http:\/\/www.cruiselady.com<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without treatment, the bubonic plague \u2014 which is spread mainly by infected fleas carried by small rodents \u2014 kills between 40 and 60 percent of its victims, and sometimes even more.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen it swept through Europe, Asia and Africa as the notorious Black Death in the mid-14th century, no really effective treatment for it was known \u2014 and somewhere between a quarter and two-thirds of the population of Europe died. Altogether, the entire population of the world may have dropped from an estimated 450 million to around 350-375 million. Some estimates, in fact, put the global death toll as high as 200 million.<\/span><\/p>\nIn this May 10, 2010 file photo Andreas Richter as Jesus, center on donkey, performs with laymen during a dress rehearsal of the passion plays 2010 in the theatre of Oberammergau, southern Germany. More than 2,000 citizens of this Bavarian village participate in the century-old play of the suffering of Christ, staged every 10 years and dating back to 1634.<\/span><\/p>\nOver the next several generations, the disease was a recurrent and terrifying visitor to Europe. During 18 horrific months in 1665 and 1666, for example, approximately a quarter of the population of the English capital died as a result of the Great Plague of London.<\/span><\/p>\nThus it\u2019s scarcely surprising that, when the plague appeared in the southern German duchy of Bavaria in 1632, widespread concern and even panic ensued. In 1634, the disease killed approximately 15,000 residents in Bavaria\u2019s capital, Munich. (That may have been a majority of Munich\u2019s population.)<\/span><\/p>\nBetween a returning resident of the Bavarian village of Oberammergau inadvertently bringing the disease into his hometown that same year, soon dying of it, and other villagers becoming infected with the plague and dying from its effects, the little town was desperate. Nearly every family in the village had lost at least one victim, and some families had been essentially wiped out. Now facing the plague on top of the already massive casualties of the devastating Thirty Years\u2019 War (1618-1648), Oberammergau\u2019s very survival was at risk.<\/span><\/p>\nThus arose its famous Passion play.<\/span><\/p>\nLaymen perform during a dress rehearsal of the passion play 2010 in the theatre of Oberammergau, southern Germany, Monday, May 10, 2010. More than 2,000 citizens of this Bavarian village participate in the century-old play of the suffering of Christ, staged every 10 years and dating back to 1634.<\/span><\/p>\nThe villagers of Oberammergau collectively vowed to God that, if he would spare them from the plague, they would faithfully perform a play every 10 years commemorating and recounting the last days of Jesus. Their vow, say the chronicles, was heard. Miraculously, the epidemic failed to claim a single additional victim, and all of those who had been suffering from the plague recovered.<\/span><\/p>\nSince the original \u201cPassionsspiele\u201d in 1634, the Oberammergau Passion play has come to be presented in years ending with a zero \u2014 that is, once each decade. There have been some exceptions. No staging occurred in 1940, for instance, because of the outbreak of World War II. And a special performance season occurred in 1934, marking the 300th anniversary of the tradition\u2019s debut. Another special season was staged in 1984, celebrating the 350th anniversary of the first performance.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat is a Passion play? The Late Latin word \u201cpassionem\u201d means \u201csuffering\u201d or \u201cenduring.\u201d Thus, a Passion play is a kind of Easter pageant, a dramatic depiction of the Passion of Jesus focused primarily upon his trial and upon his suffering and eventual death on the cross \u2014 and, to the surprise of some, only secondarily upon his ultimate triumph and resurrection. Such plays have long been common in Catholic areas of Europe during the days of Lent, leading up to Easter Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\nNearly 2,000 actors, singers, musicians and technicians, all residents of the small village of Oberammergau \u2014 which has roughly 5,200 inhabitants \u2014 participate directly in the decennial effort. (In order to take part, a person must either have been born in the village or have lived in it for a minimum of 20 years.) For six hours each performance day, punctuated by dinner, local shopkeepers and tradesmen cease to be Bavarians and become, instead, first-century Palestinian Jews and ancient Roman soldiers. And hundreds of thousands of people come from all around the world to watch.<\/span><\/p>\nIn this May 10, 2010 file photo Andreas Richter as Jesus, center, performs with laymen during a dress rehearsal of the passion plays 2010 in the theatre of Oberammergau, southern Germany. More than 2000 citizens of this Bavarian village participate in the century-old play of the suffering of Christ, staged every 10 years and dating back to 1634.<\/span><\/p>\nOtherwise, the quaint, pretty little Alpine town, located just 12 miles north of the famous ski resort and 1936 Winter Olympic venue Garmisch-Partenkirchen and not far from the Austrian border, is best known for its fine woodcarving and for the colorful fresco paintings that decorate many of its chalets and other buildings.<\/span><\/p>\nMuch has changed in Europe generally and in Germany in particular since 1634. The pious Catholic faith of early 17th-century Bavaria no longer enjoys the largely unquestioned devotion that it once did. Through all the wars and other stresses of the intervening centuries, though, the Oberammergau Passion play remains. Its next performances will begin on May 16, 2020, continuing through Oct. 4, 2020. They will constitute the 42nd season of a tradition that is now nearing the end of its fourth century.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I published the article below in the Deseret News on 8 June 2018. \u00a0Next year, I will be leading a tour for the Cruise Lady company next year to Oberammergau and adjacent sites \u2014 as will Jack Welch, Brad Wilcox, and Roger Minert. \u00a0Mine will be the longest of the tours, but also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Four hundred years of Christian devotion in a small Bavarian town<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" I published the article below in the Deseret News on 8 June 2018. \u00a0Next year, I will be leading a tour for the Cruise Lady company next year\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four hundred years of Christian devotion in a small Bavarian town\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" I published the article below in the Deseret News on 8 June 2018. \u00a0Next year, I will be leading a tour for the Cruise Lady company next year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-10T05:38:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-10T05:41:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2018\/06\/Oberammergau_Passion_Play_stage.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html\",\"name\":\"Four hundred years of Christian devotion in a small Bavarian town\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-10T05:38:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-10T05:41:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" I published the article below in the Deseret News on 8 June 2018. \u00a0Next year, I will be leading a tour for the Cruise Lady company next year\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Four hundred years of Christian devotion in a small Bavarian town\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Four hundred years of Christian devotion in a small Bavarian town","description":" I published the article below in the Deseret News on 8 June 2018. \u00a0Next year, I will be leading a tour for the Cruise Lady company next year","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Four hundred years of Christian devotion in a small Bavarian town","og_description":" I published the article below in the Deseret News on 8 June 2018. \u00a0Next year, I will be leading a tour for the Cruise Lady company next year","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2019-07-10T05:38:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-10T05:41:54+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2018\/06\/Oberammergau_Passion_Play_stage.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html","name":"Four hundred years of Christian devotion in a small Bavarian town","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-07-10T05:38:22+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-10T05:41:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" I published the article below in the Deseret News on 8 June 2018. \u00a0Next year, I will be leading a tour for the Cruise Lady company next year","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/four-hundred-years-of-christian-devotion-in-a-small-bavarian-town.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Four hundred years of Christian devotion in a small Bavarian town"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Oberammergau](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2018\/06\/Oberammergau_Passion_Play_stage.jpg\")
<\/a>