Julius Gleich - Revision history

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2024-12-13T21:11:31Z

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Djando at 19:05, 6 May 2024

2024-05-06T19:05:19Z

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2024-05-06T19:04:07Z

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Djando: /* The Giant Circus Gleich */

2015-12-14T17:43:13Z

‎The Giant Circus Gleich

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2015-03-01T22:18:23Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* The Giant Circus Gleich */

2015-03-01T20:49:36Z

‎The Giant Circus Gleich

Djando: /* The Giant Circus Gleich */

2015-03-01T20:49:13Z

‎The Giant Circus Gleich

Djando: /* The Giant Circus Gleich */

2015-03-01T20:48:43Z

‎The Giant Circus Gleich

Djando: /* Circus Henny */

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‎Circus Henny

Djando: /* The Giant Circus Gleich */

2015-03-01T20:44:10Z

‎The Giant Circus Gleich

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 File:Gleich_Advertising.jpg|Circus Gleich advertising van by M. & J. Vesque (1933)
 File:Circus_Gleich_1933.jpeg|Circus Gleich by M. & J. Vesque (1933)
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 [[Category:Circus Owners and Directors|Gleich, Julius]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:05, 6 May 2024
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 File:Circus_Gleich_Clowns.jpg|Clown Farandole (1932)
 File:Circus_Gleich_in_Paris.jpg|Circus Gleich by M. & J. Vesque (1933)
 File:Circus_Gleich_1933.jpeg|Circus Gleich by M. & J. Vesque (1933)
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 [[Category:Circus Owners and Directors|Gleich, Julius]]

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 ===The Giant Circus Gleich===
-[[File:Circus_Gleich_in_Paris.jpg|thumb|left|350px|Circus Gleich in Paris (1933)]]In 1924 the circus finally took the name of Circus Gleich, and was soon touring with a huge four-pole big top in a "hippodrome" format. Julius Gleich was following in the footsteps of [[Circus Krone]], which, one year earlier, had adopted the American three-ring format. Gleich, however, better adapted the system to the European taste; he used the three rings sporadically, instead presenting most of his show on an elongated hippodrome with a single ring in its center. This gave the possibility either to focus on single displays, to present multiple acts simultaneously, or to use the full hippodrome for big spectacles. (After WWII, this hybrid system was reintroduced in Germany by [[Franz Althoff]] and in Italy by the giant [[The Togni Family|Togni]] circuses).
+[[File:Circus_Gleich_in_Paris.jpg|thumb|left|400px|Circus Gleich in Paris (1933)]]In 1924 the circus finally took the name of Circus Gleich, and was soon touring with a huge four-pole big top in a "hippodrome" format. Julius Gleich was following in the footsteps of [[Circus Krone]], which, one year earlier, had adopted the American three-ring format. Gleich, however, better adapted the system to the European taste; he used the three rings sporadically, instead presenting most of his show on an elongated hippodrome with a single ring in its center. This gave the possibility either to focus on single displays, to present multiple acts simultaneously, or to use the full hippodrome for big spectacles. (After WWII, this hybrid system was reintroduced in Germany by [[Franz Althoff]] and in Italy by the giant [[The Togni Family|Togni]] circuses).
 Circus Gleich reached the apogee of its size and success between 1928 and 1933. It visited France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, traveling on two or three special trains, which was the usual means of locomotion for the large circuses of that era in Europe. Circuses were then a strong propaganda tool for Nazi Germany abroad, and Gleich was a Germany-based circus. In Italy, Circus Gleich presented its show in the main building of the Fiera Campionaria, Milan’s fairground, before the Fascist authorities. Pictures of the period also show Benito Mussolini presiding social gatherings in Rome inside Gleich’s big top.

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 File:Gleich_Company_(c.1930).jpeg|Circus Gleich's Company (c.1930)
 File:Gleich_Setup.jpg|Circus Gleich's setup in Vienna (1932)
 File:Circus_Gleich_Clowns.jpg|Clown Farandole (1932)
 File:Circus_Gleich_in_Paris.jpg|Circus Gleich by M. & J. Vesque (1933)

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 Its founder, Julius Gleich (1886-1951), was born in Austria, the son of a metal turner. He apparently entered the circus world as a musician. In the biography published later by his circus’s Press Department, it was said that he had been in the United States at a young age, where he had been exposed to the American giant three-ring circuses, and then returned to Europe, purchased a cart and two horses, and started his own business.
-More historically grounded is Julius Gleich's presence in the 1910s as a bandleader in prominent traveling circuses of the era, such as the Czech [[Circus Kludsky]] or the German [[The Blumenfeld Dynasty|Circus Blumenfeld]]. Gleich eventually married Karola Häni (b.1894), one of the five Häni sisters, who belonged to a well-known Swiss circus family. (One of them, Lydia, was the mother of the auguste [[Andreff]]; another, Mary, the grandmother of the auguste [[Gaston]] Häni&mdash;two of the greatest Swiss clowns.)
+More historically grounded is Julius Gleich's presence in the 1910s as a bandleader in prominent traveling circuses of the era, such as the Czech [[Circus Kludsky]] or the German [[The Blumenfeld Dynasty|Circus Blumenfeld]]. Gleich eventually married Karola Häni (b.1894), one of the five Häni sisters, who belonged to a well-known Swiss circus family. (One of Karola's sisters, Lydia, was the mother of the auguste [[Andreff]]; another, Mary, the grandmother of the auguste [[Gaston]] Häni&mdash;two of the greatest Swiss clowns.)
 The Häni family ran the ''Grand Cirque Bernois'' in Switzerland at the turn of 20th century; in the 1910s, it became ''Zirkus Blumenfeld & Hänni'', and ''Circus Henny'' (the first of the name) by the end of the decade. It is at that point that Julius Gleich joined his wife’s family business; he became the director of Circus Henny in 1919. In 1922, Gleich renamed his two-pole circus, ''European Barnum & Bailey''&mdash;with the word ''European'' in very small letters on the circus façade.  About twenty years after ''The Greatest Show On Earth''’s European tour, many German and Austrian circuses began exploiting&mdash;sometimes quite naively as demonstrated by Gleich&mdash;their audiences’ still vivid memories of that event.

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 [[File:Gleich_program_1928.jpeg|thumb|left|200px|Program Cover (1928)]]In 1924 the circus finally took the name of Circus Gleich, and was soon touring with a huge four-pole big top in a "hippodrome" format. Julius Gleich was following in the footsteps of [[Circus Krone]], which, one year earlier, had adopted the American three-ring format. Gleich, however, better adapted the system to the European taste; he used the three rings sporadically, instead presenting most of his show on an elongated hippodrome with a single ring in its center. This gave the possibility either to focus on single displays, to present multiple acts simultaneously, or to use the full hippodrome for big spectacles. (After WWII, this hybrid system was reintroduced in Germany by [[Franz Althoff]] and in Italy by the giant [[The Togni Family|Togni]] circuses).
-Circus Gleich reached the apogee of its size and success between 1928 and 1933. It visited France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, traveling on two or three special trains, which was the usual means of locomotion for the large circuses of that era in Europe. Circuses were then a strong propaganda tool for Nazi Germany abroad, and Gleich was a Germany-based circus. In Italy, Circus Gleich presented its show in the main building of the Fiera Campionaria, Milan’s fairground, before the Fascist authorities. Pictures of the period also show Benito Mussolini presiding social gatherings in Rome inside Gleich’s big top.
+Circus Gleich reached the apogee of its size and success between 1928 and 1933. It visited France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, traveling on two or three special trains, which was the usual means of locomotion for the large circuses of that era in Europe. Circuses were then a strong propaganda tool for Nazi Germany abroad, and Gleich was a Germany-based circus. In Italy, Circus Gleich presented its show in the main building of the Fiera Campionaria, Milan’s fairground, before the Fascist authorities. Pictures of the period also show Benito Mussolini presiding social gatherings in Rome inside Gleich’s big top.
 Even though it didn’t reach the size and menagerie content of some giant German circuses like Krone (if one is wise enough not to give too much credence to the overblown figures stated in Gleich’s publicity materials), period photographs show that Gleich’s big top could indeed hold several thousands of spectators, and its collection of animals was quite interesting, especially by today’s standards; around 1930, it travelled with about 100 horses, and a menagerie nearing 150 animals of various species.