The story of the Bavarian Passion play that dates back over 380 years

First performed in 1634, the ‘Oberammergau Passion Play’ has been run every 10 years since 1680 and has become an object of pilgrimage for Christians around the world, reports William Cook

Only when you see the Crucifixion in the flesh do you realise what it entails (Arno Declair)

Here in Oberammergau, a pretty village in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, I’m watching one of the most disturbing spectacles I’ve seen in 50 years of theatregoing. On the stage of this outdoor theatre, against an Alpine backdrop straight out of The Sound of Music, a man is being nailed to a cross.

For anyone who’s grown up in a Christian country, surrounded by Christian imagery, the Crucifixion is so ubiquitous that some of those who do not follow the religion may find it difficult to invest it with any meaning. We’ve seen it so many times – in churches, in art galleries, in the movies – that we’ve become immune to it. It simply doesn’t seem real.

Only when you see it in the flesh do you realise what it entails. Seeing it re-enacted, right in front of you, really brings it home to you: this was one of the most horrific methods of execution ever devised, performed upon a man whom two billion people believe to be the son of God.