This tiny village in the Bavarian Alps, permanent population 5,300, is best known to the outside world for performances, every ten years, of a Passion Play, celebrating the townsfolk’s deliverance from the plague in 1633. But there is a lot more to this small corner of a Bavarian paradise. Every season has something different to offer and although the village has its touristy side, most of the bus parties never venture far from the main street and depart before evening, so there’s never any real difficulty in getting away from them.
On a grey January afternoon, the landscape is composed of dark, fir-clad mountains with a light sprinkling of white snow, the tops invisible under low, grey cloud. It’s a monochromatic day. But in February, two years ago, there were vivid blue skies and the snow was piled in head-height heaps at the sides of the road. In summer, when you walk along well-signposted footpaths to the village of Grasswang, the way leads you through beautiful wildflower meadows, the only sound being the tinkling of bells from the cows grazing on the hillside pastures. In September, as you walk through the marshlands alongside the river, the ground is purple with autumn crocus. Oberammergau is one of my all-year-round favourites.
The village has two claims to fame aside from the Passion Play. Because of its isolated location and long winters, a traditional wood-carving industry grew up. The town now has a wood-carvers’ school where male and female students undertake a three year apprenticeship that starts with carving mirror frames and ends with making exact copies of tiny religious masterpieces. The shops are full of their work and if you want something special for your Christmas tree or crib, this is the place to come. The other tradition is that of Luftmalerei or painted house facades. The best known are the Red Riding Hood House; the Hansel and Gretel House, now a home for children in care, and the Pilatus House. The latter was saved from being demolished to make way for a supermarket, by local subscription. The typical wooden shingled roof has no nails and is weighted down against the wind by rocks.
Except for 1870 and 1940, the six-hour performances of the Passion Play have taken place every ten years since 1634, with a local cast of 2,200. Anyone who was born in Oberammergau or has lived there for over twenty years is eligible to take part and in the run up to the performances, all the men of the town, police and military included, grow beards and long hair. Everyone participates in all the rehearsals – miss three and you’re out. Backstage, the costumes are all arranged in alphabetical order by surname according to whether the wearer is a Roman soldier, an angel, a priest or a member of the crowd. The principal performers need to be able to take leave from their jobs: if you’re in a crowd scene, you turn up at the appointed time, do your bit, then go back to work for the rest of the day. The next performances will take place in 2010 and tickets are already on sale.
When you’ve tired of Oberammergau, you can walk, drive or cycle four kilometres to the neighbouring village of Ettal to visit the amazing pink, white and gold abbey church, with its wonderful rococo interior. The adjoining monastery still contains a community of about fifty to sixty monks who run a boarding school and make a liqueur whilst following the Benedictine rule and avoiding contact with the outside world, especially females.
A little way further out of town lies the wonderful Schloss Linderhof, one of the fantasy concoction castles of the so-called “Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria” and in another direction lies his fairytale castle of Neuschwanstein. Whether the king was indeed mentally ill or merely a misunderstood eccentric remains a matter for debate, and the jury is still out on how his body came to be floating in a lake, shortly after he was deposed. It is known that his family were worried about the drain that his building projects caused on their finances and the government was concerned that he had never married or produced an heir. But he was popular amongst the people, both then and now. In the 19th century, the construction of his three castles (the third is Herrenchiemsee) provided a great deal of local employment and nowadays, they are a major source of tourist revenue for the state of Bavaria. They are a monument to a Romantic, opera-loving king who preferred his Wagnerian fantasy world to the realities of 19th century royal politics.
Another popular tourist and pilgrimage destination close to Oberammergau is the Wieskirche or Meadow Church. Lying in an unspoilt area of countryside, the simple exterior does not prepare you for the “wow factor” when you enter. A local farmer’s wife had rescued a neglected statue of Christ and taken it into her house. On 14 June 1738, tears were seen on the statue’s face and as word spread, more and more visitors wanted to witness the miracle. A tiny chapel was built to house the statue, but when this proved inadequate, the present church was constructed. It narrowly escaped dilapidation and destruction during Germany’s secularisation period, but was saved by a consortium of local farmers who converted it to a barn. The only cows you’ll see now, though, are grazing safely in the surrounding meadows.
If you have never visited Bavaria, I can strongly recommend it, at any time of year. Accommodation is of a very high standard and you’ll never go hungry. Oberammergau is only one tiny corner of this fascinating region, but it’s a walker’s, cyclist’s and cross-country skier’s paradise. All routes are clearly marked with the distances, so even the moderately unfit or novice walker should have no difficulty in leaving the car behind and getting out into the countryside. And if you’re old enough to remember what “real” snow was like - as opposed to the couple of inches that fell in the UK in February this year - get your winter woollies on and go in winter!
First published in VISA 84 (Apr 2009)
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