The search for shelter with "Waldweihnacht"

“Be careful, the sheep are coming!” can be heard across the car park at the Ruhpolding Holzknechtmuseum. A car with a trailer pulls up slowly. Three woolly animals are carefully unloaded and led towards the stage, followed by calves and horses. At the same time, more and more spectators are arriving in front of the museum building. They warm themselves up with steaming mulled wine and hot bosna sausages until the entrance opens. They stand around the open fire and hold their hands up to the glowing logs. Snow falls softly from the dark evening sky, it covers the fir trees in white. The air is bitingly cold.

It is precisely this mood, the mysterious atmosphere of a winter night, with which the Ruhpolding Waldweihnacht captivates its audience. The spectators who have been here more often can be instantly identified: they are wrapped in thick clothing and have large rucksacks with them with warm blankets, hot water bottles and thermos flasks. They cushion their seats on the grandstands well; some have even brought lambskins with them.

Every three years, the area around the Holzknechtmuseum is transformed into an open-air stage. The organisers from the Ruhpolding Trachtenverein D‘Miesenbacher start the preparations weeks in advance. Rehearsals start in summer for the around 100 amateur actors. Many busy hands have been helping, quite a few since childhood, such as Anton Senoner, who is the chairman of the association. In 1995, at the age of seven, he played the leading child role. Today he is in charge of everything, and he keeps everything together. When the Waldweihnacht is on, he takes extra leave from his job at the road construction office and farm. Organising the event demands a great deal from those responsible: the lighting and sound technology, setting up the backdrop and grandstand, ticket sales and advertising. When it comes to costumes, Senoner and his team rely on the experienced hands of Evi Schweiger from Ruhpolding, who use to sew for the Salzburg Festival. “We were able to acquire a lot from their stock, the rest comes from costume rental,” he says.

Originally, the Ruhpolding Waldweihnacht was only meant to be a small nativity play. “At the end of the 1970s, the Miesenbach association board at that time had a simple performance in mind,” says Anton Senoner. Nobody expected that the Ruhpolding version of the Christmas story would become a long-running hit and that the audience would grow and grow. Admission tickets have been in great demand for a long time. With this success came professionalism.
 

Today, spectators sit on a comfortable grandstand with backrests. As soon as everyone has taken their seat and wrapped themselves in their blankets, it starts. The entire outdoor area around the Holzknechtmuseum with its huts and barns is turned into a stage. At its heart, the Ruhpolding Waldweihnacht is always about the famous search for shelter: heavily pregnant Mary and her husband Joseph set off on the arduous journey to their hometown. They have to take part in the first census of their time. For a long time, they find no shelter and ultimately end up in a simple barn. It is the middle of the night and baby Jesus is born. Shepherds proclaim this, and the Three Wise Men pay their respects to the Son of God. The historical epoch and village events, in which the director and screenwriter Chris- tian Burghartswieser anchors the sacred story, is different every time. “The Ruhpolding Waldweihnacht has already taken place before, after and during the World Wars and during the magnificent Biedermeier era. The performances are never the same,” explains Anton Senoner. And yet they touch the audience time and time again.

The five performances under the winter sky last around two hours. Sometimes the moon shines, sometimes the wind whistles, sometimes stars flash from the sky, sometimes snowflakes fall. Horse-drawn carriages drive through the scene, there is a lot of activity on the market square, even the sheep raise their heads at the right moment. Lights appear and the angel – because hope remains, even in the greatest poverty and in the worst misfortune. The actors wear microphones, the orchestra is broadcast live from a hall in the Holzknechtmuseum. They accompany the entire play with soft sounds and songs. And all together, the actors, extras,  musicians, give the audience a message of love and peace at the end.

They are certain to receive enthusiastic applause, everyone has to go on stage for standing ovations. And then the peace returns again. Everyone makes their way home, on foot to warm up or by shuttle bus. Even the animals are reloaded. But the Ruhpolding Waldweihnacht has a lingering effect long after it is over. Because it is festive and yet humble, calm and touching. The way Christmas should be.