It was a leisurely morning for us in Oberau. Most of the group left early to visit Mad King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein Castle. Since we had been there less than two years ago, we decided to stay at the hotel and take a taxi in to Oberammergau at nine.
The town was fairly quiet when we arrived, before the massive crowd there for the Passion Play. We were particularly interested in the many wood carvers in town. After visiting several, we decided on a Nativity in a modern style apparently unique to the Oberammergau carvers. It turns out we actually bought it from the carver and he “signed” it for us.
After lunch at an Italian restaurant on the edge of town (that served German food), we attended a performance of the once-every-ten-years Passion Play. It is truly amazing what the town of a few thousand people do. It has a cast of thousands, a very good orchestra and chorus, and hundreds of people doing “back stage” work. Since it’s all in German, it’s a good thing we know the story so we could follow it. They do provide an English text. It is not a strict word for word Biblical account, but certainly tells the true message clearly. It was something we’re glad we had the opportunity to experience.
There is a supper break of about two and a half hours. We went back to the same restaurant for dinner. Since the whole production lasts about five hours, it was a bit late returning to our hotel in Oberau.
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