Oskar Hoppe - Revision history

Djando: /* The Paula Busch Affair */

2026-05-31T02:26:43Z

‎The Paula Busch Affair

Djando: /* Post-War Missed Opportunities */

2022-02-18T23:24:13Z

‎Post-War Missed Opportunities

Djando: /* Post-War Missed Opportunities */

2021-02-23T01:31:27Z

‎Post-War Missed Opportunities

Djando: /* Circus Director */

2021-02-23T01:27:27Z

‎Circus Director

Djando: /* Beginnings */

2021-02-23T01:25:42Z

‎Beginnings

Djando: /* Willy Hagenbeck's Struggles */

2020-09-22T23:55:41Z

‎Willy Hagenbeck's Struggles

Djando: /* The Paula Busch Affair */

2020-09-22T23:54:59Z

‎The Paula Busch Affair

Djando: /* Willy Hagenbeck's Struggles */

2020-09-22T23:54:06Z

‎Willy Hagenbeck's Struggles

Djando: /* The Paula Busch Affair */

2020-09-22T23:52:40Z

‎The Paula Busch Affair

Djando: /* The Paula Busch Affair */

2020-09-22T23:50:19Z

‎The Paula Busch Affair

@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 In the early 1950s, even though she had lost her entertainment empire, [[Paula Busch]] (1894-1973) was still considered the ''Grande Dame'' of the German circus, both for her charismatic personality and her unabated determination to keep her household name alive. At the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, her father, [[Circus Busch|Paul Busch]] (1850-1927), had been Germany's (and Europe's) most powerful circus director. He had created a network of major circus buildings (Berlin, Breslau, Hamburg, Vienna), inherited in part from the former [[Ernst Renz|Renz]] empire, set new standards for lavish circus productions and, with the help of his daughter, had produced the most theatrically elaborate pantomimes in circus history.
-[[File:Paul_Micaela_Busch.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Mikaela and Paula Busch, with Paul Busch, Jr. (1952)]]Paula Busch, who inherited her father's empire as well as his talent, was an accomplished director, an immensely successful producer, a published author, and a society lady. She had been an unintended victim of the rise of Nazi Germany: The Third Reich's urbanization plans for the new Berlin led to her Berliner building’s closing in 1934, followed by its demolition in 1937. Since she had adhered to the NSDAP, to “compensate” her loss, the Nazi government had facilitated her purchase of the Jewish [[Circus Strassburger]], one of Germany's largest and most prestigious circuses. It was renamed ''Circus Busch-Berlin'' to distinguish it from the other traveling Circus Busch of [[Jakob Busch]] (no relation), which became known as ''Circus Busch-Nürnberg''.
+[[File:Paul_Micaela_Busch.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Mikaela and Paula Busch, with Paul Busch, Jr. (1952)]]Paula Busch, who inherited her father's empire as well as his talent, was an accomplished director, an immensely successful producer, a published author, and a Berlin socialite. She had been an unintended victim of the rise of Nazi Germany: The Third Reich's urbanization plans for the new Berlin led to her Berliner building’s closing in 1934, followed by its demolition in 1937. Since she had adhered to the NSDAP, to “compensate” her loss, the Nazi government had facilitated her purchase of the Jewish [[Circus Strassburger]], one of Germany's largest and most prestigious circuses. It was renamed ''Circus Busch-Berlin'' to distinguish it from the other traveling Circus Busch of [[Jakob Busch]] (no relation), which became known as ''Circus Busch-Nürnberg''.
 The operation had been orchestrated by Emil Wacker, Circus Strassburger's manager and a member of the Nazi party. Wacker, who married Paula's daughter, [[Micaela Busch|Micaela]], in 1936, remained as manager of the new Circus Busch under big top. Still, Paula Busch would be soon accused to run a "Jewish circus" and to harbor Jewish performers (which she did). At the end of the war, nothing was left of the former Busch empire; all its buildings had disappeared under the Allies’ bombings, and Paula’s giant big top had long been folded and lost.

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 ===Post-War Missed Opportunities===
-[[File:Krone_Hoppe.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Hoppe at the Kronebau (1946)]]His good relations with the Allied Forces brought Hoppe a new opportunity, albeit briefly. The powerful [[Circus Krone|Krone]] family was suspected of having collaborated with the Nazi party (like many German businessmen, Carl Krone had adhered to the NSDAP): While an investigation under way, their circus building in Munich, the [[Circus Krone|Kronebau]], was temporarily confiscated. Its management was assigned to Oskar Hoppe, who made it the home of his Circus Helene Hoppe from August 1946 to November 1947. Eventually, the Krone family was exonerated and repossessed their building. It has been rumored that, during Hoppe's occupation of the Kronebau, [[Circus Krone|Frieda Krone]], whose father, Carl Krone, had died in 1943, had to fend off Hoppe's propositions of marriage, which, as he saw it, would have allowed her to regain control of the family circus&mdash;and, of course, would have given Oskar Hoppe control of the Krone empire.
+[[File:Krone_Hoppe.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Hoppe at the Kronebau (1946)]]His good relations with the Allied Forces brought Hoppe a new opportunity, albeit briefly. The powerful [[Circus Krone|Krone]] family was suspected of having collaborated with the Nazi party (like many German businessmen, Carl Krone had adhered to the NSDAP): While an investigation was under way, their circus building in Munich, the [[Circus Krone|Kronebau]], was temporarily confiscated. Its management was assigned to Oskar Hoppe, who made it the home of his Circus Helene Hoppe from August 1946 to November 1947. Eventually, the Krone family was exonerated and repossessed their building. It has been rumored that, during Hoppe's occupation of the Kronebau, [[Circus Krone|Frieda Krone]], whose father, Carl Krone, had died in 1943, had to fend off Hoppe's propositions of marriage, which, as he saw it, would have allowed her to regain control of the family circus&mdash;and, of course, would have given Oskar Hoppe control of the Krone empire.
 Deprived of the Kronebau, Hoppe, who didn't have the means to resume regular circus tours, reverted to a temporary solution: He installed his big top in the Frankfurt Zoo, as a permanent attraction, still under the title "Circus Helene Hoppe". But his marriage ended in 1948, and Helene Althoff went on to marry [[Hans Kossmayer]], with whom she revived Emil Wacker's [[Circus Apollo]] that had gone bankrupt in Rome in 1952, keeping Wacker as an employee. (Unfortunately, the venture ended again in bankruptcy in 1958.)

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 ===Post-War Missed Opportunities===
-[[File:Krone_Hoppe.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Hoppe at the Kronebau (1946)]]His good relations with the Allied Forces brought Hoppe a new opportunity, albeit briefly. The powerful [[Circus Krone|Krone]] family was suspected of having collaborated with the Nazi party (like many German businessmen, Carl Krone had adhered to the NSDAP): While an investigation under way, their circus building in Munich, the [[Circus Krone|Kronebau]], was temporarily confiscated. Its management was assigned to Oskar Hoppe, who made him the home of his Circus Helene Hoppe from August 1946 to November 1947. Eventually, the Krone family was exonerated and repossessed their building. It has been rumored that, during Hoppe's occupation of the Kronebau, [[Circus Krone|Frieda Krone]], whose father, Carl Krone, had died in 1943, had to fend off Hoppe's propositions of marriage, which, as he saw it, would have allowed her to regain control of the family circus&mdash;and, of course, would have given Oskar Hoppe control of the Krone empire.
+[[File:Krone_Hoppe.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Hoppe at the Kronebau (1946)]]His good relations with the Allied Forces brought Hoppe a new opportunity, albeit briefly. The powerful [[Circus Krone|Krone]] family was suspected of having collaborated with the Nazi party (like many German businessmen, Carl Krone had adhered to the NSDAP): While an investigation under way, their circus building in Munich, the [[Circus Krone|Kronebau]], was temporarily confiscated. Its management was assigned to Oskar Hoppe, who made it the home of his Circus Helene Hoppe from August 1946 to November 1947. Eventually, the Krone family was exonerated and repossessed their building. It has been rumored that, during Hoppe's occupation of the Kronebau, [[Circus Krone|Frieda Krone]], whose father, Carl Krone, had died in 1943, had to fend off Hoppe's propositions of marriage, which, as he saw it, would have allowed her to regain control of the family circus&mdash;and, of course, would have given Oskar Hoppe control of the Krone empire.
 Deprived of the Kronebau, Hoppe, who didn't have the means to resume regular circus tours, reverted to a temporary solution: He installed his big top in the Frankfurt Zoo, as a permanent attraction, still under the title "Circus Helene Hoppe". But his marriage ended in 1948, and Helene Althoff went on to marry [[Hans Kossmayer]], with whom she revived Emil Wacker's [[Circus Apollo]] that had gone bankrupt in Rome in 1952, keeping Wacker as an employee. (Unfortunately, the venture ended again in bankruptcy in 1958.)

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:27, 23 February 2021
Line 5:		Line 5:


−	In the intricate chaos of post-WWII Germany, a number of minor German circus entrepreneurs (such as [[Emil Wacker]], [[Kurt Collien]], [[Willy Aureden]], and [[Fritz_Mey#FRITZ_MEY.27S_CIRCUS_SARRASANI\|Fritz Mey]]) rose from administrative positions they had held before the war, when the German itinerant circus was in its golden age. Managing their way out of a difficult past, they ventured into various and sometimes interesting circus experiments with diverse fortunes. Among them, the opportunistic Oskar Hoppe proved to be particularly tenacious in his attempts to revive great names of the past by taking good advantage of the struggle of some old circus luminaries to stage a comeback.	+	In the intricate chaos of post-WWII Germany, a number of minor German circus entrepreneurs (such as [[Emil Wacker]], [[Kurt Collien]], [[Willy Aureden]], and [[Fritz_Mey#FRITZ_MEY.27S_CIRCUS_SARRASANI\|Fritz Mey]]) rose from administrative positions they had held before the war, when the German itinerant circus was in its golden age, to a modicum of celebrity as new circus owners. Managing their way out of a difficult past, they ventured into various and sometimes interesting circus experiments with diverse fortunes. Among them, the opportunistic Oskar Hoppe proved to be particularly tenacious in his attempts to revive great names of the past by taking good advantage of the struggle of some old circus luminaries to stage a comeback.

	===Beginnings===		===Beginnings===

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 ===Beginnings===
-Oskar Hoppe (1898-1969) was the youngest of a family of sixteen children. Although his father didn’t come from the circus world, his mother belonged to an old traveling family. Oskar went to work (and learn) in the Wille family’s circus, a small enterprise where he quickly showed an aptitude for and interest in the administrative part of show business. He married Kathe Kuhlen, a circus tight wire-dancer, when he was quite young and, in the early 1920s, began to work as an administrative accountant for the circuses of [[Alfred Schneider]] and [[Willy Hagenbeck]], and by 1935, for the new [[Circus Barlay]] of Harry Barlay and his wife [[Carola Williams|Carola]], née Althoff.
+Oskar Hoppe (1898-1969) was the youngest of a family of sixteen children. Although his father didn’t come from the circus world, his mother belonged to an old traveling family. Oskar went to work (and learn) in the Wille family’s circus, a small enterprise where he quickly showed an aptitude for, and interest in, the administrative part of show business. He married Kathe Kuhlen, a circus tight wire-dancer, when he was quite young and, in the early 1920s, began to work as an administrative accountant for the circuses of [[Alfred Schneider]] and [[Willy Hagenbeck]], and by 1935, for the new [[Circus Barlay]] of Harry Barlay and his wife [[Carola Williams|Carola]], née Althoff.
 [[File:Helene_Hoppe.jpg|left|thumb|400px|Circus Helene Hoppe (1945)]]From Circus Barlay, he went on to manage [[The Althoff Dynasty|Dominik Althoff]]’s circus. Dominik Althoff (1882-1974) had just given the direction of his enterprise to his children, [[Franz Althoff|Franz]] and [[Carola Williams|Carola]] (who had quickly separated from Harry Barlay). While there, Oskar Hoppe, who had divorced his first wife, married Dominik’s daughter Helene (1907-1997). Then, in 1939, Helene and her bother [[Adolf Althoff|Adolf]] (1913-1998) decided to go their own way and created the ''Circus Geschwister Althoff'', the administration of which Oskar Hoppe, as usual, managed. But this association didn’t last long: By 1940, Helene and Adolf parted ways, Adolf going on tour with his own [[Circus Adolf Althoff]], and Helene and Oskar with their new [[Helene Hoppe Circus]]. One may safely surmise that the meddling presence of his brother-in-law in the family combine didn’t thrill Adolf Althoff!

@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 ===Willy Hagenbeck's Struggles===
-[[File:Willy_Hagenbeck.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Willy Hagenbeck (c.1955)]]After WWII, [[Willy Hagenbeck]] (1884-1963), was still viewed as a living circus legend by the public, as well as by the press and the German state authorities. The son of [[The Hagenbeck Dynasty|Wilhelm Hagenbeck]]&mdash;a true circus pioneer to whom circuses owe the removable circular steel arena, and the first trainer to present large polar bear groups&mdash;Willy had twice attempted to run his own circus between the wars, when he was not just attaching his own name to other companies, or renting out his animal groups.
+After WWII, [[Willy Hagenbeck]] (1884-1963), was still viewed as a living circus legend by the public, as well as by the press and the German state authorities. The son of [[The Hagenbeck Dynasty|Wilhelm Hagenbeck]]&mdash;a true circus pioneer to whom circuses owe the removable circular steel arena, and the first trainer to present large polar bear groups&mdash;Willy had twice attempted to run his own circus between the wars, when he was not just attaching his own name to other companies, or renting out his animal groups.
-In the 1940s, taking advantage of his various zoos and animal farms, he was mostly active in preparing acts and forming dozens of distinguished trainers, some of whom became very influential animal trainers (such as [[Henk Luycx]], [[Jean Michon]] and [[Charlie Baumann]]). In 1947, his stepson, [[Erie Klant]], had established what became known in the business as the "Hagenbeck training school" in Cauberg, in The Netherlands. Yet, Willy and his wife, Eugenie Klant, were still hoping to recreate a Circus Willy Hagenbeck. They found the opportunity in 1951 in a deal with Austria's [[Circus Konrad]], which went under the name "Willy Hagenbeck" the following year.
+[[File:Willy_Hagenbeck.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Willy Hagenbeck (c.1955)]]In the 1940s, taking advantage of his various zoos and animal farms, he was mostly active in preparing acts and forming dozens of distinguished trainers, some of whom became very influential animal trainers (such as [[Henk Luycx]], [[Jean Michon]] and [[Charlie Baumann]]). In 1947, his stepson, [[Erie Klant]], had established what became known in the business as the "Hagenbeck training school" in Cauberg, in The Netherlands. Yet, Willy and his wife, Eugenie Klant, were still hoping to recreate a Circus Willy Hagenbeck. They found the opportunity in 1951 in a deal with Austria's [[Circus Konrad]], which went under the name "Willy Hagenbeck" the following year.
 But the couple was aging, and Willy didn't have much business savvy; they attempted to bring Erie Klant into the combine, but Klant was happy with his flourishing animal training business and declined the offer (and its connected debts). By the end of the 1950s, Willy Hagenbeck's circus was in trouble. The old man managed to make some money by renting out his name and a few animal acts and menagerie features through Emil Wacker (who had become an agent). Wacker arranged for him a ''Circus Willy bHagenbeck-Liana Orfei'' in Rome during the 1961-1962 winter season, and a tour with the French [[Cirque Francki]] ("Francki présente: le Cirque Willy Hagenbeck") for the 1962 season.

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 Hoppe planned a tour, but with a weak itinerary (considering the German situation at the time, a good selection of towns that could sustain a circus visit was vital) and a modest program without animals. It was a complete fiasco. In her memoirs, Paula Busch said Hoppe’s was a purposely "miserable" plan, which of course had complicated her financial situation. The following year the equipment was rented out in The Netherlands to an ice show, which promptly went bankrupt. Paula's only way out of her troubles was the prospect of her daughter Micaela's imminent comeback with a second Circus Busch, which ventured in the Far East, and unfortunately ended bankrupt in Manila in 1954.
-[[File:Busch_Hoppe_Trubka_55.jpeg|thumb|right|400px|Circus Busch-Berlin Poster (1955)]]Hoppe was now ready for his move. He offered Paula Busch to rent her equipment and name, and operate the circus on his own, in exchange for a percentage of the receipts. Thus, in 1954, the "Circus Busch-Berlin – Direction Apollonia and Oskar Hoppe" hit the road. This time, the circus had a first-class itinerary and a more convincing program. Hoppe missed no occasion to celebrate his own success in the trade press and within the circus community. In 1955, he organized a "70th Anniversary Tour" (adding a year to the date of Circus Busch's beginnings), with a program that included [[Vojtech Trubka]] and [[Circus Knie]]'s tigers and the Flying [[The Leotaris|Leotaris]]. Hoppe's son, eight-year-old Ossy, presented the elephants and was billed as the "World's youngest elephant trainer."
+Hoppe was now ready for his move. He offered Paula Busch to rent her equipment and name, and operate the circus on his own, in exchange for a percentage of the receipts. Thus, in 1954, the "Circus Busch-Berlin – Direction Apollonia and Oskar Hoppe" hit the road. This time, the circus had a first-class itinerary and a more convincing program. [[File:Busch_Hoppe_Trubka_55.jpeg|thumb|right|400px|Circus Busch-Berlin Poster (1955)]]Hoppe missed no occasion to celebrate his own success in the trade press and within the circus community. In 1955, he organized a "70th Anniversary Tour" (adding a year to the date of Circus Busch's beginnings), with a program that included [[Vojtech Trubka]] and [[Circus Knie]]'s tigers and the Flying [[The Leotaris|Leotaris]]. Hoppe's son, eight-year-old Ossy, presented the elephants and was billed as the "World's youngest elephant trainer."
 Unfortunately, Paula Busch’s side of the partnership was increasingly deteriorating. Hoppe was said to deduce money from her percentage, and he gradually bought out most of her circus equipment (which he had left in bad condition) at its lowest value. Finally, in 1958, Paula stopped leasing her name to Hoppe. She started a new "Busch-Berlin" partnership with circus director Karl Lagenfeld, the former owner of [[Circus Aeros]], which had been nationalized and absorbed by the [[VEB Zentral-Zirkus]], East Germany’s State Circus company. The new Circus Busch-Berlin opened in 1960 but went bankrupt two years later. The name was promptly saved by a good circus director, Willi Aureden of [[Circus Roland]], who renamed his circus ''[[Circus Busch-Roland]]''; the circus acquired an excellent reputation and enjoyed a long career, worthy of Paula Busch’s illustrious name.