Cliff Eros
Cliff Eros (actually Julius Jäger ; born June 4, 1889 in Hamburg , † February 18, 1952 in Leipzig ) was a circus entrepreneur as well as a sensational actor, artist and tamer . He is considered the founding figure of the circus scene in the GDR .
Life
Although he was born in Hamburg, Julius Jäger spent childhood and youth in and around Neumünster , where his father was a railway attendant . He attended school in Rickling , about 12 kilometers southeast of Neumünster. He learned the profession of carpenter and passed the journeyman's examination in 1908. The entry into the gymnastics club TV Gut-Heil Neumünster in 1910 may have already indicated his later passion. But first he opened the furniture store Möbel-Jäger in Hamburg in 1915.
In 1917 he began his artistic career as "Death Jumper Todero". He built a jumping machine himself and practiced on his number for over two years. Initially only on the road in Schleswig-Holstein, the press became aware of him after a performance at the Hagenbeck circus , and he was signed to the Berlin Circus Busch as "Cliff Eros". International guest performances followed. He performed the death leap from a 24 meter high mast over four slideways, between which he fell freely, changed direction and sometimes passed a bayonet-studded tire with a free diameter of 75 cm. The 500th jump is booked for July 27, 1924 in Luna Park on Lake Auensee in Leipzig.
At the beginning of the 1930s, Cliff Eros switched from artist to animal trainer and showed unique predator training sessions, especially with lions. His favorite lion, Caesar, was famous as he walked several meters over a double wire rope and swung on a platform.
In 1940 Cliff Eros married Babette Belli from the Belli Circus, in which he was involved at the time. In 1942 he founded his own traveling circus, the Eros Circus, in Strehlen in Silesia . Because of two streamlined caravans that he had built himself, the circus was sometimes called the “Silesian Streamlined Circus”. When the winter quarters in Strehlen were confiscated by the Wehrmacht in 1944 , Eros moved to the Zwei Linden variety theater in Görlitz .
In 1945, Cliff Eros erected a wooden dome for his circus on the rubble site of the former Krystallpalast in Leipzig, based on his own designs and in a three-month construction period, in which the opening performance took place on December 7, 1945. His two streamlined cars flanked the entrance area. After some initial difficulties, Eros was soon able to expand. From 1946 he played his branch in Dresden, the Circus-Varieté AEROS in the Reichsadler in Dresden-Neustadt. He also cooperated with the Circus Busch-Berlin in the Berlin Zoo and the East Berlin Circus Barlay.
In 1949 a travel company was able to go on tour through the Soviet zone of occupation , while the monthly changing programs continued in the permanent establishment. The November / December 1949 program “Why are you crying, Bambino?” Attracted a particular stir and attracted almost 100,000 visitors. Eros had built the circus numbers into a literary framework around an aged clown and predator tamer, whom he played himself. The main attraction was the jump of a young artist from the big top into the predator cage.
On 18 February 1952 Cliff Eros died at the age of 62 years at a suppurating pleurisy . He was buried in the south cemetery in Leipzig .
Further progress
After the death of Cliff Eros, his circus was withheld from his heirs because of unproven tax debts and placed under trust management by the city of Leipzig. In 1956 the timber structure was torn down and replaced by a steel dome structure ( Franz-Althoff-Bau ), which had formerly been in Stuttgart and had been bought from there. This building was used as a variety show when the circus was traveling. In addition, a second travel company was founded as an ice revue.
On January 1, 1961, the Eros circus was assigned to the VEB Zentral-Zirkus (later the GDR state circus ), to which the two circuses Barlay and Busch already belonged.
The Leipzig building became the venue for the House of the Cheerful Muse , was taken over by the GDR television network in 1971 and used as a pre-production studio. In 1992 the empty building burned down.
After the turning point in 1990, the state circus was dissolved. Only the name remained of the Eros circus, which was used at times by smaller private circuses.
literature
- Cliff Eros: Magic Circus - From apprentice carpenter to circus director. Series 1–25, self-published, Leipzig 1950.
- Katrin Löffler; Iris Schöpa; Heidrun Sprinz: The Leipzig South Cemetery. History, gravesites, grave monuments. Edition Leipzig, 2000, ISBN 3-361-00526-4 , p. 111.
- Dietmar Winkler: How do you bury a circus? Books on Demand, 2001, ISBN 3-8311-1855-8 .
Web links
- Cliff Eros commemorative website
- Eros - a Leipzig circus
- Website of the Eros circus
- Literature by and about Cliff Eros in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klaus Nerger: The grave of Cliff Eros. In: knerger.de. Retrieved August 28, 2020 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Eros, Cliff |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Julius Jäger (real name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German circus performer |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 4, 1889 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Hamburg |
DATE OF DEATH | February 18, 1952 |
Place of death | Leipzig |