Difference between revisions of "The Blumenfeld Family"

Circus Owners, Equestrians, Animal Trainers, Artists

By Dominique Jando

The huge Blumenfeld family holds an important place in German and European circus history. One of the three major German-Jewish circus dynasties before World War II—along with the Strassburgers and the Lorches—the Blumenfelds were driven to bankruptcy and then brutally decimated by the Nazis. Before that tragedy, they had been a highly respected family of talented acrobats, equestrians, and circus owners. Although some members of the family resurfaced after World War II, the Blumenfelds were never able to reclaim the position they had once held in the circus world.

The Blumenfelds are allied with several other prominent Jewish families, such as the Goldkettes (Brönett), Strassburgers, the Lorches, and the Könyots. The Blumenfelds always married within their faith and, at times, like the Rothschilds, within their family—with perhaps the notable exceptions of Erich Blumenfeld, the youngest son of Simon Blumenfeld, who married Fanny Houcke, from the Franco-Swedish Houcke family, and his brother Alex, whose wife, Eugenie, came from an old Italian circus family, the Cardinales.

Since Hirsch Blumenfeld (1788-1867), founder of the performing dynasty, created his circus in the mid-nineteenth century, many of his descendants have operated several different circuses under the Blumenfeld name. Hirsch had a large family that developed many branches, and it can be sometimes difficult to determine which branch a given Blumenfeld belonged to. The Blumenfeld circus owners, however, shared one defining trait: they were equestrians who served the equestrian circus tradition with distinction, even as the circus-menagerie was becoming the norm in Germany by the beginning of the twentieth century.

Cerf Blumenfeld

Hirsch Blumenfeld was born Hirsch Levy in 1788 in Isenburg, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, one of the many German states. His parents were Levy Wolf (1770-1828), a Jewish cantor, and his wife Rosa (Rösgen), née Cahn (?-1840). The Blumenfeld patronym came later: under Jewish naming tradition, a son took his father’s given name as a patronym, so Hirsch, as Levy’s son, became Hirsch Levy. Hirsch didn't embrace his father's calling: He became instead a traveling entertainer, an occupation that had attracted many of his coreligionists over the centuries.

Hirsch Levy married Henriette (Jetta) Jonas (1789-1853), a native of Neuwied, in the Rhineland Palatinate, south of Bonn. Hirsch and Jetta raised a large family of eight children: Emanuel (1811-1885), Meyer (1815-1894), Sophia (1816-?), David (1818-1893), Joseph (1820-1820), Mina (1821-?), Moritz (1825-1895), and Simon (1828-1911)—starting a tradition of exceptionally large families among their descendants.

Later, in 1846, a regulation was introduced in Prussia, where the family had settled, demanding that Jewish families adopt a steady patronym. Family lore tells us that, when Hirsch declared the name Bumenfeld to the Prussian authorities, he chose his new patronym because he saw a field full of flowers (or blumen Feld in German) through the clerk's window: Hence the Blumenfeld family was born. Si non è vero, è bien trovato! (Even if not true, it's a good story).

Hirsch Blumenfeld eventually moved from traveling entertainer to traveling circus owner. For reasons unknown, he professionally adopted Cerf (Stag), the French translation of Hirsch, as his first name, and he became known to the circus world as Cerf Blumenfeld. The year of the first Zirkus Blumenfeld’s creation was probably in 1845: On April 9 of that year, a Bonn chronicle announced the opening of “the Equestrian Circus of Mr. Cerf from Combahn with 17 horses” (Combahn is a village on the Rhine, south of Bonn, where the Blumenfelds had settled). This is the earliest known reference to a Blumenfeld circus. From the outset, it was a true equestrian circus, establishing a tradition the family would continue to uphold.

After Jetta’s death in 1853, Hirsch remarried to Sara von Geldern (1817–1896), with whom he had two more sons, Emil (1855–1895) and Aron Alexander (1861–1942). The marriage brought the family to a considerable size: Hirsch now had seven surviving sons, many of whom would go on to found large families of their own, thus giving rise to the numerous branches of the Blumenfeld dynasty.

Cerf Blumenfeld's large family provided the backbone of the programs, which appear to have been of good quality, and the circus grew steadily. The first written review of the show came from the town of Hanau, in Hesse: "An aesthetic treat, as it has been missed here for many years, is now provided by the equestrian company of Mr. Blumenfeld. […] Stylish costumes and beautiful horses are also a treat for the spectator's eyes." By then, the company had 32 performers and 24 horses.

Cerf Blumenfeld died on August 16, 1867, in Eberstadt, near Darmstadt in Hesse, where his circus may have been performing at the time. It is unclear whether some of his sons took over their father’s circus after his death or had already left to establish circuses of their own. It is known that in 1866, one year before Cerf's death, there was a Cirque Equestre managed by the Blumenfeld Brothers, which could have been either their father's circus, or a new one.

The Many Blumenfeld Circuses

Be that as it may, the family eventually dispersed, and several circuses bearing the Blumenfeld name appeared across Germany with varying degrees of success. Some became major German traveling circuses of their era—including Emanuel Blumenfeld’s circus, which survived him under the management of his widow and then his sons; it was to become the Circus Blumenfeld of reference and will be treated later. Nevertheless, many others Circus Blumenfeld are worth mentioning.

Zirkus Blumenfeld & Söhne, created by Meyer Blumenfeld, Emanuel's younger brother, was active between 1884 and 1892. Meyer had married twice. His first wife was Setta Hartog (!814-1852), the sister of Jette Hartog, Emanuel's wife: both brothers married the same day, on January 24, 1839. Meyer and Setta had five children, Leopold (1841-1901), Minna (b. 1843), Josef (b.1845), Nathan (1846-1852), and Sofie; then, after Setta's death, Meyer married Gundula Sara Jonas (b.1812), who gave him another son, Jansly (Samson) (1853-1935). In turn, Jansly and Leopold created two major traveling circuses.

In 1844, Jansly Blumenfeld, who had married his cousin Wilhelmine, daughter of his uncle David, operated Circus Jansly & Leo with his brother Leopold. It became Circus Jansly the following year, when Leopold left to establish his own circus. Active from 1885 to 1901, Circus Jansly suffered a devastating train accident and a stable fire in 1900, which killed many of its horses. After a run of forty-six years, the circus could not survive these catastrophes and closed in Berlin in 1901.

Leopold Blumenfeld created his circus in 1885, and it survived his 1901 death—initially under the management of his widow, Bertha Blumenfeld. Bertha was Leopold's third wife. He had married first Lisette Gutschmidt, followed in 1868 by Caroline Hirsch (1850–1883), and after Caroline's death, Bertha Halmschlag (1854-1913). Leopold had one son with Lisette Gutschmidt, Hartwig (1867-1927), and six more children with Caroline Hirsch: Lisette (Setta, 1871-1943), Emil (1874-1952), Adolf (1876-1933), Max (1879-1916), Wilhelm (Willy, 1881-1955), and Gerhard (Georg, 1878-?).

Because Leopold had no children with Bertha, her claim to the circus became uncertain. Caroline’s children—Adolf, Emil, and Lisette—reclaimed it, and it eventually came under the sole management of Lisette (Setta) Blumenfeld. At the time, Setta was married to the circus performer August Gerausch, known as Varinelli, with whom she had four children: Leo Ludwig (1890-1964), Amanda (1905-1942), Arthur (1911-1919), and Alfons. Later, probably in the early 1920s, she formed a couple with her cousin Louis Blumenfeld (1866-1943), a son of Emanuel Blumenfeld; together they had a daughter, also named Lisette.

Setta Blumenfeld's circus had a long and rich career. It traveled under the title Großer Zirkus Blumenfeld, and sometimes as Circus Louis Blumenfeld, although Louis never held part ownership of the circus. The circus eventually passed under the management of Setta's elder son, Leo Gerausch, who closed it in 1926, while Germany was still under the Weimar Republic, because of the financial difficulties caused by a dire economic period. Leopold's other sons, Hartwig, Willy, and Gerhard also exploited smaller circuses in the 1920s, and Cerf Blumenfeld's third son, David, toured a circus for some time.

Another son of Cerf Blumenfeld, Moritz, also became an important circus owner. Moritz had married Sara Haymann (1833-1901) with whom he had no less than thirteen children: Ludwig (1854-1928), Helene (1855-1933), Diena (b.1859), Rosina (1860-1931), Amanda (1864-1935), Karl (1866-1940), Hermann (1868-1916), Adele (1871-1906), Rudolf (1875-1942), Virginia, Bertha, Kätchen, and Ernestine. This was to form a solid backbone for his circus company! He created his circus in 1865, and was successful enough to retire comfortably in 1886, at age sixty-one. Two years before, he had handed the management of his circus to his son Ludwig, who exploited it for only three years before auctioning it in 1887. He too retired comfortably, at age thirty-four!

All these Blumenfeld circuses presented a wide range of high-quality equestrian acts, particularly original liberty"Liberty act", "Horses at liberty": Unmounted horses presented from the center of the ring by an equestrian directing his charges with his voice, body movements, and signals from a ''chambrière'' (French), or long whip. displays, which became the hallmark of the Blumenfeld name and were often featured in the winter programs of Europe's resident circuses. The larger Blumenfeld circuses also offered rich and varied productions, which included popular equestrian pantomimes such as the inescapable Mazeppa, alongside other large-scale spectacles.

Large families such as that of Moritz Blumenfeld also produced outstanding acrobatic and aerial performers, whose acts were held in high demand. Contemporary photographs reveal another characteristic of the dynasty: The Blumenfelds were invariably elegant, both in and out of the ring. In every sense, they embodied the aristocracy of the circus world.

Zirkus E. Blumenfeld

Emanuel Blumenfeld created the most successful and longest lasting of all the Blumenfeld circuses. As the eldest of Cerf's children, he may well have been his father's successor, since his own Zirkus E. Blumenfeld appeared in August 1867, around the date of his father's death. Born March 1, 1811, in Bremke, a small village near Göttingen, in southern Lower Saxony, he was twenty-eight when he married Jette (Hitzelchen) Hartog (1817-c.1850) on January 24, 1839, in a dual ceremony with his brother Meyer, who married Jette's sister Setta.

Like his brother Moritz, Emanuel would eventually preside over an exceptionally large family. His first wife, Jette, bore him five children: Moritz (b. 1844), Leopold (b. 1845), Meyer (1847-1892), Wolf (1849-1906), and Wilhelmine (Minna, b. 1850). When Jette died unexpectedly around 1850, perhaps soon after Minna's birth, Emanuel was left with five very young children and no one to mother them. He found a second wife in Jeanette Stein (1831-1896), who was twenty years his junior.

Jeanette gave Emanuel ten more children: Olympia (b.1852), Henriette (1853-1914, who married Leopold Könyot), Max (b.1855), Jonas (1855-1859), Simon (1857-1918, who married Rosa Strassburger), Alexander (Simson, 1859-1921), Adolf David (1863-1913), Louis (1866-1943, who married his cousin Setta Blumenfeld-Gerausch, and died in deportation), Hermann (1868-1933, who married his niece Betty Blumenfeld, daughter of his brother Simon), and Amanda. In 1881, a journalist described Jeanette Blumenfeld as "a truly Jewish woman with iron strength and a heart of gold, [who] kept her sons and daughters, her daughter-in-law and grandchildren in strict discipline."

Emanuel established his circus’s base in the province of Westphalia, in Prussia, and during its early years Zirkus E. Blumenfeld toured the Kingdom of Prussia exclusively. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 brought a major disruption: Emanuel’s elder sons Moritz, Leopold, and Meyer, enrolled in the army. Their military service may have encouraged a greater sense of independence, and they eventually left the family circus. Emanuel died in Tilsit, where the circus was performing, on May 23, 1885. Jeanette, whose strength of character suggests that she had likely been involved in managing the circus alongside her husband despite her many duties as a mother, took over its direction.

With such a large family, Jeanette had the support she needed to run the circus. Simon, Alexander, and Louis oversaw day-to-day operations; Adolf became general manager; and Hermann, as advance man, organized the tours. Under her management, the circus grew in importance, and its stables—always a distinctive Blumenfeld asset—doubled in size. The circus also changed its name to Zirkus E. Blumenfeld Wwe (Circus E. Blumenfeld Widow). In 1891, the family moved to much-needed larger winter quarters in the town of Gurhau, in Lower Silesia (today Góra, in Poland), where they had found a large ensemble of abandoned military stables.

Jeanette Blumenfeld died in Gurhau on April 30, 1896, at age sixty-one. Her death might have led to the breakup of the enterprise and a new proliferation of Blumenfeld circuses, but Emanuel and Jeanette, however, had foreseen that possibility: They wrote a will in 1872 that established a clear succession, both for the circus business and for the family’s responsibilities. It not only defined the siblings' positions and tasks in the running of the circus—which, it specified, couldn't be dismantled or split between them—but also, their commitment to their family and to their Jewish faith. Jeanette's strong hand is apparent in such a strictly ordered will, and its provisions were duly followed by her descendants.

Enter The Magdeburg Generation

Under Jeanette's ownership, the circus had been managed by Simon, Alexander, Adolf, and Hermann, and the four brothers remained at the helm of the enterprise (Louis was soon to leave the family). Not as prolific progenitors as their father, Alexander, Adolf and Hermann didn't produce a large descendance, but Simon did, and his progeny, which would become known as the "Magdeburg branch," would constitute the next Blumenfeld generation of circus directors.

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 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 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—and always respecting their fellow performers—for they were indeed performers themselves: In a 1898 program, one could see Hermann and Betty riding in haute-école(French) A display of equestrian dressage by a rider mounting a horse and leading it into classic moves and steps. (See also: High School), Louis and Setta performing a pas-de-deux on horseback, and Alexandre presenting the liberty"Liberty act", "Horses at liberty": Unmounted horses presented from the center of the ring by an equestrian directing his charges with his voice, body movements, and signals from a ''chambrière'' (French), or long whip. 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 topThe circus tent. America: The main tent of a traveling circus, where the show is performed, as opposed to the other tops. (French, Russian: Chapiteau) instead of a wooden 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." 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.

Their shows often ended with spectacular equestrian pantomimes (known as "hippodramas") in which they could display their magnificent horses. As the Knies and some others would do much later, the Blumenfelds invited the public to watch their training sessions. At a time when horses still held an important place in everyday life and the public at large was fascinated by great horsemanship, this was excellent publicity indeed—especially for a circus where horsemanship was still served with outstanding talent.

In 1911, Zirkus E. Blumenfeld celebrated its 100th anniversary. Emanuel's circus had been created in 1867, after the death of Cerf Blumenfeld and, although it may be considered the continuation of Cerf's circus, the date of the latter's creation was around 1840. None of these anniversaries worked, so the date chosen for this advertising stunt was the year of Emanuel's birth, 1811. Be that as it may, it worked, and this pseudo-centennial was duly celebrated with special events, including a banquet in Magdeburg with the city's representatives in attendance—a good indication that the Blumenfelds were seen as important citizens of their home city.

Meanwhile, the German animal importer Carl Hagenbeck (1844-1913), the most important animal dealer of his time (he provided animals to zoos and circuses worldwide), had started a traveling circus in 1887 that included an important menagerie of exotic and wild animals—some of which were presented performing in the show—as well of exhibitions of exotic tribes from the "mysterious" lands of Africa, Asia, and even America (with tribes of Native Americans)!

Then, in 1897, the giant American Barnum and Bailey Circus began an extended European tour that lasted until 1905. Its enormous menagerie impressed European audiences at a time when colonial expansion had intensified public fascination with everything exotic, particularly animals. It encouraged German circuses and traveling menagerie owners such as Carl Krone to follow Hagenbeck's example and develop into the circus-menagerie enterprises that would characterize the German circus industry until World War II.

The Blumenfelds were no exception to this trend. In 1912, the brothers added a menagerie to their previously equestrian circus and began to present animal acts other than horses. They acquired four elephants and a collection of exotic and wild animals that included a hippopotamus, but they refrained from presenting cage acts in their programs until 1936. Their important stables were still full, and their renowned equestrian acts remained their circus's main attraction(Russian) A circus act that can occupy up to the entire second half of a circus performance..

Then, on June 28, 1914, a Serb nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. This led Austria-Hungary to declare war to Serbia one month later, on July 28. Russia then entered the conflict to support Serbia, which led to a domino effect in the complicated system of European alliances: France and England joined the war on Russia's side, followed by Italy, and Germany did the same on Austria-Hungary's side with Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. This situation had disastrous repercussions on the circus industry.

The Blumenfelds had a special relation with the Military: They considered their duty, as German citizens, to serve in the army, and several of Simon's sons enlisted wholeheartedly. Many circus workers dis the same, or were drafted, and foreign artists from enemy countries had to leave Germany or been interned. Then, the Army, which still relied largely on horse-powered transport, requisitioned the Blumenfelds’ horses, as well as their tents. Under these conditions, and with rail travel strictly regulated to give priority to army transports, touring had become impossible, and the Blumenfelds closed their traveling circus. They had, however, a safe retreat.

The Great War and The Magdeburg Circus

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—before Schumann opened his own circus building in the Prussian capital. A master-carpenter, he had already erected a wooden "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."" 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.

The Blumenfelds performed there in the fall of 1904. It was after Hahn’s death, and the building—by then in disrepair—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.

Thus, when World War I broke out and the Blumenfelds had effectively lost their traveling enterprise, they returned home to Magdeburg in March 1914. Earlier that year, they had succeeded in purchasing the land on which the circus stood, thus becoming full owners of the property. Since the European theater of war was soon confined to a line of fortified trenches stretching from the English Channel to Switzerland, Germany’s interior remained unaffected. The Blumenfelds were therefore able to rent out the building, though for purposes other than circus performances; they even converted it into a movie house.

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

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!

They purchased a large big topThe circus tent. America: The main tent of a traveling circus, where the show is performed, as opposed to the other tops. (French, Russian: Chapiteau), 44 meters in diameter (about 144 feet), with a capacity of 2,000, which placed the circus in the category of major enterprises—although it would pale in comparison with such giants as Krone, Sarrasani, Gleich, and even the circus of their Strassburger cousins. Alex, Alfons and Arthur Blumenfeld still could count on their large family for help. Their brothers Fritz and Alfred took care of the administration, Eugen oversaw the all-important concession department, and other members of the family were at hand to help and to perform in the show.

The new Blumenfeld circus debuted in Dessau, not far from Magdeburg, on April 3, 1920. The program was rich in family members: Alfons presented liberty"Liberty act", "Horses at liberty": Unmounted horses presented from the center of the ring by an equestrian directing his charges with his voice, body movements, and signals from a ''chambrière'' (French), or long whip. acts with Amanda Lorch, Willy rode in haute-école(French) A display of equestrian dressage by a rider mounting a horse and leading it into classic moves and steps. (See also: High School) with his sister-in-law and cousin Victoria (Arthur's wife) and doubled as the clown Kucki , and Arthur, riding a horse, presented a couple of trained bulls. There were of course a good number of quality acts hired for the season, including a teeterboardA seesaw made of wood, or fiberglass poles tied together, which is used to propel acrobats in the air. troupe and a motorcycle thrill actA spectacular act that focuses on the display of danger, whether real or staged.. In November, for the winter season, the Blumenfeld brothers returned to their Magdeburg circus, which finally resumed the purpose for which it had originally been built: the presentation of circus shows.

The immediate postwar years were marked by the Spanish flu pandemic, which claimed some fifty million lives worldwide, and Europe was not spared. Yet after a long and devastating war that had killed about twenty million people, European audiences were eager for escapist entertainment. Pandemic or not, the interwar years proved exceptionally favorable to circus and variety, and the Blumenfelds, like other circus owners, benefited from that sudden enthusiasm. The postwar years, however, also brought a major economic problem.

During the war, Germany had experienced severe inflation, with prices practically doubling. To ease the problem, the Kaiser's government had abandoned its gold-backed currency, certain as it was that Germany would win the war. The outcome however was not what it had expected, and the postwar Weimar government had now to pay considerable reparations to the Allies in gold-backed currency. This quickly created a domino effect that led to hyperinflation: The Deutschmark collapsed, and by 1922, prices had risen by 700%!

Yet, after years of touring successfully a well-managed circus, the Magdeburg Blumenfelds were relatively wealthy and, like most of European traveling circus families, they didn't put all their money in the bank: They followed the age-old tradition of their profession by converting it in gold or diamonds, which they kept hidden in their living trailers. However, if the depreciation of the Deutschmark didn't hit their accumulated wealth, the money they got at the box-office in Germany was worthless. For many German circuses, the solution was to travel abroad to replenish their coffers. Sarrasani went to South America, Krone and Gleich travelled all over Europe…

Likewise, the Blumenfelds looked beyond Germany. They visited the Baltic States and rented out some of their animal and equestrian acts abroad. They even managed an engagement of their animal acts for a winter tour of the Russian circus buildings in 1925-1926: Since circus, like all performing arts, had been nationalized in 1919 by the new Soviet government, the country’s ten resident circuses—including two in Moscow—needed artists to fill their programs. Confronted to a scarcity of Russian performers (the new State Circus College had still to produce them), the Soviet Committee for the Arts turned to Germany, one of the few countries with which Russia still maintained good relations, and the Blumenfelds seized the opportunity.

Upon their return from what had been a rewarding Russian tour, the Blumenfelds bought new wagons and new tents; their menagerie housed then forty-five horses, two elephants, four camels, three llamas, and two bulls. But the political situation in Germany was changing: In the mid-1920s, the NSDAP (Nazi party), which had been until then a small right-wing movement, began to compete in elections to undermine the German democratic government of the Republic of Weimar, and started to gain power through grassroots campaigning, propaganda, and political violence. With it came a morbid rise of antisemitism: The Nazis blamed Jews and communists for many of Germany’s postwar problems, and they called for a strong Germany free of Jews, starting with the boycott of Jewish enterprises.

Gau Anhalt-North Saxony, created by the Nazis in 1926 to streamline their party organization, was renamed Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt two years later, confirming Magdeburg as a center of Nazi activity. The Nazi-led boycott of Jewish businesses, often enforced through intimidation, struck the Blumenfelds at a time when Germany was also facing a deep financial crisis—one the Nazis exploited to intensify antisemitism. The resulting hardship became evident during the 1927 tour. After trying ticket discounts and other advertising measures, the Blumenfelds announced that, "Due to the unfavorable financial situation, the circus has decided to discontinue its activities."

They were not the only circus to call it quits; between 1926 and 1930, seven German circuses declared bankruptcy, including that of their Lorch cousins. The Blumenfelds, however, were a powerful circus family with a permanent base in a major German city, where they had long been respected citizens. Unfortunately, Magdeburg had fallen increasingly under Nazi influence, and their circus building, like their touring show, was no longer profitable. They therefore attempted to sell it to the municipality.

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 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-schoolA display of equestrian dressage by a rider mounting a horse and leading it into classic moves and steps. (From the French: Haute école) rider with his daughter Ruth and presented liberty"Liberty act", "Horses at liberty": Unmounted horses presented from the center of the ring by an equestrian directing his charges with his voice, body movements, and signals from a ''chambrière'' (French), or long whip. acts; Alfred Blumenfeld went to work as manager of Circus Dominik Althoff, then presented liberty"Liberty act", "Horses at liberty": Unmounted horses presented from the center of the ring by an equestrian directing his charges with his voice, body movements, and signals from a ''chambrière'' (French), or long whip. horses on tour with Arthur at Circus Adolf Fischer, another German circus, of which Eugen Blumenfeld had become the artistic director.

Erich Blumenfeld went to France, where he married Fanny Houcke and became a member of the Houcke family (which would soon relocate in Sweden). Fritz Blumenfeld worked in the administration of several circuses and became the private secretary of Julius Gleich, then of Dominik Althoff, and in 1939-40, of the Dutch circus impresario Franz Mikkenie, who will soon help the Strassburgers to survive the war in The Netherlands. Willy continued to be the clown Kucki in the circus of their cousins Strassburger before they were forced to sell it to Paula Busch; he would later commit suicide in Auschwitz.

Hitler came to power in 1933, and the Nazi Party now ruled Germany. Circus performers’ unions and directors’ organizations disappeared, and circus and variety artists had to join the newly created, Nazi-controlled “Artistik” union if they wanted to work. Several circus owners soon joined the Nazi Party to protect their interests, with the notable exceptions of Hans-Stosch Sarrasani—although his son would do so after his father’s death—and Dominik Althoff and his children. In 1935, the Nazi government announced the Nuremberg Laws, which formalized its racial theories; by 1937-1938, Jews were forced to identify themselves, notably by wearing the infamous yellow Star of David, further segregating them from the rest of the German population.

All Jewish performers (among whom the many Blumenfelds still living in Germany) began to be victims of the Nazis' violent antisemitism. Several Blumenfelds went to perform in Scandinavia, England or America, where they settled. When Simon Blumenfeld's family purchased the Magdeburg circus, the city became home to other members of the large Blumenfeld family. Louis and Setta Blumenfeld had settled in Magdeburg with the Gerausch family; in 1940 they were forced to move in a "Jewish House".

Louis and Setta were then deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto in Terezin, Czechoslovakia. Louis died there in 1942. Setta was later transferred to Auschwitz, where she was killed. Other Magdeburg residents, Setta's daughter, Amanda Gerausch, and Ulrich Blumenfeld, a son of Hermann and Betty Blumenfeld, were also deported that year. Rosa Strassburger-Blumenfeld, Simon's widow, died in the Theresienstadt Ghetto in 1943, and seven of her children died in deportation; her daughter Alice committed suicide to avoid deportation.

Obviously, Alex, Alfons and Arthur Blumenfeld, the former directors of the Zirkus Geb. Blumenfeld jun., were not immune to these attacks. In 1937, Alex was in engagement in Denmark, and from there he moved first to Belgium, and then to France, where he tried to obtain a permit to enter neutral Sweden or Great Britain. Before he could see any positive outcome, the war broke out and France was occupied by Nazi Germany. The old Marshall Pétain, now the French president, and his Vichy government were as much rabid antisemites as the occupant, and Jews, especially foreign Jews, were immediately prosecuted.

Alex was arrested as an "enemy alien" and interned in the camp of Saint Cyprien, in Dordogne (southwest France). His wife, Eugenie, had remained in Belgium, and the fact she was of Italian descent (Cardinale) protected her. Alex could correspond with her, but he was soon moved to other camps, and then to the notorious internment camp in the Paris suburb of Drancy, which was a gateway to Auschwitz; he was sent there in August 1942, never to return.

Alfons Blumenfeld also emigrated to Paris, together with his wife Olympia, née Könyot, in December 1938. Like his brother Alex, Alfons was there with his wife when the war broke out and the Germans occupied France. They were immediately arrested by the French police; Olympia was interned in the camp of Rivesaltes, near Perpignan in southwestern France, and Alfons was interned in the concentration camp of Bram, near Carcassonne, and later to Drancy. Both were finally sent to Auschwitz, where they were killed.

Their daughter Ruth, who had married to Ludwig Berouzek, scion of a famous Czech circus dynasty, was deported to Auschwitz, where she was killed in 1942. (Ludwig, whom she had divorced, had emigrated to the United States.) Before being arrested, Ruth had put their daughter, Vardia, in the care of a French family: Vardia survived the war.

Arthur Blumenfeld and his wife Victoria (also born Blumenfeld) and his two daughters Rita and Eva, settled in Berlin in 1933. Playing with the unusual similarity of their names, Victoria managed to register herself as an adopted child of unknown Aryan origin. Their union became therefore a "mixed marriage," which made the family safe from deportation, even though the German authorities subjected Arthur to the usual discriminations, like forced labor and the wearing of the Jewish yellow star. But they survived…

Many other members of the extended Blumenfeld family were killed during this dark period: It is estimated that 150 members of the entire family were assassinated between 1933 and 1945. Arthur Blumenfeld lost nine brothers and sisters during that time: He and his sister Jeanette, who lived in England, were the only survivors of Simon and Rosa Blumenfeld's eleven children!

Epilogue

After the end of World War II, Arthur and Victoria tried to restart the Circus Blumenfeld. With the help of the Soviet authorities, which now controlled East Germany and most of Berlin, they managed to acquire the equipment of the bankrupt circus of Gustav Brumbach, which included a four-pole big topThe circus tent. America: The main tent of a traveling circus, where the show is performed, as opposed to the other tops. (French, Russian: Chapiteau) and all its paraphernalia. They quickly repainted the old wagons to a Blumenfeld livery, put their name on the façade, and began to perform in Berlin in October 1945, touring the four sectors of the destroyed city.

At first, Arthur presented the circus’s only four horses, and the modest program featured a hand-to-handAn acrobatic act in which one or more acrobats do hand-balancing in the hands of an under-stander. trio, a perch-poleLong perch held vertically on a performer's shoulder or forehead, on the top of which an acrobat executes various balancing figures. balancing act, and a magician—nothing exceptional, but fitting for the times. The circus was making money, however, and by December Victoria could report that they “already had four bears, six horses, and several buffalos.” In September 1948, Arthur marked his fifty years in the ring, though there were no public celebrations: the Circus Blumenfeld of 1948 was no longer the eminent circus of the pre-Nazi era; it performed primarily for Allied troops and charitable organizations such as orphanages.

By then, there were two resident circuses in Barlin: Paula Busch had just opened a circus in the old planetarium of the Zoological Gardens in West Berlin, and Harry Barlay had erected a large "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."" on Friedrichstraße, among the ruins of Berlin Mitte, then located in the Soviet zone of East Berlin. Yet, the Blumenfelds, who were touring within the city—which didn't go without its share of problems—were very competent circus directors and could have prospered enough to take the road again.

Unfortunately, the Blockade of Berlin started on June 23, 1948, and, in an already uneasy situation, major problems began to arise, notably to find food for the animals—for which the three circuses had to resort to a very expensive black market. Eventually, some animals had to be given away, and some horses had even to be killed. The financial situation of the three circuses was dismal, even more so for the Blumenfelds, who had re-started from scratch and didn't have the reserves of Paula Busch or Harry Barley.

Arthur Blumenfeld staged his final show in 1949 at the Berlin Zoo, where he had set up his circus. Apart from the few horses he had managed to keep, the program was largely a variety show, and it was not enough to sustain the enterprise. The once prosperous and celebrated Circus Blumenfeld gave its last performance in June of that year. Arthur sold his equipment and the few animals he had left to Paula Busch. With that, the Blumenfeld name forever disappeared from the roster of German circuses.

Only a few surviving Blumenfeld performers reappeared after the war, and the family name gradually vanished from postwar German circus life. Arthur died in Berlin on December 17, 1951, at age sixty-two; some sources say he took his own life. Victoria lived for many more years, dying on August 6, 1990, at age ninety-two. They are buried with their daughter Eva in the Jewish cemetery of Weissensee, Berlin.

NOTE: The main outline of this biography was adapted from an article by Dietmar Winkler published in three instalments in the defunct German magazine Planet Circus in 2013. Several other sources were consulted, notably the books listed below.

Suggested Reading

• 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