Toronto, March 19, 2020 - 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 21 May 2022, further performance dates will be announced at a later date.About the GNTB The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) has its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It works on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to represent Germany as a tourist destination and is funded by the Ministry in accordance with a decision taken by the German Bundestag. The GNTB develops and communicates strategies and products to promote Germany's positive image abroad as a tourist destination and to encourage tourists to visit the country. It has 31 agencies around the world to support its activities.
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