Difference between revisions of "Cirkus Verdensteater (Oslo)"

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	[[File:Cirkus_Verdensteater_Christiania.jpg|thumb|left|400px|The Cirkus Verdensteater (c.1905)]]From 1890 to 1935, Oslo, the capital of Norway, housed a magnificent circus building known as the ''Cirkus Verdensteater'' ("Circus World Theater"). It was located  at the corner of Klingenberggata and Bakkegaden, in the old Vika neighborhood, and adjacent to the Tivoli Gardens—a part of the city that completely disappeared when this area was demolished and rebuilt in the 1930s. The circus stood approximately where the Klingenberg movie theater is now, in the middle of the present Olav V Gate.		[[File:Cirkus_Verdensteater_Christiania.jpg|thumb|left|400px|The Cirkus Verdensteater (c.1905)]]From 1890 to 1935, Oslo, the capital of Norway, housed a magnificent circus building known as the ''Cirkus Verdensteater'' ("Circus World Theater"). It was located  at the corner of Klingenberggata and Bakkegaden, in the old Vika neighborhood, and adjacent to the Tivoli Gardens—a part of the city that completely disappeared when this area was demolished and rebuilt in the 1930s. The circus stood approximately where the Klingenberg movie theater is now, in the middle of the present Olav V Gate.
−	At the time of the circus's construction, the city was still called Kristiania (it will become Oslo in 1925), and the circus was known originally as ''Cirkusbygningen i Kristiania'' ("Kristiania's circus building"). It was built by a Danish businessman named Bernhard Holger Jacobsen (1866-1933), who had purchased the piece of land on which the Tivoli Gardens stood in 1887. The Tivoli Gardens were a place of entertainment with, among other attractions, a restaurant and a small theater. It was moderately successful, and Jacobsen thought building a circus there would attract larger crowds.	+	At the time of the circus's construction, the city was still called Kristiania (it will become Oslo in 1925), and the circus was known originally as ''Cirkusbygningen i Kristiania'' ("Kristiania's circus building"). It was built by a Danish businessman named Bernhard Holger Jacobsen (1866-1933), who had purchased the piece of land on which the Tivoli Gardens stood in 1887. The Tivoli Gardens were a place of entertainment with, among other attractions, a restaurant, a cabaret called ''Le Chat Noir'' (after Paris's famous cabaret in Montmartre), and a small theater. The Gardens also welcomed visiting circuses in various wooden structures, and Jacobsen thought building a large permanent circus there would be a good business move.
−	The architect he chose was Ove Laurentius Ekman (1847-1921), who had designed several buildings in Kristiana, none of which of great significance: sadly, the Cirkusbygningen was to be his vanished masterpiece. It was a massive structure of red brick, with a monumental stone façade. The entire building occupied a total surface of 3,200 square meters (3,827 square yards); the house was 40 meters in diameter (131.23 feet), with a cupola that culminated at 32 meters (105 feet).	+	The architect he chose was Ove Laurentius Ekman (1847-1921), who had designed several buildings in Kristiana, none of which of great significance: The Cirkusbygningen was to be his now-vanished masterpiece. It was a massive structure of red brick, with a monumental stone façade in the Neo-Renaissance style fashionable at the time, which opened on a vast foyer. The entire building occupied a total surface of 3,200 square meters (3,827 square yards). The house itself was 40 meters in diameter (131.23 feet), with a cupola that culminated at 32 meters (105 feet).
−	The house could accommodate 2,500 spectators, with four rows of seats around the ring and a row of boxes just behind them, and a third category with nine rows of seats on the upper level. Columns supported the cupola on the periphery behind the boxes. The orchestra was positioned above the ring entrance. The rest of the building housed the stables, storage rooms, dressing rooms for the performers, and the administration. It was heated and equipped with electric lighting. The total coast of the construction amounted to 300,000 kronen, quite a significant amount at the time.	+	It could accommodate 2,500 spectators, with four rows of seats around the ring and a row of boxes just behind them, and a third category with six rows of seats on the upper level divided in two categories, and a ''promenoir'' (standing room gallery) on two levels. The circus had a metallic infrastructure, with metallic columns supported the cupola on the periphery behind the boxes. The orchestra was positioned above the ring entrance, with a large "royal box" facing it. The rest of the building housed the stables, storage rooms, dressing rooms for the performers, and the administration. It was heated with hot air and equipped with electric lighting: It was quite state-of-the-art for its time. The total cost of the construction amounted to 300,000 kronen, quite a significant amount at the time.
	===A Polyvalent Venue===		===A Polyvalent Venue===
−	[[File:Interior_-_Cirkus_Verdensteater.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Cirkus Schumann at the Cirkus Verdensteater (1935)]]Holger Jacobsen, who owned the Tivoli Gardens and the circus until 1897, was not himself a showman, and the Cirkusbygningen had been built principally to accommodate circus companies visiting Oslo—which they had done in this area for many years in various wooden buildings (called a ''construction''). The grand opening, on March 15, 1890, was quite an event, with the visit of Gothold Schumann's renowned [[Cirkus Schumann]], which was then based in Sweden and showed regularly in Oslo.	+	Holger Jacobsen, who owned the Tivoli Gardens and the circus until 1897, was not himself a showman, and the Cirkusbygningen had been built principally to accommodate independent, often foreign, circus companies visiting Oslo. It opened with great fanfare on March 15, 1890, with Gothold Schumann's renowned [[Cirkus Schumann]], which was then based in Sweden and had often shown in Oslo. Gothold's son and successor, [[The Schumann Dynasty|Max]], and Max's sons and grandsons, would bring Cirkus Schumann again to Oslo the three following years, and another time in 1896. The demolition of the building to make place for the new Vika neighborhood happened in 1935: closing a chapter it had opened, Cirkus Schumann returned to Oslo that year, the last circus to perform in the building—after a long hiatus when it had been used for other purposes.
−	Gothold Schumann had been a frequent visitor in Oslo, and Gothold's son and successor, [[The Schumann Dynasty|Max]], and Max's sons and grandsons, would subsequently bring Cirkus Schumann to Oslo occasionally, until the demolition of the building to make place for the new Vika neighborhood: closing a chapter it had opened, Cirkus Schumann was the last circus to perform in the Cirkus Verdensteater in 1935.	+	[[File:Interior_-_Cirkus_Verdensteater.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Cirkus Schumann at the Cirkus Verdensteater (1935)]]Since it had no permanent company, the circus quickly became a multivalent performing space, hosting activities that were not necessarily related to its original function (thus its later name, ''Cirkus Verdensteater''): In 1896, for instance, it presented the first cinema performance in Norway, and will be used as a movie theater quite often, notably in its latter years. It became also well-known and appreciated for its music concerts—and its own resident orchestra had been led by such guest conductors as the celebrated Norwegian composers Johan Svendsen (1840–1911) and Edvard Grieg (1843–1907).
−	Since it had no permanent company, the circus quickly became a multivalent performing space, hosting activities that were not necessarily related to the circus (thus its later name, ''Cirkus Verdensteater''): In 1896, for instance, it presented the first cinema performance in Norway, and will be used as a movie theater quite often. It became also well-known and appreciated for its music concerts—and its own resident orchestra had been led by such guest conductors as the celebrated Norwegian composers Johan Svendsen (1840–1911) and Edvard Grieg (1843–1907).	+	Nonetheless, visiting circuses still performed in the building. Besides Cirkus Schumann, which remained an occasional visitor, the Cirkus Verdensteater hosted, over the years, [[Circus Corty-Althoff]], [[Cirkus Kolzer]], [[Circus Beketov]], William Caspar's [[Cirque du Nord]], [[Circus Carré]], [[Circus Ed. Wulff]], [[The Houcke Dynasty|Hippolyte Houcke]]'s ''Nouveau Cirque'', [[Cirkus Orlando]], Andrea Ciniselli's [[Circus Ciniselli]], among others, and [[Circus Hagenbeck]] in 1916—the last tenant before a long hiatus that will be broken only with the final return of the Schumanns in 1935.
−	Nonetheless, visiting circuses still performed in the building. Besides Cirkus Schumann, which remained an occasional visitor, the Cirkus Verdensteater hosted, over the years, [[Circus Corty-Althoff]], [[Cirkus Kolzer]], [[Circus Beketov]], William Caspar's [[Cirque du Nord]], [[Circus Carré]], [[Circus Ed. Wulff]], [[The Houcke Dynasty|Hippolyte Houcke]]'s ''Nouveau Cirque'', [[Cirkus Orlando]], Andrea Ciniselli's [[Circus Ciniselli]], and [[Circus Hagenbeck]] in 1916—the last tenant, among many others, before a long hiatus that will be broken only with the final return of the Schumanns in 1935.	+	Unfortunately, Vika, the part of the city in which the circus stood was quite ancient and in need of remodeling. When it was decided in 1916 that a new City Hall would be built in that neighborhood, the old, dilapidated buildings that still stood in the area had to disappear to allow a modern redesign of the district. The Tivoli Gardens and the Cirkus Verdensteater were for some time the last surviving buildings, until they were eventually demolished in 1935, never to be replaced.
−		+
−	Unfortunately, Vika, the part of the city in which the circus stood was quite ancient and in need of remodeling. When it was decided in 1916 that a new City Hall would be built in Vika, the old, dilapidated buildings that formed the neighborhood had to disappear to allow a modern redesign of the area. The Tivoli Gardens and the Cirkus Verdensteater were the last surviving buildings for a long time, until they were eventual demmolition in 1935, never to be replaced.	+
	==Suggested Reading==		==Suggested Reading==
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	<Gallery>		<Gallery>
		+	File:Bernhard_Holger_Jacobsen.png|Bernhard Holger Jacobsen (1890)
	File:Ove_Ekman_portrait.jpg|Ove Ekman (1898)		File:Ove_Ekman_portrait.jpg|Ove Ekman (1898)
	File:Oslo_Cirkus_map.png|Map showing the Cirkus Vardensteater in Kristiania (1902)		File:Oslo_Cirkus_map.png|Map showing the Cirkus Vardensteater in Kristiania (1902)
−	File:Cirkus_Verdensteater_Christiania.jpg|Cirkus Vardensteater in Christiania (c.1905)	+	File:Oslo_Cirkus_modern_map.png|Map showing the old emplacement of the Cirkus Vardensteater in today's Oslo.
−	File:Schumann_Oslo.jpg|Cirkus Schumann at the Cirkus Vardensteater (c.1925)	+	File:Cirkus_Verdensteater_Christiania.jpg|Cirkus Vardensteater in kristiania (c.1905)
		+	File:Orlando_Tigers_in_Oslo.jpg|Cirkus Orlando's tiger act at Cirkus Vardensteater in kristiania (c.1908)
		+	File:Oslo_Cirkus_Verdensteater.png|Cirkus_Verdensteater (c.1930)
		+	File:Schumann_Oslo.jpg|Cirkus Schumann at the Cirkus Vardensteater (1935)
	File:Interior_-_Cirkus_Verdensteater.jpg|Last performance of Cirkus Schumann at the Cirkus Verdensteater (1935)		File:Interior_-_Cirkus_Verdensteater.jpg|Last performance of Cirkus Schumann at the Cirkus Verdensteater (1935)
	</Gallery>		</Gallery>
	[[Category:Circuses|Cirkus Verdensteater (Oslo)]]		[[Category:Circuses|Cirkus Verdensteater (Oslo)]]

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Latest revision as of 00:06, 30 June 2025

By Dominique Jando

From 1890 to 1935, Oslo, the capital of Norway, housed a magnificent circus building known as the Cirkus Verdensteater ("Circus World Theater"). It was located at the corner of Klingenberggata and Bakkegaden, in the old Vika neighborhood, and adjacent to the Tivoli Gardens—a part of the city that completely disappeared when this area was demolished and rebuilt in the 1930s. The circus stood approximately where the Klingenberg movie theater is now, in the middle of the present Olav V Gate.

At the time of the circus's construction(French) A temporary circus building, originally made of wood and canvas, and later, of steel elements supporting a canvas top and wooden wall. Also known as a "semi-construction.", the city was still called Kristiania (it will become Oslo in 1925), and the circus was known originally as Cirkusbygningen i Kristiania ("Kristiania's circus building"). It was built by a Danish businessman named Bernhard Holger Jacobsen (1866-1933), who had purchased the piece of land on which the Tivoli Gardens stood in 1887. The Tivoli Gardens were a place of entertainment with, among other attractions, a restaurant, a cabaret called Le Chat Noir (after Paris's famous cabaret in Montmartre), and a small theater. The Gardens also welcomed visiting circuses in various wooden structures, and Jacobsen thought building a large permanent circus there would be a good business move.

The architect he chose was Ove Laurentius Ekman (1847-1921), who had designed several buildings in Kristiana, none of which of great significance: The Cirkusbygningen was to be his now-vanished masterpiece. It was a massive structure of red brick, with a monumental stone façade in the Neo-Renaissance style fashionable at the time, which opened on a vast foyer. The entire building occupied a total surface of 3,200 square meters (3,827 square yards). The house itself was 40 meters in diameter (131.23 feet), with a cupola that culminated at 32 meters (105 feet).

It could accommodate 2,500 spectators, with four rows of seats around the ring and a row of boxes just behind them, and a third category with six rows of seats on the upper level divided in two categories, and a promenoir (standing room gallery) on two levels. The circus had a metallic infrastructure, with metallic columns supported the cupola on the periphery behind the boxes. The orchestra was positioned above the ring entrance, with a large "royal box" facing it. The rest of the building housed the stables, storage rooms, dressing rooms for the performers, and the administration. It was heated with hot air and equipped with electric lighting: It was quite state-of-the-art for its time. The total cost of the construction(French) A temporary circus building, originally made of wood and canvas, and later, of steel elements supporting a canvas top and wooden wall. Also known as a "semi-construction." amounted to 300,000 kronen, quite a significant amount at the time.

A Polyvalent Venue

Holger Jacobsen, who owned the Tivoli Gardens and the circus until 1897, was not himself a showman, and the Cirkusbygningen had been built principally to accommodate independent, often foreign, circus companies visiting Oslo. It opened with great fanfare on March 15, 1890, with Gothold Schumann's renowned Cirkus Schumann, which was then based in Sweden and had often shown in Oslo. Gothold's son and successor, Max, and Max's sons and grandsons, would bring Cirkus Schumann again to Oslo the three following years, and another time in 1896. The demolition of the building to make place for the new Vika neighborhood happened in 1935: closing a chapter it had opened, Cirkus Schumann returned to Oslo that year, the last circus to perform in the building—after a long hiatus when it had been used for other purposes.

Since it had no permanent company, the circus quickly became a multivalent performing space, hosting activities that were not necessarily related to its original function (thus its later name, Cirkus Verdensteater): In 1896, for instance, it presented the first cinema performance in Norway, and will be used as a movie theater quite often, notably in its latter years. It became also well-known and appreciated for its music concerts—and its own resident orchestra had been led by such guest conductors as the celebrated Norwegian composers Johan Svendsen (1840–1911) and Edvard Grieg (1843–1907).

Nonetheless, visiting circuses still performed in the building. Besides Cirkus Schumann, which remained an occasional visitor, the Cirkus Verdensteater hosted, over the years, Circus Corty-Althoff, Cirkus Kolzer, Circus Beketov, William Caspar's Cirque du Nord, Circus Carré, Circus Ed. Wulff, Hippolyte Houcke's Nouveau Cirque, Cirkus Orlando, Andrea Ciniselli's Circus Ciniselli, among others, and Circus Hagenbeck in 1916—the last tenant before a long hiatus that will be broken only with the final return of the Schumanns in 1935.

Unfortunately, Vika, the part of the city in which the circus stood was quite ancient and in need of remodeling. When it was decided in 1916 that a new City Hall would be built in that neighborhood, the old, dilapidated buildings that still stood in the area had to disappear to allow a modern redesign of the district. The Tivoli Gardens and the Cirkus Verdensteater were for some time the last surviving buildings, until they were eventually demolished in 1935, never to be replaced.

Suggested Reading

• Geir Støre, Kristiania tivoli & cirkus (Oslo, Brød & Cirkus, 2021) — ISBN 978-82-303-4913-7

Image Gallery

• 

  Bernhard Holger Jacobsen (1890)

• 

  Ove Ekman (1898)

• 

  Map showing the Cirkus Vardensteater in Kristiania (1902)

• 

  Map showing the old emplacement of the Cirkus Vardensteater in today's Oslo.

• 

  Cirkus Vardensteater in kristiania (c.1905)

• 

  Cirkus Orlando's tiger act at Cirkus Vardensteater in kristiania (c.1908)

• 

  Cirkus_Verdensteater (c.1930)

• 

  Cirkus Schumann at the Cirkus Vardensteater (1935)

• 

  Last performance of Cirkus Schumann at the Cirkus Verdensteater (1935)