Sarrasani
Sarrasani was the name of a well-known circus company that was based in Dresden . With the destruction of the permanent circus building, inaugurated in 1912, in today's Sarrasanistraße in the Inner New Town, during World War II , the Sarrasani circus in Germany went under. In 1956 it was re-established by Fritz Mey , the father of the later circus director André Sarrasani .
Circus business
Hans Stosch-Sarrasani senior
There has been evidence of a Stosch family in the Lößnitz since the end of the 18th century . The "economist and vineyard owner" Ferdinand Traugott Stosch (1794–1855) was a member of the local council of Oberlößnitz . His nephew Albert Stosch (1835–1900), father of Hans Erdmann Franz Stosch , retired from 1895 in Oberlößnitz.
His 1873 in Lomnitz ( Poznan -born) son Hans joined in 1888 the Bavarian Wanderschauspieler Kolzer and worked his way from the stable lads to the famous dressage - Clown high, from 1892 as what he gave himself the stage name "Giovanni Sarrasani". Sarrasani performed in Strehlen , a district of Dresden , later his circus home, with a mini-circus consisting of dogs, monkeys, a bear and a pig before 1900 .
Sarrasani Circus
On March 20, 1901, he moved to Radebeul, neighboring Oberlößnitz, at Gartenstrasse 30. In the winter of that year, with the support of local craftsmen, including the cartwright Paul Thalheim, he built his own circus company in an outbuilding on the property at Gartenstrasse 54. This traveling circus with 3600 seats had its premiere on March 30, 1902 in Meissen as "Circus Sarrasani", the "most modern circus of the present time".
From 1904, its owner and director added the artist name to the previous family name and from then on called himself Hans Stosch-Sarrasani with the addition of sen. , to distinguish it from his son Hans Stosch-Sarrasani, born in 1897 .
The “largest and most elegant tent circus in Europe” ( from a Sarrasani advertisement from 1902 ) set out on a journey from Radebeul. His path led him regularly to the royal seat of Dresden, which was known as a "good circus city" through guest performances by Ernst Renz . Sarrasani liked to play on the open space next to the Jägerhof in the Neustadt, where a Hetz amphitheater had already stood in 1746.
Circus Theater 5000
After Stosch-Sarrasani's attempts to set up a stationary circus had failed in other cities such as Berlin, he turned to the grounds in Dresden-Neustadt and found great support from the city fathers of Dresden. On May 27, 1910, the city council of Dresden sold this, in the meantime expanded "according to preliminary measurements, approximately 5632 m² large building block for the price of 80 (eighty) marks - Pf for the m² [to Hans Stosch-Sarrasani senior. (Hans Erdmann Franz Stosch) with the stipulation,] to build a massive circus within one and the same year from the handover of the land, which inside meets all demands of modern times and in its external design higher architectural demands typical of the city and with the construction of the circus building still to begin in 1910 and to make this circus available for a fee in addition to circus performances, also for large gatherings, musical performances and other events ... "( from §1 and §7 of the sales contract. )
The building was designed by the Munich architect Max Littmann , who comes from Chemnitz and is known as a theater specialist , and was carried out by the construction company Heilmann & Littmann . Construction work began in May 1911, involving over 20 companies. Although some differences of opinion between the two opponents Stosch and Renz delayed the work, the construction work on the Sarrasani circus was successfully completed on September 19, 1912. In the same year Stosch-Sarrasani announced his main residence in Radebeul, but remained connected to the city throughout his life. He honored the writer Karl May at his tomb and visited the Karl May Museum with his circus Indians .
On December 22nd, 1912, the "Circus-Theater 5000" on Königin-Carola-Platz was inaugurated as the first permanent circus building in Europe with a grandiose charity event in the presence of the royal family. According to police records, there was room for 3860 people in the building. “The opening of the Sarrasani Circus was the sensation of this fourth Advent for the local community. Yesterday we experienced what Sarrasani gave the city of Dresden; the coming weeks will show what the city of Dresden has to give Sarrasani. "( Dresdner Latest News , 1912 )
In 1926/1927 the circus had two giant tents for 10,000 spectators, 800 employees, 250 horses, 100 predators, 22 elephants and 175 vehicles. In 1934 Hans Stosch-Sarrasani senior died. in São Paulo .
A decision by the city of Radebeul, Hans Stosch-Sarrasani sen. the honorary citizenship to lend, could not be performed due to the unexpected death.
Hans Stosch-Sarrasani jun.
After his death, Hans Stosch-Sarrasani jun. the successor as circus director. He shared the circus: while one Sarrasani company was playing in Germany, a second traveled through Argentina under the direction of his wife Trude Stosch-Sarrasani, supported by Fritz Mey. He reduced staff, animals and artists. In 1938 he bought the Villa Neufriedstein 1 in Radebeul as a residence and "retreat for deserving Sarrasani artists". From 1940 his company operated as the "Sächsischer Heimatzirkus". In 1941 Hans Stosch-Sarrasani junior died. during a guest performance in Berlin. After Sarrasani no longer used the building himself, the tenants and producers replaced each other. It often went unused. On February 13, 1945, the Sarrasani Theater was destroyed by the air raids on Dresden and was not rebuilt afterwards.
In 1948 his widow Trude Stosch-Sarrasani moved to Argentina, where she ran the Circo Sarrasani-Shangri La with interruptions until 1972 . In 1992 she visited Dresden and Radebeul again, where she donated her artist rest home on Neufriedstein to the Diakonie. Trude Sarrasani died on June 4, 2009 at the age of 96 in San Clemente del Tuyú .
Start-up
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Took place in Germany in 1956 in Mannheim , the new foundation by Fritz Mey, the father of the current circus boss André Sarrasani and the Sarrasani daughter Hedwig Stosch-Brandt (March 1, 1896 Berlin - Feb. 28, 1957 Hamburg your grave stone is in. Garden of women on the Ohlsdorfer Friedhof in Hamburg). Mey received the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class, for his services to revive German circus culture. From 1980 to 2000 Ingrid Stosch-Sarrasani (born June 28, 1933) took over the circus direction. The show "Circus Poetry", her greatest public success, was created under her leadership.
Sarrasani appeared again in Dresden in 1990 after more than 45 years. Two years later, Sarrasani celebrated its 90th anniversary also in Dresden. In 1999 a street in Radebeul was given the name of the circus family.
André Sarrasani, born in 1972 and the illegitimate son of artist Ingrid Wimmer and Fritz Mey, who were adopted as Ingrid Stosch-Sarrasani, has been running the traditional family business since 2000. He developed the traditional circus into an entertainment company that held various events from grand illusions to dinner vaudeville until 2016.
In 2004 Sarrasani returned to Dresden with the dinner variety show "Trocadero". In addition to the regular events, Sarrasani organized the show for the 80th birthday of the former Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher in Berlin in 2007 . From 2008 the show "Circussterne" was on tour in Germany.
On July 1, 2016, Sarrasani GmbH filed for bankruptcy . The newly founded Sarrasani Event GmbH, on the other hand, is returning to Radebeul after 115 years, where Sarrasani will run the “theater bar” in the Goldene Weintraube next to the state theaters of Saxony as the new leaseholder.
Generational overview
- Hans Erdmann Franz Stosch-Sarrasani (1873–1934)
- Hans Stosch-Sarrasani (1897–1941)
- Fritz Mey (1904-1993)
- André Sarrasani (* 1972)
Former circus building
architecture
The house, which was " enclosed by König-Albertstrasse , Villierstrasse, Beaumont-Platz, Briestrasse and Königin-Carola Platz" ( from the purchase agreement ) was Europe's most modern circus building at the time. "Its centerpiece was the freely spanned dome with a diameter of 46.50 m and a clear height of 28.95 m [...] its total height was 35.75 m [...] the manege had the standard dimensions of 13.20 m Diameter, it could be lowered and filled with water; the stage reached a height of 17.15 m and was closed with an asbestos curtain. "( quoted from Ernst Günther: Sarrasani, how he really was )
When it comes to using the building materials, Stosch did not save anywhere. The building was considered “the most fire-safe one far and wide, so that it was not infrequently the destination of excursions by builders and fire departments. […] All iron substructures of the tiers, boxes and galleries were clad in a fire-proof manner from below. Some components and the stables were made of solid brick, the most important stairs and the ceilings of the basement and ground floor in reinforced concrete. Tiers, boxes, parquet floors and galleries were given their own, independent staircases that led to the outside (the gallery alone eight!). In addition, a danger point indicator, 42 push-button alarms and 22 temperature alarms were installed, which automatically report a fire to the city's main fire station. ”( Quoted from Ernst Günther: Sarrasani, how he really was ) However, the intervention of external assistants was not always necessary because they were the building had its own fire station, police and medical station. Firefighter Paul Großmann, who was employed in the fire station next door, said that “this building is a training example for us”. As a small bonus, all firefighters at this station received reduced admission prices.
The exact capacity of the auditorium has not yet been clarified, as Sarrasani spoke of the “Theater of the 5000”, but the building police's documents showed 3860 (840 parquet and boxes, 920 in the first and 512 in the second tier and 1588 on the gallery). The assumption that this number could be achieved by “stuffing” was not considered likely, as Stosch was very concerned about safety and, moreover, one could never have “squeezed in” more than 1000 spectators in this way. Probably the number 5000 that Stosch mentioned was just a desired number.
The building also contained a dining restaurant with an artist's hermitage, company apartments, a cellar restaurant and three buffets for catering during breaks. There was also a salon, which remained open all night, showed a cabaret program and contained an "American bar".
Use of the building
The building of the Sarrasani Circus, for all its progressiveness, also had a considerable disadvantage - the acoustics . The poor quality of the acoustics was noticed at the inauguration. This problem, which worried the director all his life, prevented it from being used as a theater. There were some attempts to use it as a town hall, but it stayed that way. In the course of its 33-year existence, it was nevertheless used as a variety theater and for sporting events, including major events. It was often noticed that Stosch rented the circus building to the left rather than to the right and to those who were his potential audience. On August 3, 1924, there was a much noticed “peace rally” and in April 1925 a “Marx rally” took place.
According to the land registry entries, Hans Stosch was the sole owner of the property from 1910 and of the building from 1913; his son and then the junior's wife, Trude Stosch-Sarrasani, became the owners in the succession and the property remained in family ownership. Since the heirs had not reported in 1945, it was placed in trust management. Until then, it was speculated that it would be rebuilt as a circus. In 1970 it was transferred to public ownership and used for new residential construction.
Main attractions
Some of the main attractions of the circus are or were
- Bob Gerry Troupe - high wire artistry
- Japanese troop,
- the long Emil and little Max ,
- Stilt walkers as musicians,
- Art shooters,
- Dwarf clown Francois & miracle donkey Rigolo ,
- the human kangaroo Aage Markoni
- Wild West Show with real Indians of the Lakota - Sioux tribe from the Pine Ridge Reservation . Edward Two-Two was chosen as chief and
- special demonstrations with groups of tigers and elephants.
Quotes about Sarrasani
- "Hans Stosch-Sarrasani should not be missing from the long line of great German artists, scientists and technicians." ( Junge Welt , August 9, 1985 )
- "Sarrasani was without a doubt a global term and in the first decades of our century contributed to writing an important piece of German history." ( CDU press service, July 30, 1985 )
- "He founded a circus empire that helped determine the level, currents and charisma of this art of the ring for half a century." ( GDR youth radio station DT 64 , September 19, 1985. )
- “In Hans Stosch-Sarrasani sen. united the characteristics of an artist striving for top performance, a businessman constantly concerned with modernizing his company and, last but not least, a clever advertising psychologist. "( Henschel-Mitteilungen 1984. )
literature
- Ernst Günther: Sarrasani. History and stories . 1st edition with 60 black and white plates, Henschelverlag Kunst und Gesellschaft, Berlin 1984. As an edition of the Saxon Newspaper , Dresden 2005, ISBN 3-938325-15-1 .
- Frank Andert (Red.): Radebeul City Lexicon . Historical manual for the Loessnitz . Published by the Radebeul City Archives. 2nd, slightly changed edition. City archive, Radebeul 2006, ISBN 3-938460-05-9 .
- City Lexicon Dresden AZ. Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1998, ISBN 3-364-00304-1 .
Web links
- Circus Sarrasani on Circopedia
- Website of the Sarrasani Circus
- The Sarrasani Circus in Dresden (source of the article)
- Historical outline of the circus
- Historical photos of the Circus-Theater 5000 in Dresden Neustadt in the Deutsche Fotothek
- Article in Stadtwiki Dresden
- Interior layout of the original Sarrasani Circus. In: Address book Dresden and suburbs. 1915. sheet 2930.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Large district town of Radebeul (ed.): Stadtlexikon Radebeul. Historical manual for the Lößnitz , 2nd, slightly changed edition 2006.
- ↑ Quoted from Ernst Günther: Sarrasani. History and stories. Edition Sächsische Zeitung, Dresden 2005, ISBN 3-93832515-1 , p. 77 f.
- ↑ a b www.sarrasani.de , menu item> Company> History> Tradition, as of April 9, 2008.
- ↑ Trude Sarrasani has died. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Argentinisches Tageblatt , Saturday. June 13, 2009, formerly in the original ; Retrieved June 24, 2009 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Too high rents, too few visitors and tax burden - Sarrasani files for bankruptcy in Dresden , Dresdner Neuste Nachrichten, July 1, 2016, accessed on July 1, 2016
- ↑ Sascha Graedtke: Editorial 09-16. In: Preview & Review; Monthly magazine for Radebeul and the surrounding area. Radebeuler monthly books e. V., September 2016, accessed September 4, 2016 .
- ^ Ernst Günther: Sarrasani. History and stories. Edition Sächsische Zeitung, Dresden 2005, page 79
Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 32.8 " N , 13 ° 44 ′ 43.2" E