Circus Medrano-Swoboda - Revision history

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‎The Final Years

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‎The Final Years

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‎Circus Medrano aus Wien

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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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 <Gallery>
 File:The_Medrano_Sisters-1934.jpeg|The Medrano Sisters (1934)
 File:Medrano_Sisters.jpeg|The Medrano Sisters (1934)

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 <Gallery>
 File:The_Medrano_Sisters-1934.jpeg|The Medrano Sisters (1934)
 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)

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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)

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 The Austrian press commented heavily on the tragic fate of what had once been Austria’s premier circus. Taking advantage of this free publicity, the Swoboda sisters made a last-ditch effort to revive Circus Medrano; with the help of German circus owner [[Werner Zinnecker]], who provided the tent, equipment, and animals of his [[Circus Europa]], they reopened in Vienna on October 20, 1968 at the Schwendermarkt&mdash;not far from where their winter quarters had once stood.  The Viennese engagement was financially successful, and the sisters resumed their Austrian tour in 1969. But, out of Vienna, the name Medrano had evidently lost its appeal, and the tour was another financial disaster. ''Circus Medrano aus Wien'' gave its final performance on August 30, 1969.
-Therese Swoboda passed away on March 24, 1971 in Viareggio, in the home of her daughter Anita. In 1972, Hella Swoboda-Medini and her husband eventually sold the title ''Medrano'' to the successful Italian circus director [[The Casartelli Family|Leonida Casartelli]]. Circo Medrano (now known in the business as Medrano-Casartelli), resumed its international tours, and has remained since one of Italy’s premier circuses.
+Therese Swoboda passed away on March 24, 1971 in Viareggio, in the home of her daughter Anita. In 1972, Hella Swoboda-Medini and her husband eventually sold the title ''Medrano'' to the successful Italian circus director [[The Casartelli Family|Leonida Casartelli]]. Circo Medrano (now known in the business as Medrano-Casartelli), resumed its international tours, and became one of Italy’s premier circuses.
 ==Image Gallery==

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 Austria, however, had become a much smaller country, and the Swobodas began to expand their tours to Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia and the Balkans. It was for their first visit to Poland, in 1920, that Therese Swoboda decided to rename their circus, ''Circus Medrano aus Wien'' (Circus Medrano from Vienna): Right after the war, Zirkus Lajos sounded a little too Austro-Hungarian for a visit to Poland. It didn't seem to matter that [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Medrano]] was already a very famous and respected name in the circus world; but being that of a Parisian resident circus, which performed exclusively (at the time) in the French capital, it had only been heard of, but never seen, outside France&mdash;neither, for that matter, outside Paris.
-[[File:Ludwig_Swoboda_and_Artists.jpeg|thumb|right|400px|Ludwig Swoboda (in white tie) and Performers (1935)]]Furthermore, the name sounded good&mdash;neither French, German, nor Hungarian: Medrano is in actuality a Spanish name&mdash;and in Austria, it had this vague aura of international fame. So it seemed a good choice, and Zirkus Lajos henceforth became known as Circus Medrano. It  would be referred to in the business  as ''Medrano-Swoboda'', to differentiate it from its famous French homonym. [[Jérôme Medrano]], director of the original Cirque Medrano in Paris, tried on many occasions to protect the use of his name outside France, but European countries didn't have many legal agreements with each other at the time, and his efforts never met with success.
+[[File:Ludwig_Swoboda_and_Artists.jpeg|thumb|right|400px|Ludwig Swoboda (in white tie) and Performers (1935)]]Furthermore, the name sounded good&mdash;neither French, German, nor Hungarian: Medrano is in fact a Spanish name&mdash;and in Austria, it had this vague aura of international fame. So it seemed a good choice, and Zirkus Lajos henceforth became known as Circus Medrano. It  would be referred to in the business  as ''Medrano-Swoboda'', to differentiate it from its famous French homonym. [[Jérôme Medrano]], director of the original Cirque Medrano in Paris, tried on many occasions to protect the use of his name outside France, but European countries didn't have many legal agreements with each other at the time, and his efforts remained unsuccessful.
 While Zirkus Lajos, and then Circus Medrano, prospered, Ludwig and Therese Swoboda produced six children, all girls. The elder, Therese, (known as Reserl) was born August 19, 1911. She married the juggler [[Rob Carry]] (Robert Hiebner) in 1938, and together they had two sons, Robert (known as Peter, born October 6, 1940) and Alfred (born July 10, 1942). Their second daughter, Wanda was born August 28, 1913; she married the Italian equestrian and clown [[Davide Belley]], with whom she had three children, Silvia (born May 23, 1941), Renate (May 23, 1942), and Wanda (born March 6, 1946). Her sister, Stefanie, was born September 25, 1914; she married in 1938 the icarist Nicolas (Kola) Karpi. Sadly, Stefanie died in Berlin on February 20, 1941, after having given birth to twins. The fourth sister, Anita, was born September 9, 1918, and married the Italian painter Vincenze Monti. Then, Helene, known as Hella, was born March 31, 1920. She also married an Italian, [[The Medini Family|Renato Medini]], a versatile circus performer and jack-of-all-trades, on September 26, 1946. Together they had two children, Clarissa (born December 24, 1950) and Mario (born December 17, 1951). Finally, the last of the six sisters, Krimhilde (known as Tulli) was born July 17, 1935. She married an American, of whom little has been recorded.