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In 1633 the village people of Oberammergau vowed that if God were to spare  them from the effects of the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would perform a play, in His honor, every ten years depicting the life and death of Jesus. The death rate among adults rose from one in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633. The adult death rate slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633. The villagers believed that Our Lord spared them after they kept their part of the vow. The play was first performed in 1634. The play is now performed in years ending with a zero, except 1984 which was the 350th anniversary, and involves over 2000 performers, all residents of the village. See below for more details.
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The village is also known as the home of a long tradition of woodcarving. The streets of central Oberammergau are home to dozens of woodcarver shops, with pieces ranging from religious subjects, to toys, to humoristic portraits.
Oberammergau is also famous for its "Lüftlmalerei," or frescoes, of traditional Bavarian themes, fairy tales, or religious scenes found on many homes and buildings. Lüftlmalerei is common and its name may be derived from an Oberammergau house called Zum Lüftl, which was the home of facade painter (1748–1792).
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