SOUTHERN GERMANY

Evening Star, Issue 20486, 17 May 1930, Page 15

SOUTHERN GERMANY

TORRENTIAL RAIN FALLING OBER-AMMERGAU ISOLATED Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. . BERLIN, May_ 15. The upper Rhino has risen 7ft in twelve hours as the result of. 100 hours of torrential rains. The rivers and lakes of Southern Germany are flooded. Thousands of acres of land aro under water, and the inhabitants fear that they will be compelled to leave the villages, especially in the Black Forest, whore the streams are higher than they were during the great floods of 1882 and 1896. The Baden Government has already organised relief for the homeless. Ober-ammergau, where the Passion Play is attracting tens of thousands of people, is threatened with isolation, as several local lines aro already under water, while incessant rain is spoiling the performances. The River Isor has reached tho level of tho 1921 disaster. OLD TRADITIONS UPSET BITTER STRIFE IN PASSION PLAY VILLAGE The special correspondent of the London ‘ Daily Express ’ wrote from Oberammergau on April o ; ; A .dramatic battle has been fought out in Oberammergau around tho 1930 production of the Passion Play between the forces of tradition on the one side and modernisation on tho other. Events up to the present have provided a sweeping victory for the modernisers, led by Georg Lang, a young sculptor of highly' modern tendencies, who has been appointed producer. Under his direction £50,000 has been spent on making tho new stage, which is of concrete and glass, as opposed to tho wood of the old one. It is a triumph of modern technique, and equipped with the latest and most up-to-date electrical machinery. The old ornate stage setting has been replaced by a new one in keeping with the sombre and stern straight lino symbolism of modern German art. “TOO SENTIMENTAL.”

Herr Anton Lang, the Christ of 1900, 1910, and 1922, has been deposed from the leading role, not, as officially announced, because he was too old ior the exhausting part of the Saviour, but because his interpretation does not fit in with the conception of the new generation. “Anton’s Christ is too sickly and sentimental,” Herr Alois Lang, the new Christ, said to me. “My interpretation will show our Lord as a man of dynamic personality, a strong, energetic character, a born leader of men.” Lang has erected a special Cross, on which he is practising every day hanging for twenty minutes, in preparation for the great ordeal of the Crucifixion scene.

Herr Anton Lang, whom I called on in a little shop where he sells the pottery he manufactures, tried vainly to hide his disappointment at not being chosen again to play the role which made him famous the world over. “1 do not wish to say too much,” he kept repeating to me as ho stood behind the counter in a drab grey overall, a wistful smile about his mouth and sadness in his eyes. “Of course, every man has his day, but I seem as fit as ever I did. I have never once missed a performance. “ Alois, you know, has chosen as the motto for his interpretation, ‘ A Man of Might,’ but if our Lord had been a man of might surely He would never have been crucified?”

Oherammergau is meanwhile doing its host to ignore the struggle going on within its gates, and busily putting the last touches to the gay make-up with which it proposes to greet its first quests on May 11, the date of the initial performance. Acting is no new experience for the inhabitants of the village, who, though claiming to be strict amateurs, are nevertheless from the first educated for two professions—acting and woodcarving. Schoolmasters, specially chosen for their proficiency in music and dramatic art, teach them during their schooldays, while numerous visits to the Munich theatres are designed to provide them with the best examples of the art. INTENSE RIVALRY. The rivalry between the various players is of professional intensity. It was at its worst during October, when the ballot for the chief roles was held. Apart from the struggle for the role of Christ between Anton and Alois Lang, the most debated matter in the village was the election of the unknown Anni Rutz to the part of Mary. Everyone had expected that Hansi Preisingex - , the daughter of the postmaster, and the prettiest girl in the village, would be given this part, especially as she had shown herself to great advantage in the practice performances during the previous year. Georg Lang, however, expressed a preference for the demure Anni Rutz, who had recently returned from a convent in Prague and had once taken a minor part in a practice play. He was adamant in the face of the hostile Election Committee, and finally gained the day. The village, however, even to-day, prefers the handsome Hansi to the reserved Anni. FEUDS AND INTRIGUES. Even now there are vague rumours of mysterious fends and intrigues among tho players. Obcranxmergan, for instance, is strangely reticent concorning tho manner in which Flans Lang, tho twcnty-year-old St. John, obtained the black eye which he is sporting .at the moment. Everyone pretends not to know how it came to lie there, and St. John, if we are to behove him, knows least of all. If anything should mar tho financial success of the venture, tho persona! jealousy now smouldering below the surface of friendly co-operation will flare up into hatred.