Joanne's long walks: Via Romea Germanica Day 53: Bad Bayersoien

Ohne Hast, aber ohne Rast. (Without haste, but without rest.)

― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Letters

The plan was to take a rest day today - if I could make it all the way to Oberammergau by yesterday evening. But I stopped walking in Bad Bayersoien in the rain, and took the bus the rest of the way. So this morning I set out to take the bus back and walk the rest of the stage - in the rain again!

But when I got off the bus the rain had stopped - and I found myself at the muster point for the village parade!

At 9:30 sharp the Himmelfahrt parade began. You can find an explanation of Himmelfahrt, a uniquely German holiday, here!

Last year I experienced the secular aspects of this holiday, as described in my blog entry here; this year I participated in the original, religious festivity. I followed the parade to the village church, sat in a pew at the back and stayed for Mass. It was a beautiful service, with the participation of the church organist, the village choir, the brass section of the band, and all the congregation dressed in traditional Bavarian outfits.

I left the church with a feeling of immense gratitude and spiritual and musical nourishment, realising I had participated in a ceremony that had taken place for centuries and centuries, exactly the same, year after year. Except perhaps during the wars recalled on the banners carried in parade into the church: 1870-71, 1914-18, 1939-45. Another aspect of Himmelfahrt seems to be honouring veterans and the victims of war.

Upon leaving the church in Bad Bayersoien I followed the bicycle track beside the main road to Saulgrub. Here the Via Romea route does a bit of a U shape, but as it had begun to rain again I decided to stick to the cycling route, devising a shorter path to Unterammergau and then Oberammergau with the aid of mapy.cz. The rain soon stopped, and I paused for a snack of cheese and crackers and a banana on a comfy bench erected in honour of a hermit, Brother Konrad, who was slain by robbers nearby and brought to this spot for burial.

Lake view leaving Bad Bayersoien

Cycle path by the road

Roadside shrine

Rest spot

I continued through Wurmansau and then along a path called the Meditationsweg, into a truly Alpine landscape.

The path took me past the Kappel church, considered the oldest place of worship in the upper Ammer Valley. Eticho, a member of the Welf family, is said to have settled here as a hermit as early as the year 900. A monastery was probably even built here shortly thereafter. In the 15th century, the Kappel became a destination for pilgrims who venerated the Holy Blood relic there. A legend has been handed down about this relic. According to this legend, the blind Roman soldier Longinus, the one who pierced Jesus' side with a lance, applied the blood of the crucified Christ mixed with earth to his eyes. As the legend further tells us, he is said to have regained his sight this way. He is considered the first pagan convert to Christianity.

I walked through Unterammergau and then followed a gravel road around a marsh dotted with wild irises to Oberammergau. The road followed a stream which, looking at a map, I realised was the river Ammer: hence the names Unterammergau (the place below the river) and Oberammergau (the place above the river).

Oberammergau is best known for its Passion Play, performed every ten years since 1633, when the villagers made a vow to re-enact the Passion of Christ if they survived the plague. The last performance was in 2022, postponed from 2020 because of the pandemic. It's a good thing the play is staged only once every ten years, because, as I learned at the local museum, it requires a major effort on the part of the local population. About 1700 people participate in the play, responding to a casting call held a year and a half before the production; to audition, you must have been born in Oberammergau or have lived there for at least 20 years (except for the children). Two actors are selected for each role, as the performance is repeated more than a hundred times over the summer season. The actors stop cutting their hair on Ash Wednesday of the year before the play; the choir starts rehearsing three years before the play!

Each performance is five hours long, with a three-hour break so the audience and the actors can rest and eat, and includes two hours of music. Christian Stückl has been directing the Passion Play since 1990. In the in-between years, the event venue - Europe's largest outdoor stage - hosts other types of performances, most notably the Heimatsound music festival.