Höritzer Passion Play

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Entrance to Höritz with a notice board for the Passion Play

The Höritz Passion Play ( Hořické pašijové hry in Czech ) is a passion play that is performed by amateur actors in Höritz in the Bohemian Forest (today Hořice na Šumavě ) in southern Bohemia and tells the story of the last days in the life of Jesus Christ and the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross .

Scenes

Program slip of the Höritz Passion Play

The following scenes are performed at the contemporary festival:

At the old festival from 1893 onwards, scenes from the Old and New Testament were shown, see program leaflet from 1898.

history

Memorial stone to the Höritz Passion Play on the market

The municipality of Höritz has belonged to the Cistercian Abbey of Hohenfurth since 1290 , it was elevated to the status of town in 1375 and was granted market rights in 1549. The spiritual administration always remained in the hands of the Cistercians, with whose work the tradition of folk mysteries and games with spiritual themes in this place was connected. These were games with motifs from the Old Testament ( Paradise game ) and from the New Testament (game about the birth of Christ , Christkindl game, shepherd's game with the parable of the Good Shepherd ). The major theme from the New Testament - the life, sufferings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ - was the subject of passion plays.

Performance history

The Höritz Passion Plays are based on the medieval representations of the monks from the Cistercian Abbey of Hohenfurth, whose tradition dates back to the 13th century, although there was an interruption in the 17th century.

Passion plays in Höritz from 1816 to 1887

The Passion Play has been historically documented since 1816, when the Höritz linen weaver Paul Gröllhesl wrote a new version of the Passion story with the help of the pastor and old traditional texts and practiced and played it with an amateur play group of 15 Höritz citizens. The text was entitled The Suffering and Dying of Our Lord Jesus Christ - a tragedy in 5 acts and a prelude and served as a stage text book for a long time.

These amateur games were an expression of folk art and deep piety in the Bohemian Forest. From 1816 to 1840, the Passion Play was played on Sundays during Lent and Holy Week in the halls of inns, initially without costumes and with simple props. After that there were already equipment and costume presentations and the performances took place both in the church and in inns. The passion play was then performed by the Höritz amateur theater association with a series of changes at irregular intervals until 1887 in 11 years.

Great Passion Play in Höritz from 1893 to 1936

Former festival theater (1893 to 1948)

In 1887 the ethnographer Johann Josef Ammann, professor at the German grammar school in Bohemian Krumau, came to Höritz. He changed and added to the original text by Gröllhesl in such a way that it was possible to perform a great passion play similar to the passion performances in Oberammergau and Brixlegg . The text was revised again in 1894 by Karl Borromäus Landsteiner . He was able to inspire both the citizens of Höritz and the German Böhmerwaldbund (founded in 1884) with whose help a new theater building was built below the former pilgrimage church of St. Anna's Chapel in the years 1892-1893 . The architect of this festival hall was Jakob Stabernak (1847–1932) from Budweis. The premiere of the first great Passion Play took place on June 25, 1893.

The Höritz Passion Play, which initially took place annually from 1893 to 1896, became a magnet for visitors. The performances in the first two years were attended by around 80,000 people. The auditorium had 1,700 seats and was expanded to 2,000 seats after the first year. Among the guests at the Passion Play were members of the imperial family , noble noble families and high church dignitaries. American filmmakers shot the first film here in 1897.

Up until World War I there were further Passion Plays in 1898, 1903, 1908 and 1912. The first performance after the war took place in 1923 and the other performances in 1927, 1930, 1933 and 1936. All performances were open German played. Since 1923 there has also been a text book in Czech, which has appeared in six editions. In 1939 the Passion Play in Höritz was banned by the National Socialists . The theater building was converted into a warehouse for military material. The tradition of the Passion Play seemed to have ended.

Czech Passion performances in Hořice na Šumavě after 1945

After the end of World War II , the German population of the newly formed Czechoslovakia expelled . New settlers came to the Höritz / Hořice community. On the initiative of Jaroslav Tomáš Vetešník and the pastor, Father Jan Václav Straka from Gojau / Kájov , it was decided to take up the pre-war tradition and continue the Passion Play in the Czech language. The old German Passion text by Landsteiner in the new Czech translation by Msgr. Antonín Melka served as the basis for the performances.

Necessary renovation work was carried out on the theater building as well as a renewal of the stage equipment and costumes. The performance took place under the direction of Jaroslav Tomáš Vetešník with the equipment of Vladimír Sova. The rehearsals of the plays began in 1946. The Czech Passion performances took place in August 1947 (still in an abridged version) and 1948. A total of twenty performances were given that met with great interest.

In 1949 the Passion Play was banned by the communist government. The theater building was initially used as a sheepfold and straw store. Then the wooden building was removed and in 1966 the entire building was blown up together with the nearby St. Anna Chapel (pilgrimage church). Nothing should remind of the passion play tradition.

Passion play in Hořice na Šumavě after 1990

Entrance to the festival theater
Venue for the Passion Festival

After the “velvet revolution” in 1989, various citizens began to try to restore the tradition of the passion play. The mayor of Hořice Miroslav Čuňát and Karel Fila and Růžena Hotová founded the "Society for the Restoration of the Passion Play in Hořice na Šumavě", the association "Pašije" (Passion). Jindřich Pecka wrote the text for the new Czech Passion Play, the composer Jaroslav Krček composed the music and recorded it with the group “Musica Bohemica”. The theater director Antonín Bašta took over the direction. Rehearsals with amateur actors began in June 1992. The costumes were designed by the Höritz teacher Alena Strašrybková. The new festival theater is a natural stage with a tent roof in the forest a little above the village.

The premiere of the new Czech Passion Play in Hořice na Šumavě took place on June 29, 1993, 100 years after the premiere of Ammann's Passion Play. In the first four years there were a total of 36 performances, which were attended by almost 10,000 spectators. Among them were representatives of the passion societies "Europassion" from all over Europe, as well as representatives of public life and the Catholic Church, including the papal nuncio in the Czech Republic Giovanni Coppa , the Prague archbishop Cardinal Miloslav Vlk , the Budweiser Bishop Antonín Liška and the Vicar General of the Budweiser Diocese Ladislav Dvořák. At the meeting of the Passion Play Societies (from Cervera , Ligny , Nancy , Tegelen and Mendrisio ) in Thiersee in Tyrol, Růžena Hotová was awarded the “Golden Cross of Europassion” for the work of the “Passion” association. In 2002 the Society for the Preservation of the Passion Play was founded and Vítězslav Kučera was elected to the board.

There is also a Passion Play Museum in Hořice na Šumavě.

People related to the Passion Play

Johann Josef Ammann (1852-1913)
Ammann memorial stone at the festival theater
  • Paul Gröllhesl (1785–1864) was a linen weaver and lay writer from Höritz. In collaboration with the pastor in Höritz, he wrote the text for the passion play The Suffering and Dying of Our Lord Jesus Christ - a tragedy in 5 acts and a prelude . He also used the popular book by the Capuchin Fr. Martin von Cochem, The Great Life and Suffering of Jesus Christ, from 1682 and the orally transmitted fragments of the old popular Passion Plays as a template . The original text by Gröllhesl was subsequently revised several times, but continued to be played in its spirit until 1887.
  • Johann Josef Ammann (1852–1913) was an ethnographer and teacher at the German grammar school in Bohemian Krumlov (today Český Krumlov). In 1887/88 he revised the old text by Gröllhesl and thus created the basis for the renewed Höritz Passion Play. Ammann, who was also referred to as the “father of ethnology in the Bohemian Forest”, was convinced that the Passion Plays were an intellectual property of the Höritz community and that their performances should be carried out independently for the benefit of the community. He supported the construction of the new theater building and the purchase of the necessary theater equipment, such as costumes and props.
  • Karl Borromäus Landsteiner (1835–1909), prelate, provost of Nikolsburg in Moravia, revised Ammann's text in 1894 again.
  • Jakob Stabernak (1847–1932), city architect of Budweis, built the festival hall.
  • Paulus Josef Heinrich (* 1871 in Deutsch Brod ( Havlíčkův Brod ), † 1951 in Oberalting ) was a Cistercian in the Hohenfurth monastery ( Vyšší Brod ) and pastor (district vicar) in Höritz. He worked as chairman of the preparatory committee for the revival of the Passion Play after the First World War and as a director at the festival.
  • Jordan Wiltschko (1859–1922), stonemason, entrepreneur, Christ actor from 1887 to 1912
  • Johann Bartl (1862–1930), teacher in Höritz and Christ actor
  • Johann Cipin (1887–1970), teacher in Höritz, Christ actor from 1923, 1927 and 1930
  • Johann Wiltschko (1892–1955), stonemason, entrepreneur and from 1930 to 1934 mayor of the Höritz market and Christ actor in 1930, 1933 and 1936 at the Passion Play.
  • Franz Bayer (the Younger) (1898–1963) was a long-time member of the Passion Play Ensemble. In the years 1923-27 he played St. Johannes Evangelista at the Passion Play.
  • Jaroslav Tomáš Vetešník (1908–1975) initiated the renewal of the Passion Play after the Second World War, together with the pastor Father Jan Václav Straka (1916–1970), he directed and acted as the actor of Christ.
  • Frantisek Hladky, painter and sculptor, played the role of Christ from 1993 to 1996

literature

  • Johann Joseph Ammann: Höritzer Passionsspiele - a folk play in Böhmerwalde, large dramatic representation of the fall of man in Paradise and the work of redemption through the bitter suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, Budweis, Verlag des Deutschen Böhmerwaldbundes, 1893, 14 pp.
  • Karl Landsteiner: The Höritz Passion and Easter Play, Krumau, 1894
  • Erich Hans, Anton Neubauer, Franz Bartl, Valentin Schmidt: Höritz in the Bohemian Forest and its Passion Play, Stuttgart, Heimatverband der Böhmerwäldler, 1970, 77 pp.
  • Höritz in the Bohemian Forest and its Passion Play: Exhibition in the Bohemian Forest Museum Passau from May 11 to September 4, 1994, Passau, Verein Böhmerwaldmuseum Passau eV, 1994, 2 sheets.
  • Jan Palkovič: Mysterium Hoericense. Proměny místa paměti v 19. a 20. století (Mysterium Hoericense - Transformation of the memorial site in the 19th and 20th centuries), Jihočeská Univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Filozofická Faculty, Historický Ústav, Bakalářská Práce, České Budějovice, 2014, 57 S.

Web links

Commons : Festspieltheater in Höritz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Society for the Preservation of the Höritz Passion Play Hořice na Šumavě (accessed on August 15, 2017)
  2. ↑ Český Krumlov Region - History of the Passion Play (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  3. ^ Bernhard Fabian, Vincenc Streit: Handbook of German historical book stocks. Volume 3 Czech Republic, 1998, pp. 54-55 (accessed January 3, 2016)
  4. ↑ a b c d Jan Palkovič: Mysterium Hoericense. Proměny místa paměti v 19. a 20. století (Mysterium Hoericense - Transformation of the memorial site in the 19th and 20th centuries), Jihočeská Univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, České Budějovice, 2014, 57 p. (Accessed on January 3, 2016)
  5. ↑ History of the Passion Play (accessed on August 15, 2017)
  6. ^ Hrady - Höritzer Festspiele (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  7. ^ History of the Europassion ( Memento of January 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  8. ↑ Museum of the Passion Play and the Hořice na Šumavě Commune (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  9. ^ Encyclopedia České Budějovice - Paul Gröllhesl (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  10. ^ Encyclopedia České Budějovice - Josef Johann Ammann (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  11. ↑ Höritzer Passionsspielhaus by Jakob Stabernak (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  12. ^ Encyclopedia České Budějovice - Stabernak Jakob (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  13. ↑ Life and work of Jakob Stabernak (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  14. ↑ a b Old traces - new ways: Five stories, five lives ( Memento from January 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  15. ^ History of the Johann Wiltschko company (accessed on January 3, 2016)
  16. ↑ Memories of the Jesus actor, painter and sculptor Frantisek Hladky (accessed on January 3, 2016)