German village’s centuries-old passion play returning after pandemic break

Rochus Rueckel as Jesus performs during the rehearsal of the 42nd Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany (Matthias Schrader/AP)

After a two-year delay due to coronavirus, Germany’s famous Oberammergau Passion Play will open this month.

Almost 400 years ago, the Catholic residents of the small Bavarian village vowed to perform a play of “the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ” every 10 years, if only God would spare them any further losses from the plague known as the Black Death.