Travel Souvenir Collections 4 Oberammergau Passion Play

Visit Cindy at My Romantic Home for links to other Show and Tell participants.

Today’s post is a continuation from yesterday’s post, "Europe: An Illustrated Tablescape."

In 1970 as a graduate student I spent six weeks of summer school in England. Each Wednesday was an all-day excursion to various places of interest to English majors:
I had a set of two large scrapbooks bought in England. Each day our group placed items in our albums related to literary and historic sites which we visited.

I also kept three small notebooks for daily entries about the day’s happenings.

A scrapbook page showing tokens from our visit to the National Gallery in London:

Other London sites visited

A day in Wells and Glastonbury

At the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon we saw Patrick Stewart in King John. Some of us had just studied the play along with other Shakespeare history plays in a graduate course.

Following the six weeks in England we spent two weeks on the European continent. A highlight of that time was a stay in the Bavarian Alps town of Garmisch, Germany at the Drie Mohren hotel. I can still remember the soft featherbeds in my room.

Hotel Der Drei Mohren (The Three Moors), Garmisch, Germany

From their website, here is an example of the comfortable rooms. I remember sinking into the featherbed….how dreamy….

Excerpt from my notebook:
"Houses in Oberammergau – painted scenes on sides & fronts: religious, fairy tales, etc. Very pretty flower boxes, gingerbread designs. {Surroundings evoke} clean, honest, working people. Women & men working in fields tossing hay; native dress common on women and girls."

Well, our reason for staying there is that Garmisch is very near to Oberammergau, where the Oberammergau Passion Play is held every 10 years in keeping with a vow made in 1633. The town was grateful for being spared from the plague which killed off thousands on the continent.
Since 2010 is a performance year for the Play, I am longing to go over there again, and to experience the dramatic performance.

Memories of the Passionsspiele
Excerpt from my notebook:
"Thurs. Aug. 27 -- Left hotel and arrived at Ober. at 9:15. Play began shortly after we were seated...Late Americans!"

Each attendee was given a book with full score of the lyrics in one of various languages so the audience could follow the action on stage. Here is my copy and my ticket:
Before each scene a long line of singers came out and the Prologue, a tall male singer in the middle, gave an introduction to the next scene. I scannned this postcard:

Photo of the postcard in my scrapbook

I can still see the beautiful colors of the rich costumes.

The Last Supper

Judas Betrays Jesus With a Kiss

I remember that the singing and speaking was masterfully done – all in German. I wished then that I had studied German in college or high school, in addition to Spanish and some French.

After a lunch break, we all returned to our seats for the afternoon performance with its moving scenes of the crucifixion.

Excerpt from my notebook
"Returned to hotel for quite a delicious lunch. Arrived back just before play started."

A very enjoyable feature of the play was the Tableau Vivant segments, where the actors would arrange themselves in a beautifull painting-like scene, and would hold the pose.

Excerpt from a library exhibit I did about the play in the 1980’s
"Even today, ten years residency in Oberammergau is required for anyone wishing to perform in the play, and preference in casting is given to those who were born there.
"To the 5,000 citizens of the village, the play is many things: a religious pageant, an act of faith, a civic identity and, not least, a once-a-decade commercial bonanza to sustain them through nine lean years."

You may wish to follow this link to further information about the passion play: http://www.oberammergau.de/ot_e/passionplay/

This is my scrapbook page showing a map of the area and postcard of our hotel:
Here is a souvenir teacup and saucer from Oberammergau, Germany made circa 1960's. It is of white porcelain with gilding. Cup 1 ½" tall x 3" diam, Saucer 4 ¼" diam. The cup has a gilt band on inside along with an illustration of the town labeled, 'OBERAMMERGAU'. On bottom of cup: "DD-Co/ Kunstrehal/ Bavaria/ Made in/ Germany" The gold-rimmed saucer is labelled on the bottom: "Bavaria/ S [Crown]W Porzellan/Germany"

A souvenir spoon from Oberammergau. The crest shows a cross draped with a robe to represent the Passion Play

Page from scrapbook showing post cards I bought there:
This German-made white linen is embroidered in blue with a different design on each of four squares that are joined together.

Links to previous posts on travel collection:
Travel Souvenir Collections Part 1 - Spoons
Friday Show & Tell: Travel Souvenir Collections 2 – Plates (Blue and White)
Travel Souvenir Collections 3 - Shelias Houses

Thanks for coming by today. I welcome comments and read each one.

Travel Souvenir Collections Part 1 - Spoons

As a child I enjoyed learning about new places and the customs and people who lived there.
I jumped on every opportunity to travel. This continued during my childhood, youth and adulthood. As an adult I found that working at secondary and then college levels gave me many opportunities to travel. Often the cost was minimal since I went as a group leader. Thus I saw Mexico City, Guadalajara, Greece and the Agean Islands. Attending professional conferences took me to many states as well as to England.

One of my collections which record the places I’ve been are my souvenir spoons. The first such spoon I received in Switzerland as a graduate student doing a grand tour of the continent. It is an advertising spoon from the jeweler, Bucherer, and promotes Rolex.

I only collect spoons of places I’ve actually visited in the States and in Europe. Example, if a particular city, building or point of interest is featured on the spoon, I wan it only if I had been to that particular place. I’ve visited Montreal, Canada. So I collect spoons featuring Canada and Montreal, but not say, Toronto or Quebec, since I’ve not been to either city.

Some of my earliest spoons are the typical souvenir designs made of fake-looking metals, such as these from Florida and Washington, both of which were gifts.

However, I soon began to concentrate on finding silver spoons wherever possible, including shops in airports. Along the way, I got this one in pewter from Salem, Massachusetts.

In my post last Friday I mentioned doing other posts on various collections mentioned. I've been reluctant to write about the souvenir spoons collection since I haven’t gotten to polish them. They look quite tarnished, however today I thought I write about them anyway, since many bloggers indicate they don't mind the tarnished look of unpolished silver.

This display is in the kitchen on a spoon rack I got at a local thrift store for $3.00. The spoons are vintage silverplated state spoons from W.A. Rogers. The State Souvenir Collector Spoons, plus the matching United States Sugar Spoon, were very popular gifts to take back to family and friends.

Each spoon has the state name, state seal and an eagle.

My spoons are for the following states which I have visited:
California
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Texas
Vermont
Washington

Another wooden display rack is on the wall in the study and has only United States spoons:

The collection has groups of spoons that are from various series that share features in their designs. The next photo shows three 4" spoons for three states that were made in Norway. These were marked "T.H Martinsen Norway E.P.N.S.40 F&F." They are for Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island. Each has the state outline on the bowl, the state name on the handle and state seal on the top.

Another series has pierced motifs at the top of handle which portray a place or munument of interest. A steer for Texas, flamingo for Florida, and the Cathedral in the Pines, New Hampshire. I’ve been to the outdoor Cathedral several times, for sunset vespers and for a co-worker’s wedding. Note that the Old Man of the Mountains in New Hampshire (3rd from left) is now gone, having collapsed in 2003. It now exists in memory and various photos and other artifacts which depicted that natural wonder.

A third group has colorful tops which depict a tourist attraction such as Mission Dolores in San Francisco, New Orleans showing the Cathedral in Jackson Square, and Massachusetts state bird and flower.

Some of my spoons represent cities I’ve visited - Dallas, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Washington, DC. The one from Dallas has the Hyatt Regency depicted. I had a lovely breakfast there, part of a book and author presentation.

There are still eleven states I have visited that are not represented in the spoon collection: Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia.

This photo shows a second spoon rack, also bought at a thrift store last year (for $2.00), displays spoons for foreign countries and cities on the upper row, and U.S. states and cities on the lower row. It was made in Canada and has the original label with a maple leaf and "Seaway Lock. Iroquois, Ont." The rack hangs in the dining room.

Now the entire rack is reserved for foreign spoons only.

Foreign countries I’ve visited and have a spoon for are:
Austria
Bermuda
Canada
England
France
Greece
Italy
Switzerland

Spoons representing cities in the foreign countries I’ve visited include London, Lucerne, Paris, Rome, Venice, and the island of Mykonos, Greece shown here:

Finally, a few of my spoons represent specific historic places such as the United States Capitol in DC, and Blenheim Palace near Oxford, England. The one for the Capitol is sterling and is a tiny 3.25 in. It is probably a salt spoon.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to my travel souvenir collections. Part 2 will cover the blue and white souvenir plates. Let me know if you also collect souvenir spoons or plates.

N O T I C E

If anyone has any silver plated souvenir spoons they would like to offer for swap, let me know:

States needed:
Alabama
Delaware
Indiana
Kansas
Maine
North Carolina
Oregon
Virginia

Foreign Countries needed:
Belgium
Germany
Mexico
Netherlands
Wales

Foreign Cities needed:
Canada - Montreal
Belgium - Brussels
England - Bath, Coventry, Stratford-Upon-Avon
France - Grenoble, Nice
Germany - Cologne, Koblenz, Oberammergau
Greece - Athens
Italy - Pisa, Siena, Murano
Mexico – Guadalajara, Mexico City, Puebla
Netherlands - Amsterdam, The Hague

Silverplated Spoons I have for swap:
W.A. Rogers State Souvenir Collector Spoon for California silver plated 6 inches long - 2

W.A. Rogers State Souvenir Collector Spoon for Massachusetts silver plated 6 inches long

W.A. Rogers State Souvenir Collector Spoon for New Jersey silver plated 6 inches long

W.A. Rogers State Souvenir Collector Spoon for New York silver plated 6 inches long - 2
W.A. Rogers State Souvenir Collector Spoon for Wisconsin silver plated 6 inches long - 2
Canada – commemorative "The Mounties/ Brampton" - silver plated 4.5 inches long

Friday Show and Tell – Additions for Several Collections

Show and Tell Friday is hosted by Kelli at There is No Place Like Home

My visit to the Lancaster Marketplace with my three sisters and niece on Sunday September 21 was wonderful. I found things for several of my collections or sets:

Brown Transfer Ware
2 dinner plates in the Royal China Company’s "Wellesley" pattern. $1.00. I now have 8 dinner plates.


Brown Fostoria Goblets
6 Fostoria "Virginia" goblets for $5.00 the set. The four I had before were bought new for $39.99. Now I have 10.

Souvenir Spoons [of places I've visited]
3 silver plated spoons for $1.00 each – London/ England/ Canada

Salt and Pepper Shakers
A tiny individual silver plated set, $1.00 – Made in Occupied Japan

Blue and White Souvenir Plates [of places I've visited]
Six-inch plate "Venice" by Ridgway - Made in England $1.00 . I have a similar plate for Rome.

Here it is along on the wall in the guest bath with two other plates. Another wall displays eight more plates from the collection.

Teapot collection
A small white luster ware teapot with black trim. From the FREE box at one dealer. The knob of the lid is chipped, but I will fix that with some black color.

Nativity Scenes Collection
Three Wise Men and two trees from the Enesco Foundations Nativity by Karen Hahn. These are new pieces from a gift shop in the flea market. I got them at $1.00 a piece =$5.00 total.

Milk Glass Collection
Three lidded and footed vessels (the items have not been cleaned yet.)

One large oval dish, an Avon grape bottle, and a hobnail container with fluted edge.

I plan to do separate posts on the milk glass additions and on the other collections.

To see more interesting personal treasures, visit Kelli for a list of participating posts.