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The Oberammergau Connection
When founders Josef and Dolores Bischo built Old World Village on a “tomato field”, they looked to Oberammergau, Germany for inspiration. The quaint municipality is situated on the Ammer River in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. Settled by monks in the 12th century, the village is now known for woodcarvings and its NATO School. But the charming town’s biggest draw is undoubtedly its tradition of mounting decennial Passion Plays since 1633.
Oberammergau’s Wikipedia page states:
“The Oberammergau Passion Play was first performed in 1634. According to local legend, the play is performed every ten years because of a vow made by the inhabitants of the village that if God spared them from the effects of the bubonic plague then sweeping the region, they would perform a passion play every ten years. A man traveling back to the town for Christmas allegedly brought the plague with him by accident. The man purportedly died from the plague and it began spreading throughout Oberammergau. After the vow was made, according to tradition, not another inhabitant of the town died from the plague. All of the town members that were still suffering from the plague are said to have recovered.
The play is now performed in years ending with a zero, as well as in 1934 which was the 300th anniversary and 1984 which was the 350th anniversary (though the 1920 performance was postponed to 1922 due to postwar economic conditions, and the 1940 performance was cancelled due to the onset of the Second World War in 1939). The 2020 was postponed to 2022 due to the outbreak of COVID-19.[4] It involves over 2,000 actors, singers, instrumentalists and technicians, all residents of the village.”
[Read more on the Old World Church mural page, unit 47]
PAINTING THE VILLAGE
Most of Old World's murals were created by Monty Baum in 1978 in the Lüftlmalerei style. Lüftlmalerei is a traditional form of mural painting found on the exterior façades of houses, churches, and businesses in Upper Bavaria and the Tyrol region of Austria. Popularized in the 18th century, these often-detailed,, baroque-style frescoes frequently depict religious scenes, folklore, family history, or trompe-l'œil architectural elements like painted shutters and pillars.
The borders of the murals create a 3D illusion that the exterior plaster of the building has "cracked" or "chipped" away, revealing these scenes as if they exist behind the wall rather than just on the surface. It’s a clever way to make the viewer feel like they are peering through a "hole" or a window into another time and place.
That's why the rough, irregular edges of the paintings can be just as important as the scenes themselves—they reinforce the idea that the "real" world is peeling back to show these historical vistas.
