[German Version]

Religious amateur theater as a way of dramatizing biblical motifs of the Christian faith has its roots in the liturgy. There is evidence of Easter plays as early as the 9th century; their nucleus was the so-called Easter trope (Quem queritis: Luke 24:5b). Later passion plays and Christmas plays were presented, as well as eschatological plays (portraying the Antichrist and the Last Judgment) and saints' plays. In the Middle Ages, liturgical and didactic interests rendered obsolete the earlier Christian polemic against the ludi theatrales; as a rule, clergy provid…