Oberammergau

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Oberammergau from the summit of Kofel

Oberammergau is a town in Bavaria in Germany, famous for its production of a passion play depicting the life and death of Jesus. The play was first performed in 1634 and is the result of a vow made by the inhabitants of the village that if God spared them from the effects of the bubonic plague then sweeping the region they would perform a passion play every ten years. The play is now performed in years ending with a zero, except 1984 which was the 350th anniversary, and involves over 2000 performers, all residents of the village. See Oberammergau Passion Play.

The village is also known as the home of a long tradition of woodcarving. The streets of central Oberammergau are home to dozens of woodcarver shops, with pieces ranging from religious subjects, to toys, to humoristic portraits.

Oberammergau is also famous for its "Luftmalerei," or frescoes, of traditional Bavarian themes, fairy tales, or religious scenes found on many home and buildings.

The NATO School, NATO's key training facility on the operational level, has been located in Oberammergau since 1953.

1 Gallery
2 Tongue-twister
3 References in popular culture
4 External link

[edit] Gallery

Example of "Luftmalerei" decorating homes in Oberammergau

Scene of Little Red Riding Hood decorating a home in Oberammergau

Example of "Luftmalerei" decorating homes in Oberammergau

[edit] Tongue-twister

The name of the village (as well as that of neighboring Unterammergau) appears in a well-known German tongue-twister:

'Heut kommt der Hans nach Haus', / Freut sich die Lies' / Ob er aber über Oberammergau, / Oder aber über Unterammergau. / Oder aber überhaupt net kommt, / ist nicht g'wiß!

Translation: 'Hans is coming home today / Lies rejoices / But whether he's coming by way of Upper Ammergau / or by way of Lower Ammergau / or not coming at all / is unknown!'