New Christus

In the little (pop. 5,200) Bavarian village of Oberammergau one day last week, the townspeople stood silent in the sundrenched street. Inside the town hall, 25 elders and the parish priest were solemnly deciding who should play the 16 major roles of the 300-year-old Passion Play, scheduled to begin its first season in 16 years next May 21. As each part was filled, the town crier--a young man with shoulder-length blond hair--wrote the names on a blackboard for the people to see.

Greatest honor that Oberammergau has to offer is the role of Christ, twice played in the '30s by Hotel Proprietor Alois Lang. In 1947, Lang was let off lightly by a de-Nazifi cation court after he had protested that the Nazis had bullied him into joining the party. Last week, the part of Christ went to 37-year-old Anton Preisinger. The change had nothing to do with Lang's Nazi past (ex-Nazi Preisinger was also fined by the same court), but because Lang doubted whether, at 58, he could stand the physical ordeal of the role. Each performance lasts eight hours, during which the Christus, after carrying a heavy cross, must hang upon it for 30 minutes.

Preisinger, who played Lazarus in 1934, is well known for his devotion to the church--a strong count in his favor, said the villagers. To play the Virgin Mary the committee chose blonde, 20-year-old Annemie Mayr, daughter of a building constructer, who is studying woodcarving--Oberammergau's principal occupation.

In 1633, Oberammergau's elders pledged perpetual production of the play at ten-year intervals if God would spare the village from a plague.

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