Sarrasani
Encyclopedia
Sarrasani is the name of a German circus which reached world fame before World War II
and was resident in Dresden
, but became also known as national circus of Argentina
during the years of German separation.
Sarrasani was founded by Hans Stosch, a clown with the stage name Giovanni Sarrasani, who was born 1873 in Poznań
. Stosch came 1901 to Radebeul
near Dresden and the circus had its official premiere 1902 in Meißen. In the year 1912 a stationary circus building opened, which was designed by Max Littmann
for Sarrasani. The circus often performed abroad and reached world fame. Its well known labels were the Elephant
s, but the circus was also known for the Sioux
, who were employed from the early years.
From 1923 to 1925 Sarrasani went on its first tour through South America. In these years, Stosch-Sarrasani also introduced innovative marketing concepts and wrote fictive adventure stories Fahrten und Abenteuer, Mit Sarrasani in Südamerika. Totally, about 10 million copies of these booklets were distributed.
After the death of Stosch-Sarrasani sen., his son Stosch-Sarrasani jun. took directorship. He was followed by his widow, Trude Stosch-Sarrasani, in 1941. The Sarrasani theater was destroyed on 13 February 1945 during the Bombing of Dresden in World War II
. Trude Stosch-Sarrasani emigrated to Argentina, where she ‘re-launched’ the circus in Buenos Aires with the presence of Perón and Evita
, who declared it "Circo nacional Argentino".
The Sarrasani Circus was founded in 1901, reaching a patrimony of 400 animals (not pets, precisely) and hiring a similar number of artists and technicians, hosting troupes from the most distant and exotic places: Chinese, Japanese, Javanese, Moroccan, Hindus, Sioux, Ethiopians, Gauchos, Europeans, etc. Within this complex megalopolis, the Circus managed to sail through turbulent periods of this century emerging miraculously unharmed. Among them: World War I
, the 1930’s crisis, the Nazism
, World War II
, Stalin’s troops arriving to Eastern Germany, the zenith of Peronism
in Argentina and several coupes d’etat in different countries. During the second Peronist period in Argentina the circus even changed its name to National Circus of Argentina Only since Germany’s re-unification, Sarrasani’s name was exalted again after almost a 50 year of proscription. The story is conceived as a road movie where the odyssey of an immense circus, a sort of Noah’s Arc of people and animals, is an excuse to travel across two continents in different periods of the last century. A journey in space and time, this chronicle carries its own background of tango, epochal songs and circus orchestras.
Besides the profuse network of historic characters, the tale focuses on three main personalities that were in charge of the circus at different times: Hans Stosch-Sarrasani, alias Senior, Hans Stosch-Sarrasani (son), alias Junior, and Trude, Junior’s young wife.
, where he also moved the zoo and all that megalopolis on three enormous ships. Due to his stubborn and independent character, he had several problems with bureaucrats in power and especially with the ascendant Nazi regime that pushed him to emigrate. He established the circus in 1901 and ran it until his death in Sao Paulo
, Brazil in 1934.
the return of the circus to Germany for the 1936 Summer Olympics
in Berlin
. Junior would run the circus during seven years from 1934 to 1941.
, beginning a very close relationship with them. Trude ran the circus until the mid seventies but, of course, that legendary enormous enterprise would never be the same. The popularity of cinema and TV, together with new cultural codes for animal care and use, led the circus to adapt to modern times.
Trude Stosch-Sarrasani spent her last days in San Clemente del Tuyú (a village by the sea close to Buenos Aires
) with Kiki, a little dog picked up from the street. She died the 6 of June 2009, at the age of 96.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was resident in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, but became also known as national circus of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
during the years of German separation.
Sarrasani was founded by Hans Stosch, a clown with the stage name Giovanni Sarrasani, who was born 1873 in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
. Stosch came 1901 to Radebeul
Radebeul
Radebeul is a town in the Elbe valley in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany, a suburb of Dresden. It is well-known for its viticulture, a museum dedicated to writer Karl May and a narrow gauge railway connecting Radebeul with the castle of Moritzburg and the town of Radeburg...
near Dresden and the circus had its official premiere 1902 in Meißen. In the year 1912 a stationary circus building opened, which was designed by Max Littmann
Max Littmann
Max Littmann was a German architect.Littmann was educated in the Gewerbeakademie Chemnitz and the Technische Hochschule Dresden...
for Sarrasani. The circus often performed abroad and reached world fame. Its well known labels were the Elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s, but the circus was also known for the Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
, who were employed from the early years.
From 1923 to 1925 Sarrasani went on its first tour through South America. In these years, Stosch-Sarrasani also introduced innovative marketing concepts and wrote fictive adventure stories Fahrten und Abenteuer, Mit Sarrasani in Südamerika. Totally, about 10 million copies of these booklets were distributed.
After the death of Stosch-Sarrasani sen., his son Stosch-Sarrasani jun. took directorship. He was followed by his widow, Trude Stosch-Sarrasani, in 1941. The Sarrasani theater was destroyed on 13 February 1945 during the Bombing of Dresden in World War II
Bombing of Dresden in World War II
The Bombing of Dresden was a military bombing by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force and as part of the Allied forces between 13 February and 15 February 1945 in the Second World War...
. Trude Stosch-Sarrasani emigrated to Argentina, where she ‘re-launched’ the circus in Buenos Aires with the presence of Perón and Evita
Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
, who declared it "Circo nacional Argentino".
History
The story has two basic topics. On one side, a tale about a family of circus directors struggling to remain at the top of show business in the social context of Europe and South-America during the last century. On the other side, the epical facts of a colossal enterprise that survived the most transcendental political crisis, dealing –voluntarily or by force– with political leaders, dictators, bankers or businessmen from both continents.The Sarrasani Circus was founded in 1901, reaching a patrimony of 400 animals (not pets, precisely) and hiring a similar number of artists and technicians, hosting troupes from the most distant and exotic places: Chinese, Japanese, Javanese, Moroccan, Hindus, Sioux, Ethiopians, Gauchos, Europeans, etc. Within this complex megalopolis, the Circus managed to sail through turbulent periods of this century emerging miraculously unharmed. Among them: World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the 1930’s crisis, the Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Stalin’s troops arriving to Eastern Germany, the zenith of Peronism
Peronism
Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...
in Argentina and several coupes d’etat in different countries. During the second Peronist period in Argentina the circus even changed its name to National Circus of Argentina Only since Germany’s re-unification, Sarrasani’s name was exalted again after almost a 50 year of proscription. The story is conceived as a road movie where the odyssey of an immense circus, a sort of Noah’s Arc of people and animals, is an excuse to travel across two continents in different periods of the last century. A journey in space and time, this chronicle carries its own background of tango, epochal songs and circus orchestras.
Besides the profuse network of historic characters, the tale focuses on three main personalities that were in charge of the circus at different times: Hans Stosch-Sarrasani, alias Senior, Hans Stosch-Sarrasani (son), alias Junior, and Trude, Junior’s young wife.
Senior
Senior, the founder, was a dreamer, a visionary in show-biz obsessed with the idea of greatness, a megalomaniac who only conceived pharaonic projects that, incredibly, worked. His circus turned out to be a crossroad of cultures from all around the five continents and also the state-of-the-art in technology. He toured not only around Europe, but also around South AmericaSouth America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, where he also moved the zoo and all that megalopolis on three enormous ships. Due to his stubborn and independent character, he had several problems with bureaucrats in power and especially with the ascendant Nazi regime that pushed him to emigrate. He established the circus in 1901 and ran it until his death in Sao Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil in 1934.
Junior
Junior, his son, inherited the great name but also a chaotic financial situation and, even worse, an awful relation with the political authorities of his country. He didn’t make big aesthetic changes on the scene but his pragmatic administration and a great sense of reality allowed the circus to cope with the worse crisis since its foundation. He had a special talent for diplomatic treatment with leaders in every country he arrived; he arranged with Joseph GoebbelsJoseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
the return of the circus to Germany for the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Junior would run the circus during seven years from 1934 to 1941.
Trude
Trude, Junior’s wife, a lovely and angelic young woman, found herself in charge of the circus aged only 28 years, during the Nazi regime. Her approach to running it was notoriously different from her male predecessors: she never commanded or ordered; on the contrary, she always delicately ‘suggested’. Minister Goebbels ‘recommended’ the use of her young and beautiful figure in the circus posters as an icon of the Arian era. In 1944, however, she was sent to prison accused of ‘anti-Germanic’ behavior. Two weeks later, Trude was released to continue performing, while Germany was immersed in the open war. Her partner, the Hungarian acrobat Gabor Némedy, was kept prisoner as a way of persuasion. In 1945, during the show, she was caught in the bombing of Dresden, from which she emerged luckily alive. After the war, she started over as an equestrian artist working for other circus. In 1948, an Argentinean producer invited her to ‘re-launch’ Sarrasani in Buenos Aires with the presence of Perón and EvitaEva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
, beginning a very close relationship with them. Trude ran the circus until the mid seventies but, of course, that legendary enormous enterprise would never be the same. The popularity of cinema and TV, together with new cultural codes for animal care and use, led the circus to adapt to modern times.
Trude Stosch-Sarrasani spent her last days in San Clemente del Tuyú (a village by the sea close to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
) with Kiki, a little dog picked up from the street. She died the 6 of June 2009, at the age of 96.
Literature
- Bernstein, Gustavo. Sarrasani, entre la fábula y la epopeya. Editorial Biblos. 2000. ISBN 950-786-248-X.
- Stosch-Sarrasani, Hans: Durch die Welt im Zirkuszelt. Berlin Schützen-Verl. 1940.
- Hahnke, Gustav von: Zirkus Sarrasani. Hinter den Kulissen einer Weltschau. Berlin u.a. Schmidt. 1952
- Günther, Ernst: Sarrasani, wie er wirklich war. 3., erg. und erw. Aufl. Berlin Henschel. 1991
- Günther, Ernst: Der lachende Sarrasani. Anekdoten aus der Welt eines berühmten Zirkus. Husum-Dr.- und Verl.-Ges. 1992
- Günther, Ernst: Sarrasani. Geschichte und Geschichten. Dresden Saxo-Phon. 2005.
External links
- Sarrasani, testigo de un siglo
- Murió Trude Sarrasani, una auténtica leyenda del circo
- Gertrude Sarrasani y una vida de película
- El circo siempre vuelve
- SARRASANI. El circo regresa
- Pasión y suerte del circo Sarrasani en Mágicas Ruinas: Crónicas del siglo pasado
- El Sarrasani en el diario argentino Clarín
- Yo tengo un elefante Diario Página 12
- Datos del edificio de 1912-1945 en International Architecture Database
- Circo Sarrasani
- Tango "Justo el 31" de Discépolo
- Un día, un circo *