Circus Rosai
The Circus Rosai was the circus of the Rosai family, which in 1952 for economic reasons had to close the circus operation after more than a hundred years, which had previously performed in many countries.
history
At the beginning of the 19th century, the circus was owned by the Rosai family, a traveling circus dynasty who entertained the visitors as artists , tamers and clowns , an art that is found in many generations of the family.
Baldassare Rosai , who, like his wife Albina Lomballi, comes from the Italian city of Florence, was first mentioned in a document . His descendants ran circus businesses in many countries. His son Torquato Alfredo Fortunato Rosai was born in Florence in 1857 and later married the 11 years younger Italian artist Matriona Timofezero Fomina in St. Petersburg, Russia. Their son Eugen was literally born on the streets of Moscow in 1885.
Over the years the circus has become a well-known company with well-known animal numbers and well-known artists.
Also Eugen Rosai (1885-1956), who later took over the circus, traveling during his life through many countries of the world. He had contracts with Barnum , Busch , the Ringling Brothers, Sarrasani and other circus companies. In the Circus Ciniselli , built in 1877 , Eugen Rosai performed with a then famous dressage and riding troupe. One of his lasting experiences was certainly his appearance at the Russian Tsar Nicholas II.
Alfred Karl Max Rosai (1924–1971), the last of the six children of Eugen and his wife Contessa Maria Angelini de Brivio, later took over the circus business. His five sisters, Julia (* 1907), Nilda (* 1910), Eugenia (* 1914), Claudia (* 1917), Elfriede (* 1920), some of them embarked on the path as an artist or animal trainer.
The Second World War then destroyed the whole circus, which had been built up over years of labor and labor, and almost all animals, wagons and tents were lost.
In the post-war period, the circus family managed to continue the circus business on a much smaller scale than in the previous successful years and to perform in public. Circus Rosai performed in Vienna's Prater in 1946 and in Bremen in 1947. Eugen Rosai and his son Alfred loved to shine in their portrayal as clowns. In 1948, Eugen Rosai made his circus company and his knowledge available to the director Géza von Cziffra for the shooting of the film " Queen of the Country Road " with Angelika Hauff , Rudolf Prack and Hermann Erhardt in the leading roles.
Further guest performances followed, but the circus was never able to regain its full splendor, even under the direction of Alfred Rosai, who married the daughter of a Linz showman family after the Second World War, took over and continued the circus business.
So the circus era of the Rosai family ended in 1952 and the family members initially devoted themselves to running snack bars and marquees, then they concentrated on running rides.
In the museums of Florence and Moscow as well as in the well-known Vienna Circus Museum there are still several items on loan from the tradition-conscious Rosai family.