Circus Krone - Revision history

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2026-05-05T18:46:23Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Post War Struggles */

2026-05-05T18:36:08Z

‎Post War Struggles

Djando: /* Krone Festival */

2026-05-05T00:03:48Z

‎Krone Festival

Djando: /* Rebirth of A Giant */

2026-05-04T23:55:09Z

‎Rebirth of A Giant

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2026-05-03T20:45:30Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Europe’s Three-Ring Giant */

2026-05-03T20:39:14Z

‎Europe’s Three-Ring Giant

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2026-04-29T03:56:12Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* A New Era */

2025-10-11T18:24:56Z

‎A New Era

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2025-10-11T18:22:32Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2025-09-01T05:11:14Z

‎Image Gallery

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 File:Circus_Krone_49.jpg|Circus Krone in Hamburg (1949)
 File:Kronebau_1950.jpg|The Second Kronebau (1950)
 File:Krone_Festival.jpg|''Krone Festival'' Finale (1955)
 File:Carl_Sembach_and_tiger.jpg|Carl Sembach (c.1955)

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 A ubiquitous character of the post-war German circus, Hoppe (who had married five times) had managed mostly other peoples' circuses. After having been the administrator of [[The Althoff Dynasty|Dominik Althoff]]’s circus, he had married Althoff’s daughter Helene (the sister of [[Circus Williams|Carola]] and [[The Althoff Dynasty|Franz Althoff]]) and got control of her circus, which was renamed in 1940 [[Circus Helene Hoppe]]. Some surviving posters of Hoppe’s time at the helm of the Kronebau read "Krone presents Helene Hoppe Circus." (Ever the opportunist, Oskar is rumored to have proposed Frieda to divorce Carl Sembach and marry him in order to get back the control of her Kronebau!)
-Deprived of their circus and their Munich home, but not of their farm and their animals, the Sembachs survived as performers: They spent the 1946 season at [[Circus Franz Althoff]], where Frieda presented her high-school act and Carl, putting aside momentarily his wedding wows, presented Krone's tiger group. This situation didn't last a year: Their lawsuit finally demonstrated the non-involvement of the Krone enterprise in Nazi politics, and the family got back their circus building and their house. (Hoppe eventually got control of [[Circus Busch-Berlin]], the remnant of [[Paula Busch]]’s traveling circus&mdash;which would later merge with [[Circus Roland]]&mdash;then, in 1961, leased the Willy Hagenbeck title; he died in 1969, leaving the latter circus to his fifth wife, Ingrid.)
+Deprived of their circus and their Munich home, but not of their farm and their animals, the Sembachs survived as performers: They spent the 1946 season at [[Circus Franz Althoff]], where Frieda presented her high-school act and Carl, putting aside momentarily his wedding wows, presented Krone's tiger group. This situation didn't last a year: Their lawsuit finally demonstrated the non-involvement of the Krone enterprise in Nazi politics, and the family got back their circus building and their house. (Hoppe eventually got control of [[Circus Busch-Berlin]], the remnant of [[Paula Busch]]’s traveling circus&mdash;which would later merge with [[Circus Roland]]&mdash;then, in 1961, leased the ''Willy Hagenbeck'' title; he died in 1969, leaving the latter circus to his fifth wife, Ingrid.)
 By then, however, the Krones didn’t have enough resources to revive the Kronebau, let alone take their traveling circus on the road. In 1948 Carl and Frieda returned to the fairgrounds of their origins for Munich’s ''Autumn Festival'', which, since the beginning of the war, had replaced the Oktoberfest (which would be revived the following year). They improvised a menagerie, provided pony rides for children, and made good use of their animals in every possible way.

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 Ida Krone died peacefully in Munich on April 8, 1957, at age eighty-one. The circus reverted to her daughter, Frieda, who had in effect managed it since her father’s death, along with her husband, Carl Sembach. The couple had now entered a new era that saw a reshaping of the European circus scene with the fast development of old entertainment forms and the rise of new ones: Radio was thriving, television was expanding, and Hollywood movies were now spectacles in technicolor and cinemascope.
-In Germany, Franz Althoff had successfully revived the "hippodrome circus" formula after the Krone prewar model, reflecting the movie trends of the 1950s with Wild West presentations and "Roman games." In France, [[Cirque Pinder|Pinder]] began to combine circus and variety, featuring ice revues and popular singers, and the [[The Gruss Dynasty|Gruss]] brothers enjoyed a considerable success with their [[Radio-Circus]], which combined a first-rate circus show followed by the public recordings of the very popular Radio Luxembourg’s game shows. [[Jérôme Medrano]] in Paris, along with [[John Ringling North]] in the United States (and, of course, the Soviet circus) had been probably the first to attempt integrated creative concepts for their circus shows. In Spain, Arturo Castilla began to play with changing scenery, costume design and thematic productions.
+In Germany, Franz Althoff had successfully revived the "hippodrome circus" formula after the Krone prewar model, reflecting the movie trends of the 1950s with Wild West presentations and "Roman games." In France, [[Cirque Pinder|Pinder]] began to combine circus and variety, featuring ice revues and popular singers, and [[Lucien Jeannet]] and the [[The Gruss Dynasty|Gruss]] brothers enjoyed a considerable success with their [[Radio-Circus]], which combined a first-rate circus show followed by the public recordings of the very popular Radio Luxembourg’s game shows. [[Jérôme Medrano]] in Paris, along with [[John Ringling North]] in the United States (and, of course, the Soviet circus) had been probably the first to attempt integrated creative concepts for their circus shows. In Spain, Arturo Castilla began to play with changing scenery, costume design and thematic productions.
 [[File:Krone_Festival.jpg|thumb|left|400px|The Finale of ''Krone Festival'' (1955)]]It is in this context that, in 1955, Krone became the first European traveling circus to gather a professional creative team to stage a large-scale, seamless show concept, including its overall visual frame. The production’s title was ''Krone Festival'', and its theme was a visit to various festive celebrations around the world. The title was judiciously chosen: In the early 1950s, the term "festival" had begun to be widely associated with dance, music and film, and inferred artistic excellence and respectability.

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 ===Rebirth of A Giant===
-The afterwar saw a deep transformation of the German circus scene. All the giant circuses of the past had disappeared, as well all as the glorious circus buildings. Only the Kronebau had been rebuilt, and [[Circus Barlay|Harry Barlay]] had installed a permanent "construction" on the Friedrichstrasse in Berlin, but its existence was short-lived. Yet, like everywhere else in Europe, the post-war years proved a boon for the circus business, and about 150 small- or medium-sized traveling circuses were soon roaming the country&mdash;some of which would eventually be stuck in Soviet-controlled East Germany.
+The afterwar saw a deep transformation of the German circus scene. All the giant circuses of the past had disappeared, as well all as the glorious circus buildings. Only the Kronebau had been rebuilt, and [[Circus Barlay|Harry Barlay]] had installed a permanent "construction" on the Friedrichstrasse in Berlin, but its existence was short-lived. Yet, like everywhere else in Europe, the post-war years proved a boon to the circus business, and about 150 small- or medium-sized traveling circuses were soon roaming the country&mdash;some of which would eventually be stuck in Soviet-controlled East Germany.
 [[File:Tromba_Poster.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Poster for ''Tromba'' (1949)]]The [[The Althoff Dynasty|Althoffs]], Germany’s oldest and largest circus dynasty, which had remained active during most of the war years (even though they never adhered to the NSDAP), hit the road again with two circuses of outstanding quality: Franz Althoff's huge eponymous circus (which would be the only one to revive the pre-war three-ring practice), and his sister Carola's [[Circus Williams]], which she ran with her British/German husband, [[Circus Williams|Harry Williams]]. The Hagenbecks had also kept their operations alive. And now, at long last, the itinerant Circus Krone readied itself for the 1949 season.

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 File:Kronebau_Facade.jpg|The Kronebau's façade (c.1920)
 File:Circus_Krone_1924.jpg|Krone's 3-ring big top (1924)
 File:Krone_6-pole_tent.jpg|Krone's six-pole Big Top (1926)
 File:Circus_Krone.jpg|Circus Krone (1929)

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 The pioneering Sarrasani had begun to revive Barnum & Bailey and Buffalo Bill memories with its Wild West exhibitions and its American-style advertising (which it had already started in 1906, during the Buffalo Bill's Wild West’s last European tour). Whereas Krone had appeared for a while to simply follow in Sarrasani's footsteps, his new project was to reset the European circus industry's standards by further reviving the still vivid memories of the Barnum & Bailey’s European tours of two decades earlier.
-On August 29, 1924 in Augsburg, northwest of Munich, following rehearsals in Lausanne, Carl Krone premiered the first ever European three-ring circus. The huge four-pole tent of 52 x 85 meters contained a hippodrome track surrounding three rings where simultaneous displays were presented. Among its 71 displays, the program included no less than seven cage acts, with sixteen equestrian acts for good measure, among which a spectacular sixty-horse carousel. “Herrn Direcktor Carl Krone” presented his ever-growing herd of elephants, which would eventually reach twenty-seven heads. After the end of the performance, spectators were invited to watch the [[Stey Family]] performing outside the tent on the high wire.
+On August 29, 1924 in Augsburg, northwest of Munich, following rehearsals in Lausanne, Carl Krone premiered the first ever European three-ring circus. The huge four-pole tent of 52 x 85 meters contained a hippodrome track surrounding three rings where simultaneous displays were presented. Among its 71 displays, the program included no less than seven cage acts, with sixteen equestrian acts for good measure, among which a spectacular sixty-horse carousel. "Herr Direktor Carl Krone" presented his ever-growing herd of elephants, which would eventually reach twenty-seven heads. After the end of the performance, spectators were invited to watch the [[Stey Family]] performing outside the tent on the high wire.
 [[File:Krone_big_top_6_poles.jpg|thumb|left|400px|Circus Krone's revolutionary Big Top and its Monumental Façade (1930)]]Billed as ''The Greatest Show of the Continent'', Krone balanced American magnitude and European standards&mdash;in both animal presentations and the quality of other acts. European-style big top comfort also prevailed, with a large lobby tent behind the façade, and ten covered staircases all around the tent, leading to relatively comfortable bleachers. The gigantic, ever-growing menagerie (which was likely, at the time, the most complete in the circus world) was open all day and could be visited for an additional fee.
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 [[File:Krone_Program_1932.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Program Cover (1932)]]In 1929, the Heinrich Mack Company of Waldkirch, Germany’s premier coach builder, furnished Circus Krone with a new series of custom-designed wagons, including a luxurious living wagon for Carl and Ida Krone, and Carl purchased a new, revolutionary tent supported by four poles in square plus two poles in line at each end, which cleared the hippodrome of any obstruction (the circus was back to a simple three-ring format), and which was fronted the following year by a monumental "oriental," 120-meter-long façade, directly inspired by Sarrasani's.
-Krone’s three-ring format, its vast menagerie, and the success it obtained quickly inspired the competition: Popular circuses such as [[Circus Strassburger|Strassburger]], [[Circus Blumenfeld|Blumenfeld]] and the newcomer [[Circus Gleich|Gleich]], as well as the Czech [[Cirkus Kludsky|Kludsky]] (whose huge menagerie was even larger than Krone’s) converted to the three-ring format. Gleich and Kludsky would go bankrupt in the process; as for Strassburger and Blumenfeld, two enterprises owned by respected Jewish circus families, they didn’t survive the rise of Nazism.
+Krone’s three-ring format, its vast menagerie, and the success it obtained quickly inspired the competition: Popular circuses such as [[Circus Strassburger|Strassburger]], [[Circus Blumenfeld|Blumenfeld]] and the newcomer [[Circus Gleich|Gleich]], as well as the Czech [[Cirkus Kludsky|Kludsky]] (the huge menagerie of which was even larger than Krone’s) converted to the three-ring format. Gleich and Kludsky would go bankrupt in the process; as for Strassburger and Blumenfeld, two enterprises owned by respected Jewish circus families, they didn’t survive the rise of Nazism.
 However, the fiercest competition opposed Krone and Sarrasani: Their feud would become the stuff of legend. Their styles were different (the giant Sarrasani had pioneered the use of a four-pole-in-square, perfectly round big top with a single ring), but their shows rivalled in grandeur, and their menageries were comparable. French circus historian Henry Thétard listed Krone’s menagerie lineup in 1934: "250 horses or ponies, 27 elephants, 24 camels and dromedaries, 20 zebras, about thirty buffalos, bison and zebus, llamas, donkeys, antelopes, goats, 40 lions, 36 tigers, 54 bears, wolves, jackals, mastiffs, 2 hippos, 2 giraffes, 2 sea elephants, 12 sealions, about one hundred monkeys, many snakes and even more birds…"

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 File:Frieda_Krone_Elephants.jpeg|Frieda Sembach Krone (1961)
 File:Christel_Sembach_1961.jpg|Christel Krone Sembach (1961)
 File:Krone_Ed_Sullivan.jpg|E''Ed Sullivan Show'' at the Kronebau (1965)
 File:Kronebau_Poster_1966.jpg|Kronebau Poster (1966)

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 Jana and Martin eventually reached a better balanced solution, and it worked. In 2025, the huge, oversized circus tent was replaced by a "cathedral" big top, quarter-pole-free, even bigger than the previous one, but which contained an elaborately decorated foyer, a classical, elegant, and comfortable house without any pole inside, which resembled that of a traditional circus building, and a vast backstage area. The show was also revamped in a more traditional style, albeit with a special attention given to a staging that kept a decidedly modern flavor, but without looking too experimental. That time, it worked for its traditional audience and pleased a new generation as well.
-Meanwhile, Munich's Kronebau kept producing its winter shows with continuing success. Sarting in 2024, other Christmas shows were given concurrently, in Munich itself (at the fairgrounds of Rosenheim Loretowiese) and in other cities, such as Würzburg. In 2008, Jana had given birth to a son, Alexis-Henry Lacey Krone, thus solidly ensuring the continuity of Europe's oldest and most prestigious circus company.
+Meanwhile, Munich's Kronebau kept producing its winter shows with continuing success, although with only one production that runs the entire winter season. Sarting in 2024, other Christmas shows were given concurrently, in Munich itself (at the fairgrounds of Rosenheim Loretowiese) and in other cities, such as Würzburg. In 2008, Jana had given birth to a son, Alexis-Henry Lacey Krone, thus solidly ensuring the continuity of Europe's oldest and most prestigious circus company.
 ==Suggested Reading==

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 File:Krone_Cathedral.jpg|The "cathedral" new big top (2025)
 File:Circus_Krone_in_Munich.jpg|Circus Krone in Munich (2025)
 </Gallery>
 [[Category:Circuses|Krone Circus]][[Category:History|Krone Circus]]