Oberammergau

Oberammergau ōˌbərämˈərgou [key], town (1994 pop. 5,343), Bavaria, S Germany, in the Bavarian Alps. It has been a noted center of woodcarving since the 12th cent. Oberammergau is famous for the Passion play performed there every 10 years (most recently in 2000), originally (1634) in fulfillment of a vow made during a plague in 1633. Tourism is the town's major source of income. There are numerous fresco-decorated houses and a rococo church.

See study of the town's Passion play by J. Shapiro (2000).

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