Alois Kassner

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Alois Kassner (born August 28, 1887 in Groß Gohlau near Breslau , † March 23, 1970 in Berlin ) was a German magician .

Life

He came from a humble background. His father was a forest worker. At Christmas 1897, ten-year-old Alois received a little magic book as a present. He studied it from the first to the last feat. Since then he has been fascinated by the art of magic. He performed magic in front of friends and relatives with everyday objects.
When he was 18 years old, Kassner left his hometown and made his way to Hamburg, completely penniless. At a folk festival he met the magician, Eduard Jänichen (also Jänicken). He was a thoroughbred artist who performed as a magician, juggler, tightrope walker, actor, piano player and trumpeter at popular festivals. Kassner joined Jänicken and traveled with him around Hamburg for about two years.
Since 1911 he traveled independently and developed an illusion performance. After the First World War he set up a very successful magic show with four assistants. A highlight of the performance was the disappearance of twelve people on the open stage. Following a suggestion from the ringmaster Sarrasani , he has shown the disappearance of the elephant Toto on the open stage since 1930 . Kassner also became known through the posters by the Hamburg lithographer Adolph Friedländer . There are said to be over 40 Kassner posters, one of the last Friedländer posters at all shows Kassner with his elephant Toto .

Toto died during the Second World War ; Kassner continued his show after the war on a smaller scale. In 1954 he gave his farewell performance in the Friedrichstadtpalast in Berlin .

literature

  • Gisela and Dietmar Winkler: The big hocus-pocus. From the life of famous magicians. Henschelverlag, Berlin 1981.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Personalities, Verlag Magic Center Harri, Detlef Hartung, 2011
  2. ^ Personalities, Verlag Magic Center Harri, Detlef Hartung, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Kassner, Alois
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German magician
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Groß Gohlau near Breslau
DATE OF DEATH March 23, 1970
Place of death Berlin