Circus Nock

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Logo of the Circus Nock
Circus Nock tent

The Circus Nock was a circus from 1860 to 2018 that was stationed in Oeschgen in the Swiss canton of Aargau . There was the winter camp, where a new program for the coming year was rehearsed. The circus ceased operations in May 2019. After the Knie Circus, it was considered the second largest circus in Switzerland. Until 2018 it was also the oldest active circus.

history

In the 17th century, the Nock family began running their own circus. In 1860 the previously Austrian company gained a foothold in Switzerland. The then 18-year-old Joseph Nock (3rd generation) founded the circus in Zurich in 1860, which ran until 2018. Thanks to old newspapers, it was possible to find out about appearances in Richterswil in 1890 and Davos in 1891. At that time there were elephants and their own orchestra, and the circus was already equipped with generators .

It happened again and again that the Nock siblings separated and later reunited. In 1910, for example, Nock's Wanderkino or the (open) Arena Pius Nock , which appeared in Bern in 1940, split off . In 1976 Alfred Nock separated from his brother Franz. Twice a tent was torn apart by a storm, so that rooms had to be rented for the performances from 1942 - at that time the Second World War and an economic crisis prevailed . A new tent was out of the question for the time being. It was not until 1954 that the decision was made to buy a new tent again, but it also suffered storm damage.

In 1985 the circus became a stock corporation and established itself in Oeschgen in Fricktal in the Aargau , after the circus had previously had its winter quarters in Aarau im Schachen. Franz Nock is the director. His daughter Vreni - also called Vreneli Nock - made out to be a contortionist a name.

A special feature was the fact that the entourage of the Cirkus Nock was the only larger circus in Switzerland to move over the Alpine passes. He was therefore also the " Grison called National Circus," after the largest Alps Canton, where he respectively on the way to the Engadin crossed and from the Engadine at least twice the Alpine divide.

On May 10, 2019, the Aargau family company surprisingly announced the immediate cessation of operations. Bankruptcy was opened on May 13, 2019 .

Nock family

Father Nock (5th generation) was a strict man. He asked a lot of his seven children, which resulted in top performance in the ring.

As a member of the 6th generation, Franz Nock led the company for many years. He was a well-known artist from the 1950s and later dealt with horse training. He is married to Verena Nock-Hochstrasser. Daughter Franziska Nock took over the horse training, while her two sisters Verena Nock are active as contortionists ( contortionist ) and Alexandra Nock in the trapeze .

Around 1947 Pio Nock began a world career as a clown . He was also known as a high wire artist and in 1960 rode a bicycle on a rope over a lion cage. He died of natural causes in 1998 at the age of 77.

Other well-known circus artists of the Nock family are:

Alfredo Nock

In 1976 Alfred Nock (senior) separated from his brother Franz, left the Nock circus and founded his own circus under the name Circus Alfredo Nock . When he was invited two years later by an amusement park in Germany, which, however, did not pay a fee, the Alfredo Nock circus went bankrupt. Father Alfredo set up a circus tent rental on it, while son Alfredo "Freddy" Nock initially returned to the traditional family circus . In June 2014, Alfredo Nock sold the tent rental, now one of the largest in Europe, to the Circus Monti on January 5, 2015 , Monti took over the material and staff, while the infrastructure in Märstetten was taken over by Rolf and Grégory Knie for their winter circus .

Web links

Commons : Circus Nock  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The oldest circus in Switzerland gives up: "We will miss the shining eyes of the audience". In: Blick online from May 10, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b c d The Cirkus Nock celebrates ( Memento of December 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), In: Der Bund , June 15, 2010
  3. ^ Entry of "Circus Nock AG" in the commercial register of the Canton of Aargau
  4. ^ A b Peter Bürgi: Asylstrasse 11: Aarau years from 1947 to 1961 memories of the youth. 2010, ISBN 978-3-8391-6128-9 , pp. 64/65.
  5. ^ Roland Brechbühl: Nock. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . September 9, 2010 , accessed July 3, 2019 .
  6. ↑ [1] SRF
  7. ↑ Now it is a bitter reality: Circus Nock has been declared bankrupt. In: badenertagblatt.ch . May 14, 2019, accessed May 14, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Circus patron Franz Nock turns 75 and celebrates on tour. In: Aargauer Zeitung , August 8, 2011. ( Memento from December 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ a b Freddy Nock
  10. ↑ a b A life in suspension ( Memento from August 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ [2]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.durstzeitung.ch  
  12. ^ Circus Monti buys Alfredo Nock's company and shortens the program. In: Aargauer Zeitung , June 16, 2014.