Anton Lang was offered a professorship at Georgetown University in 1932, and taught German and of German Literature for four decades. From about 1938 to about 1970, Anton and Klara Lang and their five children were residents of 2027 Huidekoper Place.
Anton Lang and Klara Mayr were born in Oberammergau, Germany, to families that were actors in the Oberammergau Passion Play, first performed in 1634, which is performed every ten years. Lang’s father had portrayed Jesus three times. The couple became engaged in 1933, but postponed their wedding for a year so that she could play Mary Magdalene. Klara’s father played Judas.
Dr. Lang’s parents and siblings in 1910. Lang’s father, a potter in Oberammergau, played Jesus three times in the town’s decennial passion play; his sons Anton and Gottfried grew up to be academics in the United States.
Klara Mayr in 1934.
Klara Myer as Mary Magdalene, 1934.
Anton Lang and Klara Mayr were married in Oberammergau in 1934, and came to Washington later that year. In 1935 the birth of twins to the former impersonator of Mary Magdalene, and the son of the former impersonator of Jesus was page 1 news in Washington. It was of particular note that the girls would be baptized by Reverend Bernard R. Hubbard, S.J., a mountain climber and scholar known as “The Glacier Priest”. (“Twins Are Born to Anton Langs; Glacier Priest to Baptize Them”, Washington Post, May 31, 1935, p.1)
Dr. Lang’s celebrated father died suddenly in 1938. (“Lang, Famous ‘Christus,’ Dead; News Shocks Son, G.U. Teacher”, Washington Post, May 19, 1938, p.X1)
“The Christmas trio is composed of Roswitha, Elizabeth and Annamarie Lang daughters of Mr. And Mrs. Anton Lang, jr., and granddaughters of the late Anton Lang, noted Christus of the Passion Play at Oberammergau.” (“Christmas Spirit Pierces Society’s Dazzling Shell”, Washington Post, December 25, 1938, p.S1)
Dr. Anton Lang became an American citizen in 1940. (Washington Post, January 3, 1940, p.24)
The Lang family revisited Anton and Klara’s hometown in 1957. “The Anton Lang Jr. family before leaving last night for a holiday in Europe. From left are Elizabeth and Annamarie, 22-year-old twins; Rosewitha, 20; Tony, 18; Renata, 16, and the parents. Lang is a Georgetown University professor.” (“Family Leaves on Pilgrimage”, Washington Post, June 12, 1957, p.B1)
“At the other end of Huidekoper Place lived the Lang family. Mr. Lang was a professor at Georgetown University and every four years he would visit his native Germany and along with other members of his family would perform in the famous German passion plays. The Lang family also had a marvelous Christmas display each year. One particular item was a dead tree root that had been hollowed out to look like a manger and filled with hand carved nativity figures.” ( Francis McKinley: Remembering Glover Park in the Forties)
Anton and Klara Lang, newly wed in 1934; and in 1957, before a summer-long visit to Oberammergau, their birthplace. (“Family Leaves on Pilgrimage”, Washington Post, June 12, 1957, p.B1)
ANTON J. LANG, 82, a former chairman of the modern languages department at Georgetown University, where he was a professor of German for 44 years before retiring in 1976, died of cancer Feb. 4 at the Fairfax Nursing Home. He lived in Vienna.
Born in Oberammergau, Germany, Dr. Lang came to the United States in 1926 and settled in Washington. He graduated from Holy Cross College in Massachusetts in 1928. Later he studied languages at the University of Munich and Grenoble College in France, and he earned a doctorate in modern languages from the University of Goettingen in Germany in 1931.
Dr. Lang returned to Washington in 1932 and became a language professor at Georgetown. He was chairman of the modern languages department from about 1965 to the early 1970s.
Survivors include his wife, Klara, of Hyattsville; four daughters, Elizabeth L. Klein of Vienna, Annemarie L. Abresch of Prince Frederick, Md., Roswita L. Case of Fresno, Calif., and Renata L. Burgess of Golden, Colo.; one son, Anton (Tony) J. Lang Jr. of Littleton, Colo.; two brothers, Karl Lang of Oberammergau and Gottfried Lang of Boulder, Colo.; three sisters, Martha Krause of Aachen, Germany, and Ria Ringseisen and Tidda Raab, both of Oberammergau; 20 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
(Washington Post, February 7, 1987, p.G8)
Klara Mayr Lang, 79, a longtime Washington area resident and a member of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, where she sang in the choir from 1934 to 1980, died June 2 at the Sacred Heart Home in Hyattsville. She had Alzheimer’s disease.
Mrs. Lang was born in Oberammergau, Germany. She made her first visit to the United States in 1931 while on tour with the cast of the Oberammergau Passion Play. She returned to this country in 1934 and settled in the Washington area.
Her husband, Anton J. Lang, died in 1987.
Survivors include four daughters, Elizabeth L. Klein of Vienna, Annemarie L. Abresch of Prince Frederick, Md., Roswita L. Case of Benicia, Calif., and Renata L. Burgess of Golden, Colo.; one son, Anton J. (Tony) Lang Jr. of Littleton, Colo.; three sisters, Maria Schneider of Washington and Marta Heinzeller and Irma Preisinger, both of Oberammergau; 20 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
(Washington Post, June 16, 1988, p.D7)
Citations
“Twins Are Born to Anton Langs; Glacier Priest to Baptize Them”, Washington Post, May 31, 1935, p.1
“Lang, Famous ‘Christus,’ Dead; News Shocks Son, G.U. Teacher”, Washington Post, May 19, 1938, p.X1
“Christmas Spirit Pierces Society’s Dazzling Shell”, Washington Post, December 25, 1938, p.S1
“Citizenship Papers Granted to 53 by District Court”, Washington Post, January 3, 1940, p.24
“Family Leaves on Pilgrimage”, Washington Post, June 12, 1957, p.B1
Anton J. Lang, 82––Washington Post, February 7, 1987, p.G8
Klara Mayr Lang, Trinity Church Member, 79––Washington Post, June 16, 1988, p.D7
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Carlton Fletcher
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