Cirkus Kludsky - Revision history

Djando: /* The Kludský Dynasty */

2025-12-09T01:49:01Z

‎The Kludský Dynasty

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2024-09-07T21:05:51Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2024-09-07T21:05:26Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2024-05-07T05:50:50Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando at 05:42, 16 July 2023

2023-07-16T05:42:40Z

Djando: /* Epilogue */

2020-04-19T21:20:51Z

‎Epilogue

Djando: /* Karel Kludský I (1864-1927) */

2020-04-19T21:19:29Z

‎Karel Kludský I (1864-1927)

Djando: /* The End of the Road */

2020-01-01T18:59:05Z

‎The End of the Road

Djando: /* Karel Kludský I (1864-1927) */

2016-08-15T17:36:22Z

‎Karel Kludský I (1864-1927)

Djando: /* The Kludský Dynasty */

2016-08-15T17:31:01Z

‎The Kludský Dynasty

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 [[File:Antonin_Kludsky.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Antonin Kludsky]]He was followed in 1820 by another Josef Kludský&mdash;this one from Mačice, near Bukovník, in the Sušice Region&mdash;who ran a mechanical theater and organized firework displays. A third Josef Kludský, from Bavorov, in the Strakonice District, tagged on; since 1846, he had traveled with his ropewalking troupe and a carousel. These three Josef Kludskýs were related, and all lived in the South Bohemian region of the Czech Kingdom. The Kludský family was large and widespread; over the years other members of the family ran traveling menageries, carousels, cinematographs, acrobatic troupes, and various traveling entertainments.
-The founder of the circus dynasty itself is considered to be Antonín Václav Kludský (1826-1895) of Bukovník, a traveling puppeteer and, later, the owner of carousels and a menagerie. He and his wife Maria (1832-1909) had twenty children, all boys&mdash;several of whom eventually became circus owners. Antonín had been granted a puppeteer license in 1852; he later bought a carousel and, in 1874, he acquired the famous Kreutsberg Menagerie of Leipzig, after the death of its owner, Gottlieb Kreutzberg, who had been killed by his tigers. The so-formed Kludský menagerie became the Czech Kingdom’s largest (as reflected by contemporary posters).
+The founder of the circus dynasty itself is considered to be Antonín Václav Kludský (1826-1895) of Bukovník, a traveling puppeteer and, later, the owner of carousels and a menagerie. He and his wife Maria (1832-1909) had twenty children, all boys&mdash;several of whom eventually became circus owners. Antonín had been granted a puppeteer license in 1852; he later bought a carousel and, in 1874, he acquired the famous Kreutsberg Menagerie of Leipzig, after the death of its owner, Gottlieb Kreutzberg (1810-1874), who had been killed by his tigers. The so-formed Kludský menagerie became the Czech Kingdom’s largest (as reflected by contemporary posters).
 The menagerie was very successful, and in time, Antonín passed its actual management onto his elder son, Antonín Junior (1855?-1891), who became the principal shareholder of a combine whose ownership was divided between the Kludský brothers. Now a thriving entrepreneur, Antonín Senior had sent his other sons to school or encouraged them to find other lines of employment. One of them, Karel, was destined to become a priest and went to study theology in Hradec Králové.

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 File:Rudolf_Kludsky_(1925).jpeg|Rudolf Kludsky (1925)
 File:Villa_Kludsky_(c1925).jpeg|Villa Kludsky (c.1925)
-File:Kludsky_elephant_postcard.jp|Promotional Postcard (c.1925)
+File:Kludsky_elephant_postcard.jpg|Promotional Postcard (c.1925)
 File:Kludsky_Big_Top_(1925).jpeg|Circus Kludsky in 1925
 File:Kludsky_Poster.jpeg|Kludsky Poster (c.1929)

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 File:Rudolf_Kludsky_(1925).jpeg|Rudolf Kludsky (1925)
 File:Villa_Kludsky_(c1925).jpeg|Villa Kludsky (c.1925)
 File:Kludsky_Big_Top_(1925).jpeg|Circus Kludsky in 1925
 File:Kludsky_Poster.jpeg|Kludsky Poster (c.1929)

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 File:Kludsky_Big_Top_(1925).jpeg|Circus Kludsky in 1925
 File:Kludsky_Poster.jpeg|Kludsky Poster (c.1929)
 File:Kludsky_Family.jpeg|Circus Kludsky Program (c.1930)
 File:Rudolf_Kludsky_(1931).jpeg|Rudolf Kludsky (1931)

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 In 1929, when Cirkus Kludsky was invited to perform in Rome, Italy, for a run of fifty-two days, more than 600,000 spectators attended its performances. This gigantic organization belonged to the Czech Kludský family, and had been created before WWI by Karel Kludský (Carl Kludsky, as he became known in the West-European circus business). From humble beginnings, Karel Kludský had managed to build one of the biggest traveling circuses in Europe, which was subsequently continued and improved by his sons.
-[[File:Kludsky_Poster.jpeg|right|300px]]
+[[File:Kludsky_Poster.jpeg|right|400px]]
 ===The Kludský Dynasty===

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 In 1951, the Czech circuses were nationalized and set up into a ''State Circus, Variety and Fairground Organization''. The new State company possessed itself of the name of Cirkus Kludský, among many other former circus titles, and seized the equipment of existing circuses. Privately owned circuses disappeared, and the circus industry fell into the hands of indifferent bureaucrats. Many artists went to seek employment in West-European countries.
-[[File:Villa_Kludsky_(2010).jpeg|thumb|left|360px|The Villa Kludsky in 2010]]Nonetheless, the vast Kludský family provided artists who performed with success at home in the State circuses, as well as abroad. Among them, the 6 Kludskýs and their unicycle act, and the sisters Alice, Edith, and Dagmar Kludský, who worked with their mother, Božena, in a dancing act, presented trained pigeons, and had a Cowgirl act which they performed in variety theaters and nightclubs.  After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Bohumil Kludský (b.1944), tried to launch a new Circus Kludský, but unfortunately the experiment was short-lived.
+[[File:Villa_Kludsky_(2010).jpeg|thumb|left|400px|The Villa Kludsky in 2010]]Nonetheless, the vast Kludský family provided artists who performed with success at home in the State circuses, as well as abroad. Among them, the 6 Kludskýs and their unicycle act, and the sisters Alice, Edith, and Dagmar Kludský, who worked with their mother, Božena, in a dancing act, presented trained pigeons, and had a Cowgirl act which they performed in variety theaters and nightclubs.  After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Bohumil Kludský (b.1944), tried to launch a new Circus Kludský, but unfortunately the experiment was short-lived.
 Other projects such as a "Kludský Amusement Park" or a Hall of Fame called ''Kludskea'' in the National Museum failed to take shape, but there are still members of the Kludský family in the circus today&mdash;such as the equestrian David Kludský, and the chimpanzee and elephant trainer [[Georg and Yvonne Kludsky|Georg Kludský]] (the twin brother of Bohumil), who lives in Spain. Dagmar Kludská, a daughter of Josef Kludský (one of Antonín’s many grandsons) is a well-known astrologist, fortuneteller, and author; and the famous Czech pop singer Michal David also comes from the Kludský dynasty.

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 ===Karel Kludský I (1864-1927)===
-[[File:Karel_Kludsky_Sr_(1925).jpeg|thumb|right|350px|Karel Kludsky, Sr.]]Born December 17, 1864 in the small village of Bukovník, near Sušice in the Šumava region, Karel Kludský is the true founder of Cirkus Kludský. It is he who transformed the menagerie into a circus, and led it to European prominence. The key to his success was a fearless entrepreneurial spirit and his will to try innovations in his approaches to performance and animal training.
+[[File:Karel_Kludsky_Sr_(1925).jpeg|thumb|right|400px|Karel Kludsky, Sr.]]Born December 17, 1864 in the small village of Bukovník, near Sušice in the Šumava region, Karel Kludský is the true founder of Cirkus Kludský. It is he who transformed the menagerie into a circus, and led it to European prominence. The key to his success was a fearless entrepreneurial spirit and his will to try innovations in his approaches to performance and animal training.
 One of his most specific and long-lasting legacies, however, was his hiring circus workers in his native Šumava region (the Bohemian Forest, located at the border of the Czech Kingdom with Bavaria and Austria). They were hard-working people, lumberjacks for the most part, who proved particularly apt at tent rigging, and often doubled as excellent circus musicians. These qualities soon attracted other major European circuses such as [[Circus Krone|Krone]], [[Circus Sarrasani|Sarrasani]], [[Julius Gleich|Gleich]], [[The Hagenbeck Dynasty|Hagenbeck]] and others, which followed Kludský’s model. It was these Bohemian workers who originated the term ''tcheco'' which, in European circus lingo, means "circus worker."

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 Karel tried to perform for a while as a horse trainer in another Circus Kludský that belonged to his cousins, but unfortunately the experience was not successful. After the War, in 1948, Czechoslovakia began a long, forty-year period of communist regime. The Villa Kludský in Jirkov was confiscated and used as headquarters for the local military garrison, and Karel and his wife Elsa (they were childless) were forced to leave their home of more than twenty years.
-Karel Kludský was persecuted by the new regime, and went on to work as porter in a sawmill. He and Elsa moved into a small house in the nearby village of Vinařice, in the courtyard of which they parked their old, luxurious caravan.[[File:Karel_Kludsky_in_Vinarice.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Karel Kludsky in Vinařice (c.1965)]] This caravan, which had been a spectacular symbol of their circus status, had been custom-built in Hanover by a German company called Buschbaum. It is in this caravan that they actually took residence, remembering the lost glory of another era. The great animal trainer had now just a few dogs, but he couldn't resist training them for fun.
+Karel Kludský was persecuted by the new regime, and went on to work as porter in a sawmill. He and Elsa moved into a small house in the nearby village of Vinařice, in the courtyard of which they parked their old, luxurious caravan.[[File:Karel_Kludsky_in_Vinarice.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Karel Kludsky in Vinařice (c.1965)]] This caravan, which had been a spectacular symbol of their circus status, had been custom-built in Hanover by a German company called Buschbaum. It is in this caravan that they actually took residence, remembering the lost glory of another era. The great animal trainer had now just a few dogs, but he couldn't resist training them for fun.
 Although he received a job offer from the Prague Zoo, he rejected it because he didn't want to live anywhere else than in his caravan. His small pension was not enough to survive properly however. Karel and Elsa were not gardeners and thus were not able to improve their situation as other villagers did; yet from time to time someone stopped by, bringing them produce, or some cooked dishes, or a piece of cake&mdash;even some clothing. And whenever a circus came around, the performers raised money for the old circus king who still had the respect of the profession.

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 In 1902, Karel acquired the horses of [[Circus Wulff]], whose owner, Eduard Wulff, had filed for bankruptcy, and he added a full-fledged circus to his traveling menagerie with the additional purchase of the German circus [[Circus Enders|Enders]]’s equipment. Like many traveling menagerie owners who converted to circus around the same period ([[Circus Krone|Carl Krone]] and [[Circus Sarrasani|Hans Stosch-Sarrasani]] among them), Karel’s inspiration was the giant American circus [[Barnum & Bailey]], which visited Prague in 1901, with its colossal menagerie in tow, during its five-year European tour of 1897-1902. Karel Kludský also became a remarkable animal trainer, working indifferently with tigers, lions, hyenas, bears, elephants, and all sorts of exotic animals. For decades, Cirkus Kludský provided animal acts for some of Europe’s major animal trainers and circuses.
-Despite its increasing success, Cirkus Kludský (whose title was often ''Grand Cirque Kludsky'', in French&mdash;after the fashion of the time) had its share of problems. Traveling circuses’ worst enemies are bad weather, war, and in the case of Cirkus Kludský, the poisoning of its animals. Its big top was destroyed several times, notably twice in 1906, in storms in Rijeka, in Croatia, and in Trieste (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), and later in a snowstorm in Trento (Italy) in 1911. But that was nothing compared to the string of poisoning that occurred in the menagerie in 1902, and continued unsolved for ten years until Karel finally decided to lay off all his employees and to hire a new staff!
+Despite its increasing success, Cirkus Kludský (whose title was often ''Grand Cirque Kludsky'', in French&mdash;after the fashion of the time) had its share of problems. Traveling circuses’ worst enemies are bad weather, war, and in the case of Cirkus Kludský, the poisoning of its animals. Its big top was destroyed several times, notably twice in 1906, in storms in Rijeka, in Croatia, and in Trieste (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), and later in a snowstorm in Trento (Italy) in 1911. But that was nothing compared to the string of poisoning that occurred in the menagerie in 1902, and continued unsolved for ten years until Karel finally decided to lay off all his employees and hire a new staff!
 [[File:Kludsky_Portraits.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Karel, Jr., Karel, Sr., and Rudolf Kludsky]]The First World War also hurt the circus considerably: Its performers and staff enlisted, the Army took the circus’s horses away, and there was a food shortage that made it difficult to feed the people, let alone the animals. The star elephant Baby, who weighed 6,600 pounds (metric) in 1914, weighed less than three tons (metric) at the end of the war. Of 400 animals in the Kludský menagerie, just sixteen survived the war.It was not enough to discourage Karel however and, the war over, he and his sons patiently rebuilt their circus step-by-step, until it finally reached its pre-war level in 1922.

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 ===The Kludský Dynasty===
-According to family lore, the founder of the Kludský Dynasty was an adjutant to the Polish King, Jan Sobiesky (1629-1696), who saved Vienna from the Turkish invasion in 1683. (The Czech Kingdom&mdash;or Kingdom of Bohemia&mdash;was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.) Whether the legend is true or not, the Kludskýs eventually became a family of traveling entertainers.
+According to family lore, the founder of the Kludský Dynasty was an adjutant to Jan Sobiesky (1629-1696), the Polish King who saved Vienna from the Turkish invasion in 1683. (The Czech Kingdom&mdash;or Kingdom of Bohemia&mdash;was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.) Whether the legend is true or not, the Kludskýs eventually became a family of traveling entertainers.
 The Ottoman Empire had remained at odds with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and other Western European countries until its defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, and its ensuing rapid decline. Therefore, traveling entertainers from the Austro-Hungarian Empire (and the Holy Roman Empire in general) were not authorized to perform farther than Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). The first member of the Kludský dynasty who demonstrably obtained this authorization was Josef Kludský, from the village of Strážovice in South Bohemia, in 1789.