Postponement of the 42nd Oberammergau Passion Play to the year 2022

The 42nd Oberammergau Passion Play will be postponed due to the current situation caused by the Corona pandemic. The basis for this is a decision of the Administrative District Office of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which prohibits the performance of the Oberammergau Passion Play. The health of  guests and participants has the highest priority, therefore the responsible persons have decided to postpone the premiere of the Passion Play, which was planned for 16th May 2020, to the year 2022.

The basis for the decision of the Administrative District Office of Garmisch-Partenkirchen as well as the responsible health authority to prohibit the performance of the Oberammergau Passion Play was the Infection Protection Act: "The health department has conducted a risk assessment. According to this, it is not possible to carry out the Passion Play into the autumn. It can be assumed that the restrictions on public life can be reduced again if the exponential increase in infected persons can be interrupted. However, we will still have a high risk of recurrent infections over a long period of time. At this stage, it can be clearly predicted that an event on the scale of the Passion Play is not feasible. The risk is too high that new chains of infection will develop. From a preventive health point of view, the event should therefore be prohibited."

For the municipality of Oberammergau and the directing team of the Passion Play around Christian Stückl, the health of the population also comes first. The Corona pandemic has made it impossible to complete this year's Play without endangering the participants and guests. Furthermore, the perspective for this year is unclear. A postponement of only a few months seemed unacceptable to everyone involved.

The Passion Play goes back to a vow made in 1633. At that time, the people of Oberammergau vowed to perform the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ, if no one died of the plague anymore.

The people of Oberammergau still want to fulfill this vow. Therefore the plans to perform the Passion Play in 2022 are currently beginning. The premiere is scheduled for 14 May 2022, further performance dates will be announced at a later date.

Already in the past there have been postponements or even cancellations of the Passion Play. In 1770 the Passion Play could not take place due to a general ban, in 1940 the Second World War prevented a performance. For the 1920 Passion Play, the municipal council decided not to press ahead with preparations for the Passion Play in view of the large number of World War I casualties, but the Passion Play could be postponed and held in 1922.

There are two possibilities for the refund of tickets and arrangements already purchased: Presumably from 6th April, reservations for this year's performances can be converted into a reservation for 2022. Another possibility is the cancellation of tickets and arrangements, in this case you will receive a refund of the ticket or arrangement price.

Information and refund forms will be available soon on our website www.passionsspiele-oberammergau.de

For the Oberammergau Passion Play 2020, a total of 103 performances were planned from 16th May until 4th October. The Oberammergau Passion Play Theatre has almost 4,500 seats, making it the largest open-air stage with a covered auditorium in the world. About 450,000 spectators from all over the world were expected.

19.03.2020