Uber is available Oberammergau
In a world preoccupied with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), I remembered a visit I made a few years ago to a small German town called Oberammergau, which had a historical story related to deadly diseases. In 1633, the plague was rampant in the province of Bavaria and its affiliated towns, such as Oberammergau. Death was everywhere, claiming thousands of lives every day. The town had imposed a complete isolation from the rest of the province and was preventing the entry of foreigners to prevent the disease. But one day, one of its sons - who worked in a nearby town - returned, bringing the plague with him. Suddenly, death began to reap the inhabitants mercilessly, and the residents were gripped by panic.
One night, the healthy inhabitants of the town gathered inside their wooden church and, before a statue of Christ, made a vow: “If God spares us from the plague and saves our town, we will celebrate the Passion of Christ every ten years with an unparalleled celebration lasting a full week.” In those days, there were few educated people, and the general public relied on stained-glass windows and religious plays to learn about religious stories and church history. Therefore, this vow might seem strange to us today, but it was perfectly logical at the time. Having made this vow, they immediately began preparations. These preparations took months, involving training the actors, memorizing their roles, preparing costumes and sets, and reviewing every detail with the priest. But remarkably, according to the town's written history, not a single person died from the plague from that day forward!
And so, for the past 387 years, the town has kept its promise and presented the story of the Passion of Christ theatrically for a full week once every 10 years. The celebration takes place in years ending with the number zero, such as 1800, 1810, 1820, and so on. However, it was not presented in 1920 due to economic conditions, nor in 1940 due to World War II. Just a few hours ago, the town council decided to postpone the 2020 presentation indefinitely.
The show hasn't changed much since its inception. All participants must be residents of the town and must not use makeup. The actors must grow their beards for a year before the show, and all costumes and shoes are handmade. Until recently, women were not allowed to participate. Over the years, commemorative coins and medals have been issued celebrating the story of "Uber Amr Gao." We present some of these here, along with photos of the town itself from my previous visit.
Moheb Rizkalla
