The Blumenfeld Family - Revision history

Djando: /* The Postwar Period */

2026-08-20T04:46:49Z

‎The Postwar Period

Show changes

Djando: /* The Great War and The Magdeburg Circus */

2026-08-20T04:27:58Z

‎The Great War and The Magdeburg Circus

Djando at 04:14, 20 August 2026

2026-08-20T04:14:28Z

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2026-08-20T04:13:28Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2026-08-20T04:11:39Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Suggested Reading */

2026-08-20T04:10:47Z

‎Suggested Reading

Djando: /* The Nazi Period */

2026-08-19T23:49:47Z

‎The Nazi Period

Djando: /* The Nazi Period */

2026-08-19T23:49:27Z

‎The Nazi Period

Djando: /* The Postwar Period */

2026-08-19T23:49:03Z

‎The Postwar Period

Djando: /* Enter The Magdeburg Generation */

2026-08-19T23:48:05Z

‎Enter The Magdeburg Generation

@@ Line 89: / Line 89: @@
 Magdeburg was the capital of Saxony. Located in what today is Saxony-Anhalt, it was an important city that had hosted several circus buildings over the years. Nothing exceptional there, since major German cities had circus buildings, but Magdeburg location was relatively central in the German Empire, which could make it a good base for a traveling circus. In 1896, an entrepreneur named Hahn built a new circus in the city. Already, in 1886, Hahn had acquired [[August Krembser]]'s circus building in Berlin, which he rented out to major circus companies such as [[Gotthold Schumann]]'s&mdash;before Schumann opened his own circus building in the Prussian capital. A master-carpenter, he had already erected a wooden "construction" in Madgeburg in 1892.
-Hahn was not a circus man, but a businessman and landlord who rented out his facilities to circus companies and other tenants. His new Magdeburg circus, located on Köningstraße 62/63, a major thoroughfare, was a large building: With a surface area of nearly 4,000 m2 (approximately 154 x 266 feet), it included not only the circus itself, which could be fitted with a removable stage for concerts and theatrical productions and boasted a capacity of 2,800, but also a restaurant, wardrobe shops, a saddlery, a prop workshop, stables for 110 horses, and a small variety theater. It opened on September 30, 1896, with [[Circus Renz]].
+Hahn was not a circus man, but a businessman and landlord who rented out his facilities to circus companies and other tenants. His new Magdeburg circus, located on Kaizer Wilhelm Platz (today's Universitätsplatz) and Köningstraße 62/63, a major thoroughfare, was a large building: With a surface area of nearly 4,000 m2 (approximately 154 x 266 feet), it included not only the circus itself, which could be fitted with a removable stage for concerts and theatrical productions and boasted a capacity of 2,800, but also a restaurant, wardrobe shops, a saddlery, a prop workshop, stables for 110 horses, and a small variety theater. It opened on September 30, 1896, with [[Circus Renz]].
 The Blumenfelds performed there in the fall of 1904. It was after Hahn’s death, and the building&mdash;by then in disrepair&mdash;had passed to his daughter, who was eager to sell. The Blumenfelds had long wanted to move their winter quarters from Gurhau to a more central location, and Magdeburg suited their needs. They offered to buy and restore the property, and Ms. Hahn accepted; then they had to secure a thirty-year lease with the city, which owned the land, and they finally moved their operations to Magdeburg. After adding a large foyer and an elegant façade to the building, they used it for their winter seasons and rented it out for the rest of the year. In doing so, they had made both the family and its circus part of Magdeburg’s cultural life.

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:14, 20 August 2026
Line 1:		Line 1:
		+	[[File:Circus_E._Blumenfeld_Wwe_poster.jpg\|right\|300px]]
	==Circus Owners, Equestrians, Animal Trainers, Artists==		==Circus Owners, Equestrians, Animal Trainers, Artists==

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:13, 20 August 2026
Line 172:		Line 172:
	</Gallery>		</Gallery>

−	[[Category:History\|The Blumenfeld Family]]	+	[[Category:History\|The Blumenfeld Family]][[Category:Circus Owner and Directors\|The Blumenfeld Family]][[Category:Equestrians\|The Blumenfeld Family]][[Category:Artists and Acts\|The Blumenfeld Family]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:11, 20 August 2026
Line 171:		Line 171:
	File:Circus_E._Blumenfeld_Wwe_poster.jpg\|Circus E. Blumenfeld Wve. Poster (1891)		File:Circus_E._Blumenfeld_Wwe_poster.jpg\|Circus E. Blumenfeld Wve. Poster (1891)
	</Gallery>		</Gallery>
		+
		+	[[Category:History\|The Blumenfeld Family]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:10, 20 August 2026
Line 165:		Line 165:
	* Marline Otte, ''Jewish Identities in German Popular Entertainment'' (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2006) — ISBN 978-0-521-856-30-0		* Marline Otte, ''Jewish Identities in German Popular Entertainment'' (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2006) — ISBN 978-0-521-856-30-0
	* Gisela and Dietmar Winkler, ''Die Blumenfelds – Schicksale einer jüdischen Zirkusfamilie'' (Gransee, Edition Schwarzdruck, 2012) — ISBN 978-3-935194-50-1		* Gisela and Dietmar Winkler, ''Die Blumenfelds – Schicksale einer jüdischen Zirkusfamilie'' (Gransee, Edition Schwarzdruck, 2012) — ISBN 978-3-935194-50-1
		+
		+	==Image Gallery==
		+
		+	<Gallery>
		+	File:Circus_E._Blumenfeld_Wwe_poster.jpg\|Circus E. Blumenfeld Wve. Poster (1891)
		+	</Gallery>

@@ Line 120: / Line 120: @@
 One may surmise that forces were at play to undermine any potential deal: it didn't go through, and the Blumenfelds were forced into bankruptcy in 1927. The building was not sold until ten years later, and even then, the proceeds went right into the bankruptcy estate. Meanwhile, the bankruptcy trustees had continued to rent it out for activities other than circus. The bankruptcy was finalized in 1940, but the once respected ''Zirkus Geb. Blumenfeld jun.'' had already ceased to exist.
-===The Nazi Period===
+===The Nazi Era===
 The large Magdeburg Blumenfeld family, including Alfons, Alex and Arthur, began to look for engagements in other circuses. Alex found jobs as an animal trainer and artistic director in Scandinavian circuses, Alfons became the deputy manager and artistic director of [[Circus Medrano-Swoboda]], Austria's leading circus, where he also performed as a high-school rider with his daughter Ruth and presented liberty acts; Alfred Blumenfeld went to work as manager of [[Circus Dominik Althoff]], then presented liberty horses on tour with Arthur at [[Circus Adolf Fischer]], another German circus, of which Eugen Blumenfeld had become the artistic director.

@@ Line 96: / Line 96: @@
 During that period of circus inactivity, the directors of the third generation disappeared or retired. Adolf had died in Dresden in 1913, Alexander and Hermann called it quits (they would pass away in 1921 and 1933 respectively), and finally, Simon, the father of the "Magdeburg Line," died in Magdeburg on July 22, 1918, shortly before war's end. The Gurhau winter quarters were sold at the end of the war, and with the Magdeburg building used for unrelated activities, it could have been the end of the ''Zircus E. Blumenfeld''.
-==The Postwar Period==
+===The Postwar Period===
 With seven brothers pretending to Simon's succession, not to mention Simon's four daughters and his brothers' children, reviving Circus E. Blumenfeld could have opened a Pandora's box. So, in the summer of 1919, Simon's sons Alex, Alfons and Arthur purchased the former ''Circus E. Blumenfeld Wwe'' company from the family and announced the creation of a new touring ''Zirkus Gebr. Blumenfeld''; they let it known that they remained co-owners of the Magdeburg circus and gave 1920 as the date of their debut on the road. It was not an easy proposition: They had to rebuild their entire traveling operation from scratch!

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 Rosa Strassburger gave Simon eleven children: Betty (1880-1932), who married her uncle Hermann; Emanuel, known as Alex (1885-1942); Alfons (1887-1942), who married his cousin [[The Konyöt Family|Olympia Konyöt]]; Arthur (1889-1910), who married his cousin Victoria, daughter of Jansly Blumenfeld; Alfred (1891-1945); Eugen (1893-1937); Alice (1895-1942); Jeanette (Netty, 1897-1969); Willy (1898-1942); Fritz (Friedrich, 1899-1945), and Erich (1901-1943), who married [[The Houcke Dynasty|Fanny Houcke]]).
-The Blumenfelds had an excellent reputation among their audiences, as well as among the artists who worked for them. They were known as a warm, welcoming family, always ready to help&mdash;and always respecting their fellow performers&mdash;for they were indeed performers themselves: In a 1898 program, one could see Hermann and Betty riding in ''haute-école'', Louis and Setta performing a pas-de-deux on horseback, and Alexandre presenting the liberty acts. Coming up, the next generation was trained in all circus disciplines to perform alongside their elders as acrobats, equestrians, and animal trainers, and eventually replace them.
+The Blumenfelds had an excellent reputation among their audiences, as well as among the artists who worked for them. They were known as a warm, welcoming family, always ready to help, and always respectful of their fellow performers&mdash;for they were indeed performers themselves: In a 1898 program, one could see Hermann and Betty riding in ''haute-école'', Louis and Setta performing a pas-de-deux on horseback, and Alexandre presenting the liberty acts. Coming up, the next generation was trained in all circus disciplines to perform alongside their elders as acrobats, equestrians, and animal trainers, and eventually replace them.
 By 1897, Zirkus E. Blumenfeld, which had been one of the earliest German circuses to perform under a big top instead of a wooden ''construction'' or as visitors in a circus building (of which there were indeed many at the time), had become too big to continue using horse-power transportation, and it switched to travel by rail. In subsequent advertising, the Blumenfelds boosted no less than 180 horses, 28 wagons traveling on a special train, and even their own traveling electric plant, which was quite high-tech at the turn of the twentieth century! As they reminded their potential audiences in the press, theirs was not a cheap tenting operation: It was a modern, elegant, and comfortable first-class traveling circus.