Fredy Knie junior

Fredy Knie junior (born September 30, 1946 ) is a Swiss circus director and horse dresser . He leads since 1992 together with his cousin Franco Knie senior the Circus Knie and was the artistic director of the company until he handed over this task to his daughter Geraldine Catherine knee.

Life

Fredy Knie junior comes from the sixth generation of the Knie circus family and is the son of Fredy Knie senior (1920–2003) and Pierrette Knie-Dubois (1921–2013). He is the brother of the painter Rolf Knie and the cousin of the elephant specialists Franco and Louis Knie. He spent his school days in a boarding school in Bern. At that time, Circus Knie did not have its own school on wheels. After finishing school, Fredy junior returned to the circus. He did not do an apprenticeship. In 1972 he married Mary-José Galland, who did not grow up in a circus and who has performed regularly in the circus since the marriage. On January 19, 1973 daughter Géraldine Katharina Knie, the representative of the seventh generation Knie, was born.

Career

When he was four, Fredy junior rode in front of an audience for the first time in Antwerp, and as a five-year-old artist he experienced his first Swiss tour in 1951. In the circus he learned juggling and acrobatics from the artists present, and horse training from his father Fredy senior. He later took over the management of the world-famous knees horse dressage from his father and performed for decades at Circus Knie and abroad. In the meantime he is no longer in the ring himself, but still assists the family members. Fredy Knie junior is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Knie brothers, Schweizer National-Circus AG, Rapperswil. Fredy Knie runs Circus Knie with daughter Géraldine (artistic director), Franco Knie (board vice-president) and his children Doris (commercial director) and Franco junior (technical director).