Fast runner (showman)

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In the 19th century, high-speed runners were a kind of traveling showmen who demonstrated their art in exchange for gifts or who hurriedly covered long distances as postmen on foot.

Historical examples

A well-known representative in Europe was the Norwegian Mensen Ernst , who from 1820 appeared as a show runner in all major cities on the European continent. The horticultural artist Prince Pückler engaged Ernst in 1841 for courier runs between his Branitz Castle (near Cottbus ) and Berlin , and when Ernst left his service, he spread the anecdote that he had sent him to run over the sources of the Nile . It remains unclear whether Mensen Ernst actually succeeded in doing this. In any case, his life track is lost. Some texts report that English tourists found his body and buried it in the Sahara south of Aswan . Other sources suspect that Mensen Ernst is identical to the "man with the wings on his feet" that African fairy tales tell.

In 1824, the day laborer Peter Bajus caused a sensation with very fast mileage in the Rhine-Main area . On February 15, 1824, he ran from Frankfurt to Hanau and back in front of numerous spectators. His 10,000 meter split times are retrospectively estimated to be 31:45 minutes, making him the fastest runner of his time. Then he received an offer from Grand Duke Ludwig I to hire himself out as a court runner in Darmstadt . Bajus did not hesitate to accept and to put his livelihood on a secure basis for the next decades.

The successful shows by Peter Bajus immediately called other actors onto the scene. On February 19, 1824, Johann Valentin Görich from Langen (Hesse) started a race from Offenbach to Sprendlingen. Ten days later, Samuel Hartwig from Offenbach held his first run on the route between Bornheim and Bonames. While Peter Bajus became court runner and no longer performed, his successors went on tour and brought high speed to Italy and Russia.

literature

  • Stephan Oettermann : runner and forerunner. On a cultural history of running. EVA Taschenbücher, Volume 40, European Publishing House , 1984, ISBN 3434460403 .
  • Herbert Bauch / Michael Birkmann: ... who can be seen for money - About the beginnings of high-speed and artistic runs in the 19th century. Jonas-Verlag Marburg, 1996, ISBN 3-89445-198-X .