Passion Play Brings

Newtowners To Europe

By Tanjua Damon

Organizing a trip to Austria and Germany for 102 people could be considered difficult, but Newtown Reverends Steve Gordon and Greg Wismar came up with a clever way to make sure everyone was able to spend at least some time together on their mid-August trip to the two European countries.

The colors red, yellow, green, blue, silver, and gold had something to do with the organization method. Each traveler received a certain color dot. Rev Wismar from Christ the King Lutheran Church was silver and Rev Gordon from Newtown Congregational Church was gold. Each morning two colors were chosen to ride on the gold bus or the silver bus and it varied from day to day so that all 102 people could spend time with everyone on the trip.

The nine-day adventure brought 102 people, ranging from age 8 to age 82. The group consisted of travelers from Newtown and other surrounding Connecticut communities along with people from other states.

“I didn’t quite know how taking 102 people would work out,” Rev Wismar said. “But it went well.”

The event that brought such a large group together to travel overseas was the town of Oberammergau, Germany, and the Passion Play that is held there once every ten years. The village only has about 5,000 people and its takes 2,700 of them to do the play, Rev Wismar said. The play is performed four days a week from May through October.

The Passion Play developed in 1632 when the plague, or “black death,” was taking over in Europe, killing out entire villages, Rev Wismar said. The villagers gathered at the church and made a pledge that the village would perform a reenactment every ten years if no one else died. The dying stopped and a play has been preformed every ten years since that time.

The play is an entire day affair. It begins at 9 in the morning and breaks at 11:30.  Then from 3 to 6 pm the play continues. People who come to see the play often stay with families in the village and surrounding communities, according to Rev Wismar.

“It’s emotional. It’s well done. You experience the passion of Christ. In the midst of that you are constantly working with the guides along the way,” Rev Wismar said. “We put as much as you possibly could in this short period of time.”

Rev Gordon felt his expectations of the trip were met even though he was not completely sure what the experience would hold for him.

“It went beyond my expectations. You didn’t exactly know what to expect,” he said. “We knew the play had an extraordinary level to it, but I don’t think you grasp it until you experience it.”

Rev Gordon also was able to visit Dachau, a concentration camp. It was a moving experience.

“To first be at the Passion Play then to move to the suffering history of the concentration camp was very moving,” he said. “It was emotional. The prevalent past and the housing of people who were kept there.”

Hellbrunn Palace or Bright Well is another place Rev Gordon’s group visited. The palace has beautiful gardens and risky fountains. If someone is not paying attention, they risk being squirted by the fountains, which can be found all over the palace, he said.

Bad Durrenberg, “City Mountain,” was a salt mine that Rev Wismar’s group visited. The mine was located in Salzkammergut and made the town famous, he said. To get to the main salt mine people had to take a slide down a shoot.

“We are a good team. Greg is a good leader and organizer,” Rev Gordon said. “I get the gift of going along.”

Other places the group stopped included Bavaria, Augsburg and Munich, Nuremberg, and the Neuschwanstein Castle.

A trip to Israel is planned for the spring. Revs Wismar and Gordon are currently looking for people to travel with them.