Press release for the Youth Days on May 7 and 8, 2022
On May 7 and 8, 2022, for the first time in the almost 400-year history of the Oberammergau Passion Play, Youth Days will take place. After the 42nd Oberammergau Passion Play had to be postponed due to the Corona pandemic to 2022, the advance sales for the Youth Days 2022 will now begin on February 17. More than 8,000 young visitors from all over the world are expected.
On May 7 and 8, 2022, two performances of the Oberammergau Passion Play will be held exclusively for youth and young adults. The Youth Days aim to gather a total of 8,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 28 in Oberammergau on these two days and enable them to attend the Passion Play at discounted rates. The background of the Passion Play will be explained through an introduction to the Play and discussions with participants. Play director Christian Stückl deliberately wants to address all denominations and nationalities with this project and thus promote intercultural and interreligious exchange.
Overnight stays are available in private accomodation or also at favourable conditions in hotels, the so-called arrangements. Tickets are already available from 8 euros. Booking is possible from 17 February 2021.
The origin of the Oberammergau Passion Play goes back to a vow made in 1633 by the people of Oberammergau to avert the then rampant plague. The tradition of staging the play of Christ's suffering, death and resurrection every ten years, which has been maintained and lived almost without interruption for almost 400 years, will be continued for the 42nd time in 2022 and is considered one of the most important religious and cultural events in Germany. The village on the edge of the Alps expects around 450,000 visitors from all over the world for the Passion Play. Rehearsals are scheduled to begin in December 2021. The premiere is on 14 May 2022, followed by 103 performances until 2 October 2022.
The five-hour performance begins in the afternoon with the entry into Jerusalem and tells the Passion story through the Last Supper to the Crucifixion. It ends in the evening hours with the resurrection.