Jenny from Rahden

Jenny von Rahden (* in the 19th century in Breslau ; † 1921 in Paris ) was a German horse rider, writer and singer.

Life

Jenny von Rahden came from a well-to-do family in Breslau, which, however, lost her fortune when her daughter was seventeen years old. She refused to get married quickly in the wake of this emergency and insisted on becoming a school rider after learning the enormous sums of money one could earn as such. This information apparently came from the vicinity of the Renz Circus , which was currently performing in Breslau.

As a little girl she had already received riding lessons. After she decided to earn money with riding, she completed a two-month training course with the well-known riding instructor Gaike. Three horses were bought from the remains of the maternal fortune and the young woman soon applied to the most renowned circus companies of her time. She got her first engagement at the Salamonsky Circus in Riga . Although she was successful with the audience, she received no payment from her employers and eventually had to sell them one of her three horses in order to be able to support herself and her father and aunt, who traveled with her. A journalist from the Gazetta de Duna finally stood up for them. After a whole series of articles about the young rider had appeared, the Salamonskys decided not to withhold payment any longer. Nevertheless, she left this company as soon as possible and moved to Andro Ciniselli in St. Petersburg . There she met her future husband, Lieutenant Oscar-Wladimir de Rahden (born December 19, 1861). Although her family resisted the marriage, the marriage was concluded, whereupon Jenny von Rahden's father left her in anger and returned to Breslau. Only after the death of his aunt did he turn to his daughter again.

Oscar-Wladimir de Rahden asked his young wife to give up the work in the circus, but Jenny von Rahden declared that she wanted to keep this job until she was financially secure. This difference of opinion led to numerous crises in her marriage, but her husband and still her aunt accompanied her to the next engagements, which led to the Busch Circus in Copenhagen , to Paris and then to Milan , where the aunt died. Jenny von Rahden enjoyed success, but could not achieve her goal of amassing a fortune. Among other things, a circus, the Cirque Cooke, went bankrupt before she received her fee.

Rahden's most famous trick, but criticized by experts, was to get the horse to climb and then, sitting in the side saddle, lean back so far that her head touched the horse's body. Baron de Vaux criticized her for this in his standard work published in 1893 on school riding as well as in a review of her appearances at the Nouveau Cirque. In his opinion, such daring had nothing to do with real horsemanship . Rahden was also scolded for her showmanship in Portugal . When a competitor fell while doing the same trick and sustained a serious injury, this only increased the attraction of Rahden's demonstrations. In Die Dressur der Thiere im Circus the translator commented on this book, which was originally published in French: “The Baroness von Rahden [...] was already known as a capable rider when she was still called“ Jenny Weiss ” Since then, he has often shown himself in Germany with the checkered "Czardas" in front of the coulisse: Czardas makes the Cabrade very beautiful, and the thought of his bold rider from behind does not annoy him - but he has already rolled over several times. So far it's still gone well. "

From Portugal, Jenny von Rahden traveled on to Spain . Her own circus was set up there, but it soon had to be closed again for reasons of profitability. Jenny von Rahden went on to France . There, in Clermont-Ferrand , her husband had an argument with a stalker who had been following Jenny von Rahden for years and had harassed her. Oscar-Wladimir von Rahden shot this man named Freddy Castenschiold and was then arrested. Nevertheless, Jenny von Rahden had to fulfill her commitment in Clermont-Ferrand.

She then traveled on to Paris, where she appeared in variety shows and theaters, initially in the Folies Bergère . The changeover to the new working conditions - among other things, the horses now had to perform on a carpet that often slipped instead of in the familiar circus arena - was difficult, and only a dangerous fall attracted the audience and ensured that the engagement was extended.

After Oscar-Wladimir von Rahden was acquitted on December 8, 1893, the couple moved on to Berlin , where Jenny von Rahden appeared in the Apollo Theater for two months . She then toured Germany until her husband was able to take up a job with such a good income that Jenny von Rahden was ready to give in to his urge to finally give up her job. But no sooner had she made up her mind when her husband suddenly died. Jenny von Rahden was forced to continue riding, although she was desperate and demotivated after losing her husband. She toured from Prague via Wiesbaden , London and Madrid to Nice . There she suffered a physical breakdown, as a result of which she became blind.

Since the ringmaster in Nice insisted on keeping the contract, Jenny von Rahden decided to appear in the ring despite her blindness, on her favorite horse Csárdás. This animal, on which she had already performed her first appearances in Riga, was also blind: the strong headlights had damaged his eyes years ago. When the horse and rider lost their orientation in the arena, there was a fall and Jenny von Rahden fell into a coma . Csárdás was shot, the rest of the work materials sold and Jenny von Rahden moved to Paris, where she soon became impoverished. Around 1902 she published her life story in which she drew a bitter résumé .

But a few years after the accident in Nice, Jenny von Rahden started a second career under the name Eugenie Weiß - perhaps her birth name. This time she appeared as a singer. A great success is reported in Paris in 1906, but in the following years it seems to have become quiet around Jenny von Rahden. She is said to have died in Paris in 1921.

Circus drawing by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec from 1899

According to Richard Hooper, Jenny von Rahden was the archetype of seven pictures that Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec drew from memory in 1899 and that show a rider in the lady's seat.

literature

• Stephanie Haerdle, do n't be afraid, that's our job! Art riders, tamers and other circus artists , Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-932338-29-8 , pp. 41–50

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Historisk samfund for Praestø amt: Årbog - Historisk samfund for Praestø amt . Tidendes Bogtrykkeri.,, P. 21.
2. ↑ Pierre Hachet-Souplet: The dressage of the animals . Georg Olms Verlag,, ISBN 978-3-487-41564-2 , p. 106.
3. ↑ Castenschiolds Høj on naturstyrelsen.dk
4. ↑ L'illustration . J. Dubochet, 1893, p. 461.
5. ↑ Le Roman de l'Écuyère was published by Charles Eitel in Paris. A digitized version is available at gallica.bnf.fr .
6. ↑ Richard Hooper, Those Daring Young Women And Their Fabulous Feats , April 13, 2014 at www.leesburgtoday.com ( Memento of the original from April 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.