The Knie Dynasty - Revision history

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2024-08-21T19:52:59Z

‎The Present Generations

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‎The Present Generations

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2024-05-20T20:33:10Z

‎Image Gallery

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‎Image Gallery

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‎Image Gallery

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2024-03-13T20:22:20Z

‎100 Years of Success

Djando: /* The Circus of Frédy and Rolf Knie */

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‎The Circus of Frédy and Rolf Knie

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‎See Also

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‎Image Gallery

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‎The Present Generations

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 [[Image:Franco_Sr_%26_Jr_and_Linna_Knie_with_elephants_(2008).jpg|thumb|left|400px|Linna Knie, Franco Knie, & Franco Knie, Jr. (2008)]]At the end of 1992, Frédy and Rolf Knie retired definitely from the circus business, and left their enterprise in the hands of their sons, Frédy, Louis, and Franco. Following family dissensions, Louis left the circus in 1993, and purchased [[Elfi Althoff-Jacoby]]’s Austrian National Circus&mdash; which became the [[Österreichischer National Circus Louis Knie]]. Then, on August 18, 1997, Rolf Knie passed away after a long illness. One year later, his brother, Frédy, had a stroke that left him partly paralyzed. His second wife, Erica Sigel, took care of him until his death, on December 6, 2003. The circus world had lost two of the greatest circus personalities of the twentieth century.
-Circus Knie is today one of Europe’s major circuses. Until recently (as of 2024), it was traveling on two special trains and several road trucks with an important menagerie. Due to the change of tastes in the early 21st century, the menagerie had slowly been reduced and discarded and the Knies have focused on their horses. Yet, the circus is still renowned for its perfect organization, and the high quality of its shows&mdash;which have become the standard against which other classical circus shows are measured. Under the management of Frédy and Franco Knie, Circus Knie has maintained its unique position in Europe; it had also been at the vanguard of animal care, at a time when some circuses still had a hard time adapting to the audience’s change of sensitivity regarding the way animals were kept in traveling circuses.
+Circus Knie is today one of Europe’s major circuses. For many years, it was traveling on two special trains and several road trucks with an important menagerie. It had also been at the vanguard of animal care, at a time when some circuses still had a hard time adapting to the audience’s change of sensitivity regarding the way animals were kept in traveling circuses&mdash;but due to the change of tastes in the early 21st century, the menagerie had slowly been reduced and eventually discarded and the Knies have focused solely on their horses. Yet, the circus is still renowned for its perfect organization, and the high quality of its shows&mdash;which have become the standard against which other classical circus shows are measured. Under the management of Frédy and Franco Knie, Circus Knie has maintained its unique position in Europe.
 ===100 Years of Success===

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 But this multi-generational reunion was short lived: The beloved circus matriarch, Margrit Knie, Rudolf’s widow, passed away in April 1975. A few months later, Rolfi married Erica Brosi, and together they had a son, Gregory, born in 1977. Franco Knie married Doris Agostini, with whom he had two children, Franco junior, born July 10, 1978, and Doris Désirée, born in 1980. With his second wife, Claudine Rey, he has a son, Anthony, born in 1989. Franco married for the third time in 2005; he and his wife, Ckaudia Uez had twins, Nina Maria Dora and Timothy Charles, born September 18, 2009.
-In 1983, Rolfi Knie, who had become a very talented auguste, left the circus; he first went on to perform his own stage show in various European theaters before embarking on a brilliant career as a graphic artist&mdash;his true passion. In 2003, he created a very successful circus/varieté seasonal show, [[Salto Natale]], which he now manages with his son, Gregory.
+In 1983, Rolfi Knie, who had become a very talented auguste, left the circus; he first went on to perform his own stage show in various European theaters before embarking on a brilliant career as a graphic artist&mdash;his true passion. In 2003, he created a very successful circus/varieté seasonal show, [[Salto Natale]], which he managed with his son, Gregory. Then Gregory created his own show, ''Ohlala''&mdash;an adult-oriented show that is very successful.
 [[Image:Franco_Sr_%26_Jr_and_Linna_Knie_with_elephants_(2008).jpg|thumb|left|400px|Linna Knie, Franco Knie, & Franco Knie, Jr. (2008)]]At the end of 1992, Frédy and Rolf Knie retired definitely from the circus business, and left their enterprise in the hands of their sons, Frédy, Louis, and Franco. Following family dissensions, Louis left the circus in 1993, and purchased [[Elfi Althoff-Jacoby]]’s Austrian National Circus&mdash; which became the [[Österreichischer National Circus Louis Knie]]. Then, on August 18, 1997, Rolf Knie passed away after a long illness. One year later, his brother, Frédy, had a stroke that left him partly paralyzed. His second wife, Erica Sigel, took care of him until his death, on December 6, 2003. The circus world had lost two of the greatest circus personalities of the twentieth century.
-Circus Knie is today one of Europe’s major circuses, traveling on two special trains and several road trucks with an important menagerie. It is renowned for its perfect organization, and the quality of its shows&mdash;which have become the standard against which other classical circus shows are measured. Under the management of Frédy and Franco Knie, Circus Knie has maintained its unique position in Europe; it has also been at the vanguard of animal care, at a time when some circuses still had a hard time adapting to the audience’s change of sensitivity regarding the way animals were kept in traveling circuses.
+Circus Knie is today one of Europe’s major circuses. Until recently (as of 2024), it was traveling on two special trains and several road trucks with an important menagerie. Due to the change of tastes in the early 21st century, the menagerie had slowly been reduced and discarded and the Knies have focused on their horses. Yet, the circus is still renowned for its perfect organization, and the high quality of its shows&mdash;which have become the standard against which other classical circus shows are measured. Under the management of Frédy and Franco Knie, Circus Knie has maintained its unique position in Europe; it had also been at the vanguard of animal care, at a time when some circuses still had a hard time adapting to the audience’s change of sensitivity regarding the way animals were kept in traveling circuses.
 ===100 Years of Success===

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 File:Circopedia_award_2019.jpeg||The Knie Family receive the Circopedia Award (2019)
 File:Knie_chapiteau_2021.jpg|Circus Knie in Geneva (2021)
 </Gallery>

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 Image:Circus_Knie_Box_Office_1932.jpg|Crowd at the Box Office (1932)
 File:Knie_-_Under_Wasser_1934.jpg|Poster for ''Der Circus unter Wasser'' (1934)
 Image:Karl_Kinie.jpg|Carl Zuckmayer, left, with Karl Knie, right, and their wives (c.1935)
 File:Knie_Heating_Poster.jpeg|Poster by A. Magne (1935)

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 File:Knie_Heating_Poster.jpeg|Poster by A. Magne (1935)
 File:Knie_-_Magne_Poster.jpg|Poster by A. Magne (1935)
 File:Andreff_-_Knie.jpg|Poster fearuring Andreff and Polo Rivel (1944)
 File:Cicus_Knie_-_Celito_Rivel_(1954).jpg|Program Cover (1954)

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 ===100 Years of Success===
-In 2019, Circus Knie celebrated its 100th anniversary with an extremely successful tour that had to be extended. At the end of each show, Fredy Knie had announced that he was retiring from the ring (Franco had already retired to take care of their zoo in Rapperswil), passing the torch to the seventh generation: Géraldine Katharina and her husband, Maycol Errani, and Franco Knie Junior and his wife, Linna Sun. The eighth generation has already arrived: David-Louis, son of Louis Junior and Gipsy Knie-De Rocchi, was born in Austria on August 5, 1999, where he works with his father. Ivan Frédéric Knie, the son of Géraldine-Katharina Knie and [[Pellegrini Brothers|Ivan Pellegrini]], was born on July 6, 2001. Then Franco Knie Junior, the son of Franco Knie, married Linna Sun, a Chinese acrobat, on May 16, 2003; they have a son, Chris Rui Knie, born on July 22, 2006. Finally, Geraldine-Katharina Knie married [[Maycol Errani]] in 2009; together, they have two children, Chanel Marie, born March 4, 2011 and Maycol, Jr., born November 3, 2017. Ivan Fédéric, Chris Rui and Chanel Marie are already working in the ring.
+In 2019, Circus Knie celebrated its 100th anniversary with an extremely successful tour that had to be extended. At the end of each show, Fredy Knie had announced that he was retiring from the ring (Franco had already retired to take care of their zoo in Rapperswil), passing the torch to the seventh generation: Géraldine Katharina and her husband, Maycol Errani, Franco Junior and his wife, Linna Sun, and Doris. The eighth generation has already arrived: David-Louis, son of Louis Junior and Gipsy Knie-De Rocchi, was born in Austria on August 5, 1999, where he works with his father. Ivan Frédéric Knie, the son of Géraldine-Katharina Knie and [[Pellegrini Brothers|Ivan Pellegrini]], was born on July 6, 2001. Then Franco Knie Junior, the son of Franco Knie, married Linna Sun, a Chinese acrobat, on May 16, 2003; they have a son, Chris Rui Knie, born on July 22, 2006. Geraldine-Katharina Knie married [[Maycol Errani]] in 2009; together, they have two children, Chanel Marie, born March 4, 2011 and Maycol, Jr., born November 3, 2017. Ivan Fédéric, Chris Rui and Chanel Marie are already working in the ring. Finally, Franco Knie Senior and his wife, Claudia, have two children who are in the age range of the eighth genearation: Nina Maria Dora and Timothy Charles.
 ==Suggested Reading==

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 The war over, Circus Knie was in a unique position: A neutral country, Switzerland had maintained a sound economic foundation, and the circus was flourishing. During the war, as soon as it had become possible, the Knies had been able to get the best European artists, who were more than happy to work in a place where they still could make good money and work in a safe environment. The same was true immediately after the war, in a Europe whose economy had collapsed.
-Circus Knie’s reputation of quality, which was already well established, grew even bigger under the circumstances, and Frédy and Rolf made sure that it would stay where it had arrived now&mdash;at the top! The circus continued to tour exclusively in Switzerland, while some of its animal acts went on engagement during the winter season in major European venues, such as [[Cirque Medrano]] in Paris, [[Circus Carré]] in Amsterdam, or [[Bertram Mills Circus]] in London&mdash often presented by Frédy and Rolf Knie themselves.
+Circus Knie’s reputation of quality, which was already well established, grew even bigger under the circumstances, and Frédy and Rolf made sure that it would stay where it had arrived now&mdash;at the top! The circus continued to tour exclusively in Switzerland, while some of its animal acts went on engagement during the winter season in major European venues, such as [[Cirque Medrano]] in Paris, [[Circus Carré]] in Amsterdam, or [[Bertram Mills Circus]] in London&mdashoften presented by Frédy and Rolf Knie themselves.
 In the fall of 1945, Frédy Knie married Pierrette Dubois. Their first son, Fredy Junior, was born on September 30, 1946 in Bern. Three years later, on August 16, 1949, a second son, Rolf Junior (soon known as Rolfi) was born&mdash;also in Bern. The sixth generation had arrived. Then Rolf married Tina di Giovani in 1950; they also had two sons, Louis, born in Bern on June 23, 1951, and Franco, born on September 8, 1954, this time in Rüti.[[Image:Rolf_Knie_and_African_elephants_(1956).jpg|thumb|left|350px|Rolf Knie and a group of African elephants (1956)]]

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 * Video: [[Knie_High_School_Act_(1973)|Fredy, Rolf, Franco, Erika, Mary-José Knie, Jrs., high school act]], Circus Knie (1973)
 * Video: [[Knie's_Elephant_Act_Video_1973|Louis & Franco Knie, elephant act]], Circus Knie (1973)
 * Video: [[Fredy_Knie,_Sr._Video_(1977)|Fredy Knie, Sr., liberty act]], at the International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo (1977)
 * Video: [[Louis_Knie_Video_(1977)|Louis Knie, tiger and elephant act]], Monte Carlo Circus Festival (1977)

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 File:Knie_-_Giacobbo_Muller.jpeg|Poster featuring Giacobbo / Müller (2019)
 File:Knie_Zurich_2019.jpeg|Circus Knie (2019)
 File:Circopedia_award_2019.jpeg||The Knie Family receive the Circopedia Award (2019)
 File:Knie_chapiteau_2021.jpg|Circus Knie in Geneva (2021)

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:13, 2 July 2022
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	Circus Knie is today one of Europe’s major circuses, traveling on two special trains and several road trucks with an important menagerie. It is renowned for its perfect organization, and the quality of its shows—which have become the standard against which other classical circus shows are measured. Under the management of Frédy and Franco Knie, Circus Knie has maintained its unique position in Europe; it has also been at the vanguard of animal care, at a time when some circuses still had a hard time adapting to the audience’s change of sensitivity regarding the way animals were kept in traveling circuses.		Circus Knie is today one of Europe’s major circuses, traveling on two special trains and several road trucks with an important menagerie. It is renowned for its perfect organization, and the quality of its shows—which have become the standard against which other classical circus shows are measured. Under the management of Frédy and Franco Knie, Circus Knie has maintained its unique position in Europe; it has also been at the vanguard of animal care, at a time when some circuses still had a hard time adapting to the audience’s change of sensitivity regarding the way animals were kept in traveling circuses.
		+
		+	===100 Years of Success===

	In 2019, Circus Knie celebrated its 100th anniversary with an extremely successful tour that had to be extended. At the end of each show, Fredy Knie had announced that he was retiring from the ring (Franco had already retired to take care of their zoo in Rapperswil), passing the torch to the seventh generation: Géraldine Katharina and her husband, Maycol Errani, and Franco Knie Junior and his wife, Linna Sun. The eighth generation has already arrived: David-Louis, son of Louis Junior and Gipsy Knie-De Rocchi, was born in Austria on August 5, 1999, where he works with his father. Ivan Frédéric Knie, the son of Géraldine-Katharina Knie and [[Pellegrini Brothers\|Ivan Pellegrini]], was born on July 6, 2001. Then Franco Knie Junior, the son of Franco Knie, married Linna Sun, a Chinese acrobat, on May 16, 2003; they have a son, Chris Rui Knie, born on July 22, 2006. Finally, Geraldine-Katharina Knie married [[Maycol Errani]] in 2009; together, they have two children, Chanel Marie, born March 4, 2011 and Maycol, Jr., born November 3, 2017. Ivan Fédéric, Chris Rui and Chanel Marie are already working in the ring.		In 2019, Circus Knie celebrated its 100th anniversary with an extremely successful tour that had to be extended. At the end of each show, Fredy Knie had announced that he was retiring from the ring (Franco had already retired to take care of their zoo in Rapperswil), passing the torch to the seventh generation: Géraldine Katharina and her husband, Maycol Errani, and Franco Knie Junior and his wife, Linna Sun. The eighth generation has already arrived: David-Louis, son of Louis Junior and Gipsy Knie-De Rocchi, was born in Austria on August 5, 1999, where he works with his father. Ivan Frédéric Knie, the son of Géraldine-Katharina Knie and [[Pellegrini Brothers\|Ivan Pellegrini]], was born on July 6, 2001. Then Franco Knie Junior, the son of Franco Knie, married Linna Sun, a Chinese acrobat, on May 16, 2003; they have a son, Chris Rui Knie, born on July 22, 2006. Finally, Geraldine-Katharina Knie married [[Maycol Errani]] in 2009; together, they have two children, Chanel Marie, born March 4, 2011 and Maycol, Jr., born November 3, 2017. Ivan Fédéric, Chris Rui and Chanel Marie are already working in the ring.