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URSULA BÖTTCHER
Ursula Böttcher (1927-2010) was one of the most celebrated female animal trainers of the second half of the twentieth century. The diminutive German artist (she was 1,57 m. tall—or 5,1 feet) with the predestined name (Ursula comes from ursus, which means bear in Latin) stroke an amazing figure near the huge polar bears she eventually chose to present, and which made her a circus star all over Europe and in the United States. She was born Ursula Blütchen in Dresden, Germany, on June 6, 1927, in a working class family. "Uschi," as her friends called her, didn’t "run away and join the circus" in the adventurous manner typically described in cheap novels: She took a job as an usher and cleaning woman with Circus Jakob Busch, which was visiting Dresden in 1952. She was twenty-five, living right after WWII in a city that laid in ruins in Soviet-controlled East Germany; her brother had been killed on the Russian Front, and Ursula desperately needed to make a living by herself. ... (Ursula Böttcher|more...]])
New Biographies
- Ursula Böttcher, Animal Trainer
- Fritz Schulz, Animal Trainer
- Andreï Ivakhnenko, Juggler on Slack Wire
- Laci Endresz, Jr. (Mooky), Clown, Juggler
- Armand Grüss, Equestrian, Acrobat, Clown
New Videos
- Ursula Böttcher, Polar Bear Act (1973)
- Serguei Taekine & Olga Budzilovich, Aerial Straps (1995)
- Dewert, Cloud Swing Contortionist (1976)
- Zhang Ting, Hand Balancer (1996)
- Simeon Krachinov, Juggler (c.2005)
Featured Oral Histories
- Barry Lubin, Clown (Grandma) - Interview (Jando 2008)
- Fumagalli, Clown - Interview (Jando 2008)
- Kris Kremo, Juggler - Interview (Jando 2007)
A Message from the Editor
- CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding encyclopedia of the international circus. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly—and sometimes daily—basis. Keep visiting us: even if today you don't find what you're looking for, it may well be here tomorrow!
- Dominique Jando
