Circus Krone (Established 1905)
Dates
- Existence: Established 1905
Biography
Circus Krone was founded by Carl Krone (1870-1943) in 1905, after he inherited his father’s Continental Menagerie in 1900. In 1919 Krone commissioned a permanent wooden structure in Munich to serve as a performance venue in the winter season and the circus’ headquarters. During the summer season when Krone went back on the road, the building was hired out for events and between 1920 and 1930 it was infamously used by the Nazi Party to deliver political speeches, including seven by Hitler himself.
The circus continued operating throughout the Second World War until in 1944 the building was destroyed by heavy allied bombardment. The following year a temporary structure was built in its place at the request of U.S. allied forces who wanted to present a show to General George S. Patton. Although the Krone family were able to go back to the business, this was only for a short time as the building was confiscated by the American governors between 1946 and 1948. Eventually, the building was returned to the family, which at this point the business was in the hands of Carl’s daughter Frieda Sembach-Krone and her husband Carl Sembach. The erection of a replacement permanent building however was not completed until 1962.
Between 1959 and 2008, the Circus Krone Building hosted the annual televised German gala, Stars in der Manege. During the 1960s and 1970s it hosted some of the biggest popular music names of all times including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and AC/DC and a range of international personalities such as Muhammad Ali.
Circus Krone remains one of the largest in Europe and one of the few in Western Europe, along with Cirque d'hiver, Cirque d'hiver d'Amiens, Cirque Roya, Yarmouth Hippodrome and Blackpool Tower Circus to occupy a permanent building.
Circus Krone remains in the same family to this day and continues to operate the same business model as at is inception, travelling during the summer season while renting the building out, and delivering the family’s circus shows in the winter season.
Found in 5 Collections and/or Records:
Christopher Palmer Collection
Circus programmes and VHS tapes from Billy Smart’s Circus and Chipperfields’s Circus collected during the 1970s and early 1980s by the TV producer, Christopher John Palmer. There are also a number of promotional photographs of artistes and other ephemera related to the circus.
Circus Friends Association Collection
This collection consists of a large library of books and journals, as well as archival material including posters, programmes, photographs, films, handbills, research material, scrapbooks, original artwork and many other items of ephemera relating to British, Irish and European circuses
Cyril Critchlow Collection
Digger Pugh Collection
Archive of the Digger Pugh family including newspaper cuttings, photographs, negatives, business records, programmes, research material, posters and films.
Posters, c1887 - 2010
Circus, variety, pantomime and magic posters including Argyle theatre, Liverpool Empire, Blackpool Tower Circus, Robert Brothers, Austen Brothers, Sorcar, Vesta Tilley, Ken Dodd, Dan Leno, Florrie Forde and others.