Nearly 400 years ago, a decade after the arrival of the Pilgrims in America, the bubonic or black plague reemerged in Italy and made its way across the Alps into Southern Germany. It is a fearsome disease that can devastate towns, killing a third to half of the population within a few weeks. According to legend, residents of the small village of Oberammergau noted that neighboring towns had already reported cases, so they prayed for protection, promising that they would always remember God’s blessing if their town were spared. The town was spared, and the following year, 1634, staged their first Passion Play depicting the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In thankfulness to God, they staged the Passion Play annually for fifty years, likely the lifetime of the town’s residents who were alive when the plague threatened their village.
Since the late 17th century, the Passion Play has been staged in Oberammergau once every ten years as the decade changes. One of the few missed decades during the three and a half centuries since the tradition started was 1940, during WWII. Ironically, in 2020, because of the modern ‘plague’ of COVID19, the town was also forced to postpone the Passion Play production, which was rescheduled for 2022.
The Passion Play is a six-hour production, divided into three-hour halves, with a three-hour intermission during which townspeople feed the audience members in local hotels, restaurants, and, in some cases, in homes. Episodes in the final week of the life of Jesus are acted out and live actors portray still-life vignettes from the Old Testament, selected as examples of prophecies fulfilled in the New Testament. The Passion Play is complete with beautiful sets, casts of actors exclusively staffed by village residents, music from local musicians, and a choir.
Joseph Q. Jarvis, MD, MSPH, and the principle traveler for Mo Joe Travel—a Salt Lake-based, boutique travel company organizing personalized group LDS travel experiences in Europe and Israel—sold out the Passion Play trip he had planned for 2020. When the revised Passion Play schedule was published, he immediately secured twice as many seats for the 2022 production and split them into two groups, one traveling in June 2022 and the other in September 2022.
Dr. Jarvis first visited Oberammergau while serving as an LDS missionary in nearby Innsbruck, Austria. Though he has returned to the area many times over since then, he has never been able to see a performance of the Passion Play himself. With you, Dr. Jarvis will be an excited first-time audience member in 2022.
The plague of COVID19 has now lasted two years, and Dr. Jarvis, a public health physician, is convinced that in 2022, international travel will again be possible. He expects to lead both fully sold-out tours, which, in addition to viewing the Passion Play itself in the beautiful Bavarian town of Oberammergau, will make stops elsewhere in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Travelers on these tours will walk through the medieval streets of Innsbruck and Salzburg in Austria, glide over an Alpine Lake in the Salzkammergut, and ascend the highest Alpine peak in the Tyrol by cable car. There will be a stop at Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig of Bavaria’s fairytale castle, which is recognizable as the model for the Disneyland castle. In Switzerland, the Mo Joe travelers will walk through the beautiful streets of Lucerne, Bern, and Geneva, ride to the highest train station in Europe at the Jungfrau Joch in the Swiss Alps, visit the Latter-day Saint temple near Bern, and tour historic Castle Chillon on Lake Geneva. The tour group will also spend a day traversing Switzerland from Lucerne to Montreux on the Golden Pass Scenic Train.
All accommodations and seating will be first class. All meals will be included. The price is $4500 per person double occupancy. Airfare and transfers to and from airports upon arrival and departure in Europe are not included in the price. More information is available at the Mo Joe Travel website: mojoetravel.com
The trip dates are June 17-26 and September 9-18 2022. Travelers can secure a seat on this trip with a $2000 per person deposit, non-refundable. Payment for the full price of the tour will be due and payable by January 31, 2022.
