they are debating 
 the point, one of the company tells them that he 
 knows one of Christ's disciples, who, he thinks, may 
 be induced to betray his Master. Annas closes the 
 meeting here, saying, " Fathers, and friends, in spite 
 of my old age, I could leap for joy. I feel my 
 heart once more warmed and cheered. I seem to 
 awake, strengthened by sweet sleep. Let us go, 
 and do what we have determined on. Praise to 
 our fathers, Moses, Isaac, and Jacob." The cur- 
 tain then falls. 
 
96 The Obcr-Ammergan Passion Play. 
 
 Third Scene. 
 1. 
 The chorus enter, and sing a hymn of praise for 
 the voluntary sacrifice of Jesus. 
 
 The tableaux are : young Tobias taking leave of 
 his parents ; and the disconsolate Spouse in the 
 Canticles. 
 
 II. 
 Christ, with His disciples, appears in the streets 
 of Bethany, on His last visit to His friends in that 
 village. He tells them of His approaching death, 
 but comforts them with the promise of His coming 
 to them again. Peter remonstrates against "this 
 parting," which, he says, "is much against his mind." 
 Jesus warns Judas. At the close of these speeches 
 they have arrived at the house of Simon the Pha- 
 risee, whose family come out to meet Jesus, and to 
 invite Him in. Christ accepts. A feast is served. 
 A good deal of conversation ensues between Christ 
 and His disciples, about His coming Passion. 
 Martha shows herself an untiring hostess (the intro- 
 
The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 97 
 
 duction of Martha here is a poetical licence). Mary 
 Magdalene enters in a blue dress, over which is a 
 yellow mantle. She washes His feet, &c. Judas 
 protests against the waste. 
 
 Jesus rises, and leaves. His disciples warn Him 
 against returning to Jerusalem. While He is bless- 
 ing those from whom He is parting, His mother, 
 coming from the other side, appears with her com- 
 panions. She is dressed in a red garment, with pale- 
 blue mantle, her head nearly concealed by a veil. 
 She too dissuades Him from going to Jerusalem. 
 Also Lazarus and his relations join in the dissua- 
 sion ; but Christ persists, gently telling them they 
 do not yet understand the matter. His mother 
 recovers her resignation, and says at last, "As 
 Thou pleasest, my Son." 
 
 Fourth Scene. 
 
 1. 
 
 The chorus appear again, and the choryphseus 
 speaks some introductory words, explaining how 
 Jesus desired earnestly to save Jerusalem, but she 
 
98 The Ober-Ammergau Passiofi Play. 
 
 would not. The chorus then address a warning to 
 Jerusalem, in a beautiful song. 
 
 The curtain rises. Tableau : Queen Vashti, &c. ; 
 and the chorus explain this type in song. 
 
 The curtain falls. The chorus take up their usual 
 position and sing again, in a grave and touching 
 melody, a warning invocation to Jerusalem. 
 
 This tableau is effective. To the right Ahashu- 
 erus thrusts Vashti down the steps. To the left of 
 the King stands Esther. A crowd of men and 
 women surround the throne. 
 
 II. 
 
 Christ appears with His disciples on His way to 
 Jerusalem. Judas, intent on evil, lags behind. 
 Then follows Christ's conversation about the tri- 
 bulation coming on Jerusalem. He sends Peter 
 and John to prepare the Passover. Jesus alluding 
 to His coming sufferings, Judas steps forward, and 
 harps again on the waste of the 300 pence, and 
 asks whether Christ does not intend to make pro- 
 vision for His disciples before leaving them. Jesus 
 
The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 99 
 
 warns him. Judas stays behind. While he is 
 dallying with his thoughts, one of the Jews driven 
 out of the Temple comes and tempts him, &c. 
 
 Fifth Scene. 
 1. 
 
 The chorus announce that the ensuing tableau is 
 to show that the Lord, in giving manna to the 
 people in the desert, and sending grapes from 
 Canaan, shadowed the Blessed Sacrament. 
 
 The curtain rises. The chorus, pointing to the 
 tableau, sing on. 
 
 The curtain falls, and the chorus interpret how 
 the Blessed Sacrament preserves from real death, 
 whereas the manna did not. 
 
 Second tableau : Cluster of grapes from 
 Eschol. The chorus sing the interpretation of this 
 also. 
 
 II. 
 
 The curtain rises again, and the two disciples sent 
 to prepare the Passover are seen in the streets of 
 Jerusalem, where they meet the " man bearing a 
 
ioo The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 pitcher." He takes them to his master. The 
 supper follows. After supper follows the strife as 
 to which of them should be greatest, &c. Christ 
 rebukes, and gives a lesson of humility by washing 
 their feet. He concludes with the promise of 
 twelve thrones. After this takes place the institu- 
 tion of the Last Supper. 
 
 Sixth Scene, 
 i. 
 
 Tableau : Sons of Jacob selling Joseph. The 
 chorus explain the reference to Judas selling his Lord. 
 
 The curtain rises. Tableau : Joseph sold by his 
 brothers, who, in picturesque shepherd's costume, are 
 greedily counting the money. In the background 
 the Ishmaelite merchants are seen standing by their 
 camels. The chorus, pointing to the picture, sing a 
 song on the wickedness of Joseph's brethren selling 
 their own flesh and blood for money, and the still 
 greater wickedness of Judas selling his Master for 
 gain. 
 
The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 101 
 
 II. 
 The curtain rises. The Sanhedrim are waiting 
 for Judas, and are meanwhile surpassing each other 
 in abuse of Christ. Only Nicodemus and Joseph 
 of Arimathea protest, and leave the Council in 
 indignation, and declare for Christ, for which 
 Caiaphas declares them no longer worthy of being 
 members of the Council. Judas appears. He has 
 the purse, as bearer of the bag ; but it is empty, 
 and so he is disappointed. A bargain begins. 
 . There is some chaffering over the price. He at 
 last agrees, and arranges his plan with them to take 
 Jesus. The Council, however, do not trust Judas, 
 and appoint one of their members to keep him in 
 sight. 
 
 Seventh Scene. 
 i. 
 Three tableaux, (i) Adam earning his bread by 
 the sweat of his brow, foreshadowing the bloody 
 sweat of Christ. Adam holds a spade in one hand, 
 and with the other wipes the sweat off his brow. 
 Behind him are two children tearing up and carry- 
 
io2 The Ober-AmmergaiL Passion Play. 
 
 ing away thorns and thistles. To the right stands 
 Eve, with a baby in her arms, while another child, 
 holding an apple in its hand, clings close to her. 
 Two more children are playing with a lamb. The 
 chorus explain the tableau. 
 
 (2) Second tableau : Joab slays Amasa. The 
 chorus sing a beautiful explanatory song. 
 
 (3) Third tableau : Samson betrayed by Delilah; 
 bound with fetters by the Philistines, who have put 
 out his eyes. He struggles in vain against his 
 enemies, his strength having departed. Delilah 
 stands in the foreground, pointing with one hand 
 to her betrayed lover, and holding in the other his 
 shorn locks. The chorus explain in song the con- 
 nexion of the tableau with Christ bound by the 
 Jews. 
 
 II. 
 The curtain rises, and discloses the Mount of 
 Olives. Jesus arrives, in conversation with His 
 disciples ; takes Peter, James, and John apart, 
 and endures the agony. The crowd, headed by 
 Judas, comes to take Him, &c. 
 
The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passio?i Play. 103 
 
 Eighth Scene. 
 
 1. 
 
 The chorus appear, and sing, retrospectively, a 
 song on the agony in Gethsemane. 
 
 The curtain rises. Tableau : Micaiah smitten in 
 the scene before Ahab. The chorus sing, explain- 
 ing how liars, hypocrites, and flatterers are crowned 
 with roses and laurels ; while truth, which never 
 flatters, goes to the wall. 
 
 Annas appears on his balcony, waiting for the 
 captive Jesus. Seeing Judas, he exclaims, Thy 
 name shall ever live in our annals. But Judas 
 begins to show signs of uneasiness, and shudders 
 at what he has done. Jesus is led before the bal- 
 cony, and the trial begins. By order of Annas, He 
 is led up to the balcony. After being smitten, and 
 answering meekly, He is led to Caiaphas. Now 
 Peter and John are seen far down the street fol- 
 lowing their Master timidly, especially Peter. 
 
104 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 Ninth Scene. 
 
 i. 
 
 (i) Tableau : Naboth kneeling and being stoned 
 by order of Jezebel. The chorus explain the 
 type. 
 
 (2) Tableau : Job sitting in the courtyard on a heap 
 of dust. On one side are his friends, looking scornful ; 
 on the other is his wife, with a sinister smile on her 
 face. The chorus explain its reference to the 
 " Ecce Homo," despised and rejected of men. 
 
 II. 
 
 Jesus before Caiaphas. Dispute as to whether 
 Jesus said, " Destroy this temple," &c. 
 
 Jesus is then led to the judgment-hall-. This 
 is the scene of Peter's denial. 
 
 Tenth Scene. 
 
 1. 
 Tableau : Cain driven from among men by his 
 guilty conscience ; type of Judas, as the chorus 
 explain. 
 
The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 105 
 
 The remorse of Judas, now showing itself, pre- 
 sents a contrast to the suffering innocence of Christ. 
 Judas comes alone, and resolves, in a soliloquy, to 
 throw the money at the feet of the Council, and 
 declare himself free of the great crime. He is 
 tortured at the thought that possibly his doing so 
 may not save Christ, though He did make Himself 
 invisible once before. Having finished this soliloquy 
 he retires. Jesus appears, pushed on by the guards. 
 The Council sentence Him to death. Judas rushes 
 in, but too late. His reception by the Council, and 
 his despair. The chief priests are anxious to hurry 
 the execution before the Passover, and go to Pilate 
 for that purpose. Pilate's porter scornfully receives 
 them with the remark, " O cunning rascals ! that 
 strain out gnats and swallow camels." 
 
 The curtain of the middle stage now rises, and a 
 wood is seen. Judas appears and prepares to hang 
 himself. His great torment is the thought that 
 though his Master, whose tenderness he recalls, may 
 
io6 The Ober-Ammergaa Passion Play. 
 
 forgive him, he cannot bear to face Him again 
 after his ingratitude. 
 
 Eleventh Scene. 
 i. 
 Tableau : Daniel accused before Darius, typical, 
 as the chorus explain, of Jesus accused before Pilate. 
 
 II. 
 Christ once more brought before Pilate. Caiaphas 
 adjures Him to tell them if He is Christ. He 
 answers in the words of the Gospel, and the high 
 priest answers in the same. He is then accused 
 before Pilate as a blasphemer against the law of 
 Moses, and a rebel against Caesar. Pilate examines 
 Him, and, getting perplexed, hopes to get rid 
 of the difficulty by sending Him to Herod. 
 
 Twelfth Scene. 
 
 i. 
 
 Tableau : King Hanun insults David's mes- 
 sengers, typical of Herod mocking Christ, as the 
 chorus explain. 
 
The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 107 
 
 II. 
 Scene before Herod, who asks Christ to work a 
 miracle. " Interpret the dream I had last night. 
 Work a miracle. Raise yourself from the ground. 
 Transform that roll of parchment, containing your 
 sentence of death, into a serpent. Thou wilt not ? 
 Thou canst not !" In disappointed rage, he enacts 
 the part assigned him in the Gospel. 
 
 Thirteenth Scene. 
 1. 
 
 (1) Tableau : Sons of Jacob trying to deceive 
 their father by showing him Joseph's coat stained 
 with blood. Jacob is overpowered with grief, and is 
 seen surrounded by sympathetic men and women : 
 typical of the scourging of Christ, through jealousy 
 of His brethren, as explained by the chorus. 
 
 (2) Tableau : Isaac kneeling on the altar. 
 Abraham stands by the side of the altar, holding 
 the ram caught in the thicket by the horns. This 
 is explained by the chorus to represent Christ 
 being crowned with thorns. 
 
io8 The Ober-Ammergaa Passion Play. 
 
 II. 
 Jesus is taken back to Pilate, who examines 
 Him once more. The scene of the Gospel is gone 
 through. The scourging takes place. On the 
 curtain rising, the last blows are seen to fall on the 
 Saviour, who is tied to a pillar. A scarlet robe is 
 put on Him, and a reed is placed in His hand, and 
 He is set on a stool by way of throne. He is 
 reviled, and pushed off the stool. He is cruelly 
 entreated, and the curtain falls amidst the blas- 
 phemy of the crowd. 
 
 Fourteenth Scene. 
 i. 
 
 The chorus now relieve the overwrought feelings 
 of the audience. After some reference to the 
 sufferings just gone through by Christ, they sing 
 the glories of Joseph in Egypt. Joseph is seen in 
 procession as described in Genesis. 
 
 (2) Second tableau (Leviticus xvi.) : The two 
 goats to bear away the sins of the people. One 
 goat is sent into the desert as scapegoat, the other 
 
TJie Obcr-Ammergan Passion Play. 109 
 
 is sacrificed. The chorus interpret this tableau as 
 referring to Jesus and Barabbas — the former sacri- 
 ficed for the sins of the people, while the other 
 was allowed to go free. 
 
 Here a duet takes place between the chorus on 
 the front stage and the people behind the scenes, 
 the former pleading for injured innocence, the latter 
 howling for the blood of Jesus. 
 
 II. 
 The curtain rises. A tumult in the streets. Pilate, 
 splendidly arrayed, again appears, and pleads for 
 Jesus. He orders Barabbas to be brought and 
 placed by the side of Christ, with a view to ex- 
 citing their compassion. They cry, " Crucify Him." 
 Pilate's wife here sends a warning message. But at 
 last Pilate passes sentence of death. 
 
 Fifteenth Scene. 
 
 1. 
 Three tableaux — : 
 (1) Isaac carrying wood to Moriah, and Abraham 
 
no The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 by his side. The chorus sing a song preparing the 
 people's minds for the Crucifixion scene. 
 
 (2) Moses in the desert, putting a brazen serpent 
 on a pole. The chorus interpret the type as fore- 
 shadowing the raising of the Son of Man on the 
 Cross. 
 
 (3) The serpent is again shown on the pole : 
 Moses standing near, and pointing towards it. 
 The Israelites, bitten by serpents, are in agony, and 
 are healed by gazing on the brazen serpent. The 
 chorus interpret this as referring to the healing 
 power of the Cross of Christ. 
 
 II. 
 
 Jesus appears bearing His cross. A Roman 
 centurion, on horseback, leads the procession, and 
 carries the standard of the Roman cohort, bearing 
 the inscription, " Senatus populus Romanus." Jesus 
 follows, bearing His cross, and after Him the two 
 thieves bearing theirs. By-and-by the Madonna 
 appears, supported by John and the Magdalene. 
 
 After this scene the chorus reappear, dressed all 
 
The Obcr- A mmergan Passion Play. 1 1 1 
 
 in black. The choryphaeus addresses the audience 
 in a long recitative. Sounds of wailing behind the 
 curtain are heard. 
 
 Sixteenth Scene. 
 Crucifixion scene. 
 
 Seventeenth Scene, 
 i. 
 The chorus appear again in their gay attire, and 
 sing a beautiful Resurrection hymn. 
 Two tableaux : — 
 (i) Jonah. 
 
 (2) Passage of the Red Sea. 
 The chorus sing a song of triumph. 
 The curtain rises. A lonely sepulchre is seen 
 guarded by soldiers. Presently an angel appears, 
 and rolls the stone from the sepulchre. Then fol- 
 lows an earthquake, and the Resurrection takes 
 place. Afterwards women approach the grave. 
 An angel appears to them. Pharisees also come 
 
ii2 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 
 
 with the guards, and bribe them. Christ appears 
 to Mary Magdalene. 
 
 The chorus sing a triumphant Hallelujah. 
 
 Eighteenth Scene. 
 
 Allegorical scene. Christ appears in glory ; His 
 wounds resplendent ; while Paganism and Judaism, 
 priests and Jews, Pilate and soldiers, and all His 
 enemies, are prostrate before Him. Then the 
 chorus sing their last song, hymning the praises 
 of the Conqueror over death. 
 
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