Circus Medrano-Swoboda - Revision history

Djando: /* The Medrano Sisters */

2026-10-01T18:03:14Z

‎The Medrano Sisters

Djando: /* The Medrano Sisters */

2026-10-01T18:02:47Z

‎The Medrano Sisters

Djando: /* The Medrano Sisters */

2026-10-01T18:02:26Z

‎The Medrano Sisters

Djando: /* Zirkus Lajos */

2026-10-01T17:59:28Z

‎Zirkus Lajos

Djando: /* The Final Years */

2024-06-12T03:03:05Z

‎The Final Years

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2024-05-03T22:02:25Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2024-05-03T22:01:52Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2018-08-13T01:08:40Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2018-08-13T01:07:18Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2018-08-11T18:08:40Z

‎Image Gallery

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 ===The Medrano Sisters===
-[[File:Medrano_Sisters_-_Gaston_Paris.jpg|thumb|left|350px|The Medrano Sisters (1934)]]The Swoboda sisters were all trained as circus artists, but three of them, Reserl, Wanda and Anita, became famous in the circus world for their remarkable equestrian act, known as The Medrano Sisters. They had created it under the guidance of their mother and the German circus director [[Adolph Fischer]], and it premiered at Circus Medrano-Swoboda in 1933. When the circus rested in its Viennese winter quarters, the Medrano Sisters found engagements in Europe’s most prestigious circuses and variety theaters&mdash;but tellingly, they never appeared at the Cirque Medrano in Paris... Arguably, the stellar reputation of the Medrano Sisters did much in Western Europe for that of the Medrano-Swoboda Circus, whose travels had confined it mostly in Central and Eastern Europe.
+[[File:Medrano_Sisters_-_Gaston_Paris.jpg|thumb|left|350px|The Medrano Sisters (c.1933)]]The Swoboda sisters were all trained as circus artists, but three of them, Reserl, Wanda and Anita, became famous in the circus world for their remarkable equestrian act, known as The Medrano Sisters. They had created it under the guidance of their mother and the German circus director [[Adolph Fischer]], and it premiered at Circus Medrano-Swoboda in 1933. When the circus rested in its Viennese winter quarters, the Medrano Sisters found engagements in Europe’s most prestigious circuses and variety theaters&mdash;but tellingly, they never appeared at the Cirque Medrano in Paris... Arguably, the stellar reputation of the Medrano Sisters did much in Western Europe for that of the Medrano-Swoboda Circus, whose travels had confined it mostly in Central and Eastern Europe.
 During WWII, Circus Medrano-Swoboda continued its touring in the Axis countries, opening traditionally in Vienna at Easter. The Swobodas’ winter quarters were located on Engerthstrasse in Vienna, close to the railway station and the train depot, which was a convenient location for a circus traveling by rail. But in time of war, it was also a strategic location, and the winter quarters were destroyed in the 1944 bombings of Vienna by the Allied forces. Then, in 1945, the traveling circus found itself on the path of the Soviet troops advancing on Vienna: Wagons and horses had to be abandoned in a hurry.

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 ===The Medrano Sisters===
-[[File:Medrano_Sisters_-_Gaston_Paris.jpg|thumb|left|400px|The Medrano Sisters (1934)]]The Swoboda sisters were all trained as circus artists, but three of them, Reserl, Wanda and Anita, became famous in the circus world for their remarkable equestrian act, known as The Medrano Sisters. They had created it under the guidance of their mother and the German circus director [[Adolph Fischer]], and it premiered at Circus Medrano-Swoboda in 1933. When the circus rested in its Viennese winter quarters, the Medrano Sisters found engagements in Europe’s most prestigious circuses and variety theaters&mdash;but tellingly, they never appeared at the Cirque Medrano in Paris... Arguably, the stellar reputation of the Medrano Sisters did much in Western Europe for that of the Medrano-Swoboda Circus, whose travels had confined it mostly in Central and Eastern Europe.
+[[File:Medrano_Sisters_-_Gaston_Paris.jpg|thumb|left|350px|The Medrano Sisters (1934)]]The Swoboda sisters were all trained as circus artists, but three of them, Reserl, Wanda and Anita, became famous in the circus world for their remarkable equestrian act, known as The Medrano Sisters. They had created it under the guidance of their mother and the German circus director [[Adolph Fischer]], and it premiered at Circus Medrano-Swoboda in 1933. When the circus rested in its Viennese winter quarters, the Medrano Sisters found engagements in Europe’s most prestigious circuses and variety theaters&mdash;but tellingly, they never appeared at the Cirque Medrano in Paris... Arguably, the stellar reputation of the Medrano Sisters did much in Western Europe for that of the Medrano-Swoboda Circus, whose travels had confined it mostly in Central and Eastern Europe.
 During WWII, Circus Medrano-Swoboda continued its touring in the Axis countries, opening traditionally in Vienna at Easter. The Swobodas’ winter quarters were located on Engerthstrasse in Vienna, close to the railway station and the train depot, which was a convenient location for a circus traveling by rail. But in time of war, it was also a strategic location, and the winter quarters were destroyed in the 1944 bombings of Vienna by the Allied forces. Then, in 1945, the traveling circus found itself on the path of the Soviet troops advancing on Vienna: Wagons and horses had to be abandoned in a hurry.

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 ===The Medrano Sisters===
-[[File:The_Medrano_Sisters-1934.jpeg|thumb|left|400px|The Medrano Sisters (1934)]]The Swoboda sisters were all trained as circus artists, but three of them, Reserl, Wanda and Anita, became famous in the circus world for their remarkable equestrian act, known as The Medrano Sisters. They had created it under the guidance of their mother and the German circus director [[Adolph Fischer]], and it premiered at Circus Medrano-Swoboda in 1933. When the circus rested in its Viennese winter quarters, the Medrano Sisters found engagements in Europe’s most prestigious circuses and variety theaters&mdash;but tellingly, they never appeared at the Cirque Medrano in Paris... Arguably, the stellar reputation of the Medrano Sisters did much in Western Europe for that of the Medrano-Swoboda Circus, whose travels had confined it mostly in Central and Eastern Europe.
+[[File:Medrano_Sisters_-_Gaston_Paris.jpg|thumb|left|400px|The Medrano Sisters (1934)]]The Swoboda sisters were all trained as circus artists, but three of them, Reserl, Wanda and Anita, became famous in the circus world for their remarkable equestrian act, known as The Medrano Sisters. They had created it under the guidance of their mother and the German circus director [[Adolph Fischer]], and it premiered at Circus Medrano-Swoboda in 1933. When the circus rested in its Viennese winter quarters, the Medrano Sisters found engagements in Europe’s most prestigious circuses and variety theaters&mdash;but tellingly, they never appeared at the Cirque Medrano in Paris... Arguably, the stellar reputation of the Medrano Sisters did much in Western Europe for that of the Medrano-Swoboda Circus, whose travels had confined it mostly in Central and Eastern Europe.
 During WWII, Circus Medrano-Swoboda continued its touring in the Axis countries, opening traditionally in Vienna at Easter. The Swobodas’ winter quarters were located on Engerthstrasse in Vienna, close to the railway station and the train depot, which was a convenient location for a circus traveling by rail. But in time of war, it was also a strategic location, and the winter quarters were destroyed in the 1944 bombings of Vienna by the Allied forces. Then, in 1945, the traveling circus found itself on the path of the Soviet troops advancing on Vienna: Wagons and horses had to be abandoned in a hurry.

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 Its founder, Ludwig Swoboda (1881-1952), was born on December 9, 1881 in Dürnbach, Burgenland, in what was then the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Dürnbach became part of Austria in 1918). His parents were of Czechoslovakian descent and although they didn’t come from a circus family, they owned a small circus that traveled in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They always called Ludwig, who was born in the family’s horse-drawn living wagon, Lajos&mdash;the Hungarian equivalent of his German name.
-Ludwig received a traditional circus education within his family and was trained in all facets of circus arts, from tumbling to equestrianism. He grew into an ambitious young man and, at twenty-three, he decided to run his own circus. ''Zirkus Lajos'', as he called it, opened in Vienna on June 3, 1904. It was not yet an important enterprise when Ludwig Swoboda married Therese Karfiol (1893-1971) on January 16, 1912 in Vienna. Therese was fifth-generation of an old family of comedians and entertainers, allied to the Czech Berosini circus family; she was an equestrienne and she knew the circus business in and out. Therese would be instrumental in the management and development of her husband’s circus.
+Ludwig received a traditional circus education within his family and was trained in all facets of circus arts, from tumbling to equestrianism. He grew into an ambitious young man and, at twenty-three, he decided to run his own circus. ''Zirkus Lajos'', as he called it, opened in Vienna on June 3, 1904. It was not yet an important enterprise when Ludwig Swoboda married Therese Karfiol (1893-1971) on January 16, 1912 in Vienna. Therese was fifth-generation of an old family of comedians and entertainers, allied to the Czech Berousek (Berosini) circus family; she was an equestrienne and she knew the circus business in and out. Therese would be instrumental in the management and development of her husband’s circus.
 In 1914, at the outset of the First World War, Ludwig was drafted into the Imperial Army and the circus went into a long hibernation. The war over, Zirkus Lajos finally reopened; the year was 1919, and it started its tour in its home city of Vienna, where it played during the Easter season. After the deadly conflict that had devastated Europe, popular entertainment was much in demand, and circuses were flourishing; under the management of Ludwig and Therese Swoboda, Zirkus Lajos was no exception, and by 1920, it performed under a large, two-pole big top and was one of Austria’s largest circuses.

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 ===The Final Years===
-[[File:Circus_Medrano-Swoboda_-_Berlin_1956.jpeg|thumb|right|420px|Circus Medrano in Berlin (1956)]]The equipment returned to Viareggio, Italy, where Anita and her mother lived. The sisters began to rent their name and material to various Italian circus operators, who took it on tour. In 1959, Circus Medrano "borrowed" the name of ''Radio Circus'', another famous French title used by the [[Cirque Gruss-Jeannet|Gruss-Jeannet]] circus. In the fifties, Radio Luxembourg (today, RTL) recorded its most popular game shows in front of the Radio Circus's audiences during the second half of the show, attracting huge crowds of listeners under the big top. Nothing similar at the Italian Radio Circus: Its drawing cards were simply a well-known actress, Pina Renzi, and a famous singer, Luciano Tajoli. Yet a borrowed name and radio personalities don’t make the success of a circus show, and the enterprise was short-lived.
+[[File:Circus_Medrano-Swoboda_-_Berlin_1956.jpeg|thumb|right|420px|Circus Medrano in Berlin (1956)]]The equipment returned to Viareggio, Italy, where Anita and her mother lived. The sisters began to rent their name and material to various Italian circus operators, who took it on tour. In 1959, Circus Medrano "borrowed" the name of ''Radio Circus'', another famous French title used by the [[Cirque Gruss-Jeannet|Gruss-Jeannet]] circus. In the fifties, Radio Luxembourg (today, RTL) recorded its most popular game shows in front of the Radio Circus's audiences during the second half of the show, attracting huge crowds of listeners under the big top. Nothing similar at the Italian Radio Circus: Its drawing cards were simply a well-known actress, Pina Renzi, and a famous singer, Luciano Tajoli. Yet a borrowed name and radio personalities do not the success of a circus show make, and the enterprise was short-lived.
 Then, from 1960 to 1962, Medrano-Swoboda stayed in its winter quarters. In 1963, the Swoboda sisters tried to revive the company, first as ''Circus Hellas'', in association with [[Moira Orfei]] and [[Walter Nones]], and then again under the Medrano title. The circus resumed its tours of Eastern and Southern Europe, with more or less success&mdash;generally less, and by the end of 1968, the circus was again bankrupt. It was stranded in, of all places, Austria! The sisters had to sell all their equipment.

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 <Gallery>
-File:Medrano_Sisters_-_Gaston_Paris.jpg|The Medrano Sisters (c.1930)
+File:Medrano_Sisters_-_Gaston_Paris.jpg|The Medrano Sisters (c.1933)
 File:The_Medrano_Sisters-1934.jpeg|The Medrano Sisters (1934)
 File:Medrano_Sisters.jpeg|The Medrano Sisters (1934)

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 File:The_Medrano_Sisters-1934.jpeg|The Medrano Sisters (1934)
 File:Ludwig_Swoboda_and_Artists.jpeg|Ludwig Swoboda and Performers (1935)
-File:Medrano_Sisters.jpeg|The Medrano Sisters (c.1935)
+File:Medrano_Sisters.jpeg|The Medrano Sisters (1934)
 File:Medrano-Swoboda-1936.jpeg|Circus Medrano in 1936
 File:Medrano-Swoboda_1949.jpeg|Circus Medrano in Vienna (1949)