Circus Knie: curtains up.
| Auteur | Scheuringer, Carina |
| Fonction | Business: made in Switzerland |
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With a history dating back 209 years, few names are linked more intrinsically to the world of the performing arts than that of Switzerland's national circus. Every child in Switzerland knows the four capital letters--blue, red and white--that spell the name K-N-I-E.
Performing miracles
"Our story is certainly one for the movies," laughs Franco Knie with no small hint of pride. Featuring all the elements of a legendary tale--romance, drama, passion and courage--the Knie family saga certainly goes to show that sometimes the best stories are written by life itself.
And yet it all started so innocently. The son of an Austrian doctor, Friedrich Knie was merely 19 years old, when he fell head over heels for equestrian beauty Wilma in Innsbruck. He abandoned his medical studies to join Wilma on the road and became so hooked on performing that he founded his own rope-dancing business when a relationship failed to materialise. That was in 1803.
Four years later, the entertainer met the love of his life, the daughter of a local barber. However, Antonia Stauffer's father had other ideas--and upon discovering the relationship, sent 'Toni' to a convent. Yet, young and hopelessly lovestruck, Friedrich was not easily deterred.
And so--the story goes--he went to the convent one stormy night and broke 'his' Toni free. The lovers disappeared into the night and into a new life ...
Friedrich and Toni's subsequent marriage was blessed with five children, all of whom followed in their parents' footsteps to become acrobats, comedians and ropedancers: Rudolf (1808-1858), Georg (1809-1849), Karl (1813-1860), Fanny-Adelheid (1814-1857) and Franz (1816-1896).
Yet, theirs wasn't an easy age for the entertainment sector. The post-Napoleonic war years were a period characterised by hardship and turmoil and the family struggled to make ends meet. Ever ingenious, Friedrich came up with a plan--not to limit the annual itinerary to Austria, but to venture across the border into Switzerland and Germany. It was a strategy that proved so successful that the performers quickly built a name for themselves in German-speaking Europe. Friedrich's two eldest sons, Rudolf and Georg, flew the nest when they came of age and started their own business ventures.
Becoming Swiss
And so it came to pass that third-born Karl--who was widely celebrated as 'Europe's first acrobat'--took over at the helm when Friedrich died of cardiac arrest in 1850. Aged merely 37 at the time, Karl already had a family of his own in the ring. All of his seven children started performing at the age of four--Clara (1832-1916), Sophie (1934-1901), Marie (1836-1890), Ludwig (1842-1909), Nina (1844-1916), Charles (1845-1891) and Antoinette (1846-1923).
Now including 20 family members, the 'Arena Knie' prospered and Karl began to contract outside performers to add variety to the programme. This...
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