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Here you find lots of interesting
facts about:
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Oberammergau is not only famous in the whole world for its wood
carving tradition and tromp d'oeil paintings but especially
for its Passion Play, which is performed every 10 years and
tracks back to a 365 years history. If Oberammergau would not
have the reputation it has, it could have been one of the most
quiet places among numerous others in the Alps. But its tradition
made it that well-known. This tradition does apply to handicraft,
to history up to the legends and stories of the village. Beside
the Passion Play the two main topics, which are contributing
to the reputation of Oberammergau are thus the it´s roll
regarding the history of wood carving and the "Lüftlmalerei"
(house wall painting), which are omnipresent everywhere in the
town. |
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| Woodcarving |
The roots of Oberammergau's wood carvings
go back to the middle ages. A manuscript dated to the year
1111 first mentioned a Rottenbucher monks who brought "…the
Ammergau art of carving small household goods out of wood..."
to the area of Berchtesgaden. The carving of religious figures
most probably has its origins in the pilgrimage to Ettal
.In his travel report dated 1520, a Florentine traveller
praises the fineness of the Oberammergau carvings. In 1563,
the Ammergau carvers even received a Handicrafts Code of
their own from the Abbot of Ettal.
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Although the carvings were sold mostly locally at that time,
many distributing houses were set up in the 18th century with
branches all over Europe. From these distributing houses,
travelling salesmen, the so-called "Kraxenträger",
took over selling the goods from doorstep to doorstep.
Today there are about 120 wood sculptors in Oberammergau,
actively carving and selling a large variety of wooden artefacts,
from figures of saints to household goods. Furthermore, a
Carvers School in town offers courses providing specialist
training for wood carvers.
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| Wall Painting |
| The other famous aspect of
Oberammergau is the "Lüftlmalerei" (house wall
painting). The "Lüftlmalerei" is a handicraft
method of wall-painting originally applied for decorating the
baroque facades in Italy and Southern Germany. It was only in
the 18th century that this method began to become popular in
the foothill region of the Alps, where wealthy traders, peasants
and craftsmen displayed their wealth by means of opulently painted
facades. |
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The subjects of the paintings are mostly of a religious character,
particularly involving figures of saints as well as manifold
scenes all around the Passion Play theme in Oberammergau.
The painting technique is the so-called fresco technique,
i.e. the water colours of a mineral basis are applied to wet
freshly laid plaster. As the colours dry, they become a fixed
layer of colour, insoluble to water. The necessity to work
quickly in the fresh air (Luft), led to the belief that the
term "Lüftlmalerei" is somehow connected to
this particular method of painting.
More convincing, however, is the story going back to Franz
Seraph Zwinck (1748-1792), probably the most well-known craftsman
of his guild.
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The story goes that he lived in a house called "Zum
Lüftl" in Oberammergau (such house names can still
be found here rather often) and because of his profession,
was called "the Lüftlmaler" (the "Lüftl"
painter). The name of the whole guild most probably developed
from this name during the 19th century.
The said Franz Seraph Zwinck decorated a great many beautiful
facades in Oberammergau and its area. The most prominent of
them would be the "Forsthaus", the "Mußldomahaus"
and, last but not least, the "Pilatushaus" with
its ornate architectural fantasies. Also two very nice houses
are located right at the entrance of Oberammergau, the "Hänsel-
and Gretelhaus".
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Passion Play
The Passion Play, the Play of Life and Death, not only of Jesus,
promised in a moment of mortal threat - so began the history
of the Oberammergau Passion Play in 1633. In the middle of the
Thirty Years War, after months of suffering and death from the
plague, the Oberammergauers swore an oath that they would perform
the "Play of the Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Our
Lord Jesus Christ" every ten years.
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At Pentecost 1634, they fulfilled
their pledge for the first time on a stage they put up in the
cemetery above the fresh graves of the plague victims. In the
year 2000, the Community of Oberammergau had performed the play
for the 40th time they have preserved throughout the centuries
with singular continuity - often against resistance. Passion
plays - performed throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, then
banned from the cities in the 16th century - were, after experiencing
a heyday in Baroque-Catholic Southern Germany, forbidden there
as well in the middle of the 18th century in the wake of the
age of enlightenment. Oberammergau alone kept the tradition
alive.
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Was it a sense of obligation to the pledge? Or was it the
theological support of the nearby Ettal and Rottenbuch Monasteries
that made the difference? In any event, the people succeeded
in acquiring a privilege from the lord elector and thus rescued
the fascinating undertaking of depicting the Passion of Jesus
on the stage into the 19th century.
Are
you planning to come to Oberammergau?
Visit us
and stay in our beautiful bed and breakfast house.
More info here
at: www.firmafux.de
and new from the
Fux company: The
Comic Statuen store
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