Oberammergau Passion Play

The Oberammergau Passion Play of Bavaria, Germany, was once ignominiously known for its virulent antisemitism. AJC has long been at the forefront in calling for reform of the play. Since the 1990s, revisions to the script, costumes, and staging have changed the play for the better. For the 2022 play, originally scheduled for 2020 but delayed by the pandemic, AJC convened an Academic Advisory Group to recommend, through ongoing dialogue with the play’s leadership, additional steps in this decades-long process, with a goal of ridding the play of any lingering anti-Jewish tropes. The Academic Advisory Group is led by Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC’s Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, together with experts in Christian-Jewish dialogue, New Testament studies, German-Jewish relations, and the play’s history. We acknowledge the visionary leadership of Christian Stückl, the play's director, and others involved in the play’s production, who have been willing and interested in working with AJC and other Jewish and Christian experts on these matters over many years.