King Repp

King Repp , real name Alfred Wolf , (born January 20, 1898 in Berlin , † April 8, 1968 in Berlin-French Buchholz ) was a German eccentric juggler.

Life

Wolf grew up in poor circumstances as the son of a head waiter in Berlin's Prater . His uncle was known as the billiard juggler Asra (Waldemar Paetzold) and influenced the artistic development of the nephew. As a 15-year-old Wolf appeared publicly as a comedian. He made his first tour appearance with Georg Baumdecker in the "Duo Alaska". The model for his early appearances was the comedian and artist WC Fields.

With his own ideas and gags, he soon became a role model for a whole generation of artists. In 1925 he ran an artist school in the young Soviet Union for more than a year. He was there in connection with the activities of the International League of Artists.

Early in his career he was called the "King of Jugglers". In 1923 he made this the idea for his appearance. He ascended a "golden throne" and began to juggle out of this environment. Associated with this is his stage name "King Repp", which he retained for life after this program. In 1930 he worked with his juggling skills on the UFA film "The Last Company", which was directed by C. Bernhardt and K. Evans.

With his wife Friedel Wolf (1892–1972) as a partner, he performed on all five continents. He performed several times in his hometown Berlin in the winter garden and was actively involved in the program. He went on tour at home and abroad until well into the 1950s. His worldwide success gave him financial independence. In 1944 he moved to French Buchholz , a district in Berlin-Pankow . Here he set up his own variety theater, the Viktoria Garden in Berlin-Buchholz, Pasewalker Strasse.

From the proceeds of events in his cultural institution, he donated money for the local swimming pool, which still exists today. He paid the funeral expenses for his friend Salerno when he died impoverished.

He found his final resting place in the cemetery , at his last residence in French-Buchholz.

Services

He is considered the most famous German juggler. He found his form as an eccentric juggler (juggler-comedian) and he introduced this type of appearance into the art of variety. Coming from the audience he began to "disturb" the artist on stage by intervening and making fun of his partner. Then he performed the number better than his partner. Even Rastelli was interpreted funny by him, in which he let three balls and a wooden cigar circle.

Another novelty of his was that he used three different colored cylinders (in the traffic light colors: red, yellow, green) in his number for the first time. He then made these cylinders circle around his head. His original trick was juggling six hoops and two balls each, which he moved with his hands, feet, back and head.

literature

• Hagen Büchner, Gabi Keast: 100 years of King Repp . In: Kaskade 50, No. 2/1998, p. 31 f. ( PDF ; 11.62 MB).
• Karl Heinz Ziethen: The Art of Juggling . Berlin 1988.

Web links

• ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: His life )