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RELIGION

Passion Play season opens in Oberammergau

The 2010 Oberammergau Passion Play premiered to nearly 5,000 spectators Saturday. The performance marks the start of the 41st production of the traditional five-hour play.

Passion Play season opens in Oberammergau
Passion Play director Christian Stückl (left). Photo: DPA

About 2,400 residents – or half of Oberammergau’s total population – participated on stage or behind the scenes to help with this year’s production.

The Passion Play tradition goes back to 1633, when the plague struck the Alpine village and locals vowed, if they were spared, to put on a play about the crucifixion and reincarnation of Jesus once every 10 years – forever.

Frederik Mayet, a 30-year-old marketing student, played the role of Jesus and braved cool temperatures on the open-air stage – wearing just a loincloth in some scenes.

Fleece blankets from Passion theatre’s souvenir shop were sold out well before the opening scene, and some theatre-goers even brought their own sleeping bags.

“The scenes were so strong and striking, you could almost block out the cold,” said Bavarian State Premier Horst Seehofer, one of the guests attending this year’s premiere.

With the 2010 production, Munich Volkstheater director Christian Stückl is staging the Passion Play for the third consecutive time.

During intermission, Stückl said he was “very happy” with the performance, having watched the premiere from backstage. “I have to be with my people,” the director said.

Musical director Markus Zwink also praised the choir and orchestra’s performance.

Organisers are hoping to match 2000’s 500,000 visitors from all over the world, although the recession has hit ticket sales, particularly from the United States. With more than 100 performances, Oberammergau hopes the Passion Play will bring in €28 million through the final show on October 3.

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POLITICS

Why is Bavaria’s premier singing with ABBA on stage during an official visit to Sweden?

Bavaria's state premier Markus Söder has been making headlines during a visit to Sweden. It begs the question: why is he there? And why is he on a stage with hologram versions of the pop legends ABBA?

Why is Bavaria's premier singing with ABBA on stage during an official visit to Sweden?

It’s a must-do for anyone visiting Stockholm. 

The ABBA Museum tells the story of the famous four and even lets visitors experience what it’s like to be on stage with them. 

That’s exactly what Bavarian state premier Markus Söder did on an official visit to Sweden this week. 

“I’m a huge ABBA fan,” the politician, who’s the leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) – the Bavarian sister party of the CDU – tweeted on Thursday with pictures of himself at the museum. 

“I’ve loved listening to their music since childhood and still do today. ABBA are unique artists. They are among the greatest in the world. My favourite song: Dancing Queen.”

It’s no wonder that Söder became a Dancing Queen on the stage at the museum, leaving many in Germany open-mouthed (and a little confused). 

Despite being a staunch conservative (the CSU is a traditional centre-right party), the politician is known for indulging his silly side, opting for elaborate fancy-dress costumes – including Shrek and Homer Simpson – during Fasching (carnival) – and drinking beer at Bavarian folk festivals. 

Showcasing this part of his personality seems to work well for him. Shortly after tweeting the video of himself dancing and singing with ABBA on X, formerly Twitter, it had been viewed by tens of thousands of people, received well over 1,000 likes and hundreds of retweets. Not bad for a German regional politician. 

Apart from what some would call a PR stunt with his favourite band, Söder has been doing a lot of high profile networking during the three-day visit. 

He met with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson as well as defence ministers. 

And on Thursday, Queen Silvia of Sweden welcomed him to the royal palace in the centre of Stockholm.

Söder said the appointment was a “great honour”.

A reception from the Queen is unusual for a regional state leader and other politicians outside of a national government.

However, Queen Silvia does have close ties to southern Germany, including Bavaria.

The Queen was born in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg in 1943, and the 80-year-old met her husband, Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

Markus Söder meets Queen Silvia from Sweden on Thursday.

Markus Söder meets Queen Silvia from Sweden on Thursday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sven Hoppe

The royal couple have visited Bavaria together, while Queen Silvia last visited Bavaria in 2023 for the opening of a new building for the World Childhood Foundation, which she founded.

On Friday, Söder was set to conclude his trip with a visit to the space centre in Kiruna in the far north of Sweden.

‘Brothers in Arms’

The question remains, though – why is Söder on an international visit in the first place?

One main topic for Söder is defence policy. 

With fears that Russia will expand its war in future, Söder is in favour of reintroducing compulsory military service in Germany in the next “five to seven years”, and voiced interest in hearing about the Swedish model as well as other defence topics.

PODCAST: Why Germany is getting ‘war ready’ and the growing citizenship backlog

“We have to make a plan immediately to strengthen the Bundeswehr,” said Söder during his visit, calling for more funding from the government to the German army. 

He said Bavaria welcomed Sweden’s entry into NATO, adding: “We are Brothers in Arms.”

The CSU leader also agreed to form a joint government commission with Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson. The aim is to have a regular exchange around once a year on specific topics such as technology, economics and energy.

Overall, Söder is clearly having a successful diplomatic trip, raising questions that he could be planning to stand for the German chancellorship in future – a point that has come up a few times in the last few years since former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) stepped down. 

READ ALSO: Why Bavaria does politics differently to the rest of Germany

He might want to re-think his small talk, though, if he has ambitions of rising up further on the political and world stage. According to Bavarian regional broadcaster BR24 he described the weather in Sweden as “Arschkalt” (bloody cold) during his visit to the royal residence. 

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