Book excerpt: This collection provides a comprehensive overview of the Oberammergau Passion play and its history from the 19th century onwards. Specialists in theatre and performance studies, comparative literature, theology, political studies, history, and ethnology initiate an interdisciplinary discussion of how Oberammergau has built a trademark from tradition. A typological and historical outline of this development is followed by detailed analyses of the blending of spaces, temporalities, and cultures, through which Oberammergau as an institution is stabilized while at the same time remaining open to the dynamics of historical change. The authors comprise the formation of a theatrical public sphere, literary imaginations, and layers of authenticity in modern practices of distributed communication that culminate in the notion of tradition as trademark. This collection is analysed from a wide spectrum of cultural historical perspectives, ranging from literary studies, theatre and performance studies to theology, political studies, and ethnology.