The history of the Oberammergau Passion Play dates back to the year 1633, in the middle of the Thirty Years War. After months of suffering from the Plague, the people of Oberammergau took a vow to perform a "Play of the Suffering, Dying and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ" every ten years if they were spared. Miraculously from then on they all survived and true to their promise, they fulfilled their pledge for the first time at Pentecost in 1634. This simple play was held on a wooden stage, built in the cemetery of the plague victims and was performed by the villagers. After 1674 they decided to change the date, so that the play would be held every ten years beginning in 1680. From 1830 on the theater has been located on the same ground as today. The only times the play was not performed, was in 1770, when Oberammergau was informed that all passion plays in Bavaria had been banned at the behest of the Roman Catholic Church, and during World War II.

This time the play will open on May 15, 2010 and end on October 3, 2010. Audiences come from all over the world. For 2010 approximately 500,000 visitors are expected.

The play involves over 2,000 performers, musicians, and stage technicians. All of them are villagers who were born in Oberammergau or must have lived there for at least 20 years. No wigs are used. Therefore the participants must grow their hair and beards for several months prior to the performances - this time from Ash Wednesday 2009 on. The villagers also make the outstanding costumes for the play. The play comprises spoken dramatic text with musical and choral accompaniment. Some scenes from the Old Testament are depicted for the audience by motionless actors accompanied by verbal description. They include a scene of King Ahasuerus rejecting Vashti in favor of Esther, the brothers selling Joseph into slavery in Egypt, and Moses raising up the bronze serpent in the wilderness.