Fränkische Passionsspiele Sömmersdorf
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| Fränkische Passionsspiele Sömmersdorf e. V. | |
| Legal form | Registered association (eingetragener Verein) |
|---|---|
| Member of | Verband Bayerischer Amateurtheater |
| Location | |
| Headquarters | Euerbach |
| Country | Germany |
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| Links | |
| Website | passionsspiele-soemmersdorf.de |
The Fränkische Passionsspiele Sömmersdorf e. V. is the amateur theatre association that stages the Franconian Passion play in Sömmersdorf, a village of about 700 inhabitants in the municipality of Euerbach near Schweinfurt, Lower Franconia, Germany. First performed in 1933, the play about the life, suffering and resurrection of Jesus has been staged every five years since the late 1960s, with around 400 villagers taking part, on an open-air stage with 2,000 covered seats.[1][2]
History
The Holy Year 1933, commemorating the 1,900th anniversary of the death of Jesus, prompted the first performance on 21 May 1933, initiated by the local male choir under the village schoolteacher Guido Halbig. The 1933 and 1934 seasons drew 14,000 spectators; from 1935 the Reichstheaterkammer refused permission for further performances. After the Second World War performances resumed in 1957 and 1958 with 40,000 spectators in total, followed by 1961, 1967 and 1968, after which a five-year rhythm was adopted.[1]
Halbig directed the play until 1983; he was followed by Paul Sonnendrücker of Strasbourg together with Barbara Zorn, who directed alone from 1998. A completely new production in 2013 was directed by Marion Beyer and Hermann J. Vief, and since 2024 Silvia Kirchhof and Kai Christian Moritz have directed. The number of performers grew from 70 in 1933 to 120 in 1958 and 320 in 2003; in 2018 about 400 of the village's roughly 700 inhabitants took part. Recent seasons have drawn over 32,000 spectators, and according to the association more than 380,000 people have attended over the play's history.[1] Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the season due in 2023 was postponed to 2024. Since 2018 the Bishop of Würzburg, Franz Jung, has been patron of the play, and Sömmersdorf is a member of Europassion, the association of European Passion play towns.[2]
In 2020 the Sömmersdorf Passion play was entered in the Bavarian state inventory of intangible cultural heritage.[1][2] A Passion garden (2008), a spiritual walking trail and a Passion museum in the former village school document the tradition.[2]
Other productions
Between the Passion seasons the association stages other plays under the label Kultur aus Passion: Don Camillo und seine Herde (2011), Don Camillo und das rothaarige Mädchen (2016), Robin Hood – Eine Legende (2022) and the western Golgatha – letzte Haltestelle Hell's Kitchen by Roman Rausch, directed by Silvia Kirchhof and Kai Christian Moritz.[2][3]
Awards
In 2017 the association's supporting society (Förderverein) received the Heimatpreis Bayern.[2] In 2020 the group won the German amateur theatre prize amarena of the Bund Deutscher Amateurtheater (BDAT) in the category Theater ist Leben.[2][4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Geschichte der Passionsspiele in Sömmersdorf, Fränkische Passionsspiele Sömmersdorf, retrieved 17 October 2026. Archived on 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Fränkische Passionsspiele Sömmersdorf, German Wikipedia, retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ Kultur aus Passion in Sömmersdorf, Fränkische Passionsspiele Sömmersdorf, retrieved 17 October 2026. Archived on 22 August 2026.
- ↑ Herzlich Willkommen in Sömmersdorf, Fränkische Passionsspiele Sömmersdorf, retrieved 17 October 2026. Archived on 20 October 2026.