The Passion Play at Oberammergau – Youth Days 2022

Our 24-hour Tour Director will meet us at the airport and remain with us until our final airport departure.

Rudesheim is located in the heart of the Rhine river area at the southern entrance to the Lorelei (or Loreley) valley. The town has a distinctive and romantic atmosphere, with its historic palaces and ancient castles, and is well known for its excellent Riesling and Pinot Noir wines.

Take a walking tour of Rudesheim. View the remains of three castles, historic mansions, and half-timbered houses, and stroll along the famous Drosselgasse, which is lined with countless shops.

Enjoy a Steamer cruise that will take us past Die Pfalz, the Mouse Tower, and a succession of castles and vineyards.

On every evening of the program, we will set time aside to update our Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come to the fore in the course of the day.
"We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience"
- John Dewey

During the course of our tour we will gain from the knowledge and insight of four half-day local guides while we are here in Germany.

A specialist guide will accompany us on a tour of Heidelberg Castle a dignified ruin and one of the finest Gothic-Renaissance castles in Germany. Enter into the Palace of Friedrich IV, which features the gallery of princes and kings of the German empire from the time of Charlemagne and the Chemist's Tower, housing the Pharmaceutical Museum.

The city of Worms (a name of Celtic origin) is located on the River Rhine. It is one of Germany's oldest cities and has a rich history, featuring kings and emperors, the myths and legends regarding the Nibelungs, and traces of Judaism and Martin Luther. It also boasts a magnificent cathedral.

Visit Dom St. Peter (Worms Cathedral), towering physically and historically above all the other ancient buildings of the city. The basilica is a fine example of High Romanesque. Inside view the rosette window and the highly decorated 14th-century side chapel of St. Nicholas, with its Gothic baptismal font and new stained-glass windows.

View the Luther Monument, the world’s largest Reformation monument. At its center is a statue of Martin Luther, flanked by Frederick the Wise of Saxony and Philip of Hesse. It also features the names of other towns that played an important part in the Reformation.

Today we will travel from Heidelberg to Augsburg. Along the way, we will visit Rothenburg.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a beautiful and well-preserved medieval town on the Romantic Road. Its Old Town is a patchwork of winding cobbled lanes lined with picturesque half-timbered houses. Massive towers and the intact city walls form a ring around Rothenburg and offer excellent views over the city and the Tauber valley.

Take a walking tour of Rothenburg around the old walled city, beginning at its entrance, before exploring the windy cobbled streets, along to Herrngasse, which is famous for its mansions and courtyards.

Visit the Rathaus (Town Hall), which is filled with Renaissance works. Climb the Tower for a beautiful view over the city.

Visit the Museum of Medieval Justice, the former headquarters of the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, which has been turned into a museum displaying medieval attitudes towards crime and dissidence.

Augsburg is one of the oldest towns in Bavaria. The town features medieval guild houses and cathedrals and Renaissance buildings such as the Town Hall. This is also where in 1518 Martin Luther was brought to defend and recant his 95 Theses and was subsequently banished from Germany.

Visit Fuggerei, the world's oldest social housing complex, where annual rent is still less than one euro. The city-within-a-city was the brainchild of Jakob Fugger, a wealthy entrepreneur. Fugger envisioned a community of affordable housing for laborers, artisans, and their families. The homes have been continually inhabited since 1520, despite sustaining significant damage in World War II.

Our base for the night will be the Augsburg area, where breakfast and dinner will be provided at the hotel.

We continue on our journey from Augsberg to Oberammergau. En route, we will visit Neuschwanstein Castle.

Visit Neuschwanstein Castle, situated on an outcrop of rock towering over a gorge in the River Pollat. King Ludwig II himself only lived here for 172 days, but the highlight of the castle tour is the Throne Room, designed in Byzantine style, with gilded mural paintings, mosaics, and a huge chandelier.

Our base for the next two nights will be Oberammergau, where breakfast will be provided at the hotel.

The quaint town of Oberammergau, is famed for its woodcarving center and renowned for its painted houses, in a colorful style known as Luftmalerei, typical for the region. In addition, Oberammergau is famous worldwide for its Passion Play.

This evening we will have dinner as a group in a local restaurant.

Attend Oberammergau's famous Passion Play for a special Youth Day performance. The people of Oberammergau vowed in 1633 that if God were to spare them from the effects of the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would perform a play every ten years depicting the life and death of Jesus. At Pentecost 1634, they fulfilled their pledge for the first time on a stage they put up in the cemetery above the fresh graves of the plague victims.

This evening we will have dinner as a group in a local restaurant.

We continue on our journey from Oberammergau to Munich. En route, we will visit Dachau.

Visit the Dachau Concentration Camp. In 1933, what had once been a quiet little artists' community became a tragic symbol of the Nazi era, the first German concentration camp. The audioguided tour of the camp includes the memorial chapels and two of the rebuilt barracks. The Museum is housed in the large building that once contained the kitchen, laundry, and shower baths. Our centrally-located Munich hotel will be our home for the next two nights. We will have breakfast at the hotel daily.

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria. It was founded in the 12th century, and named for a settlement of Benedictine monks. Munich is now a cosmopolitan city that is at the forefront of the financial and publishing industries, and notable for its role in the development of music and the arts.

We will dine this evening in a local restaurant.

In Munich, the cost of public transport is included for all group sightseeing. Escorted by our Tour Director, we will be able to experience the city in the same manner as the local people.

Explore the splendid Nymphenburg Palace, once the residence of the Bavarian kings. Of particular interest is the Rococo Banqueting Hall, with its vivid frescoes by Johann Baptist, and the Gallery of Beauties, which displays portraits of the loveliest women of the time of Ludwig I. Visit the Carriage Museum, which houses coaches, carriages and sleighs once belonging to the Bavarian rulers, before enjoying a stroll in the formal Gardens

Discover the area of Munich around Marienplatz, which is dedicated to the patron of the city. See Frauenkirche and observe the Glockenspiel on its facade. This is the fourth largest chiming clock in Europe, and stages an elaborate performance twice a day.

Don your lederhosen and knee socks and head to the Hofbräuhaus for an evening of Bavarian dance and music. Munich’s oldest beer hall, the Hofbräuhaus boasts an enormous banquet hall that fills with the sound of alpenhorns, yodelers, and glockenspiels while dancers smack their legs and crack Alpine whips during the traditional dances. Watch the show and enjoy traditional German food, from bratwurst and sauerkraut to apple strudel.(Subject to availability)

This evening we make the final entries in our Reflection Journal and share some of the most significant observations and perspectives that have taken shape in the course of our travel experience and how these may be most relevant for us all as we return home.

Our rewarding and enjoyable tour comes to an end as our Tour Director accompanies us to the airport on our final day.

As a result of participating on this program, all high school students are eligible to take an online Global Perspectives course through a learning management system, where all the grading and assessment will be undertaken by the WorldStrides Curriculum and Academics team. Credit will be awarded upon successful completion of the online coursework with all costs associated with the course covered by WorldStrides.