Circus Busch (1903 - 1999)
Dates
- Existence: 1903 - 1999
Biography
Circus Busch was established by Jakob Busch (1879-1948) in Nuremberg, Germany in 1903.
Jakob was born on 5 November 1879 in Würzburg, into a family of fairground entertainers, who owned a small menagerie. Jakob started working in the family business as a child and eventually developed a strongman act. In 1903, Jakob left the family business to establish his own hybrid circus/travelling menagerie show, ‘Wild-Animal Show Circus Busch’.
The initial circus was a small outfit with a strong focus on showing animals, nevertheless it gained popularity and progressed to become one of the largest travelling circus in Europe by the mid-1900s.
By the 1920s, the circus was employing some of the most celebrated European and international circus acts of the time, it had incorporated an unusual travelling water spectacular to the show and it was touring around Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Italy.
At the end of the Second World War, Circus Busch, which was located in Saxony (Eastern Germany), found itself under communist ruling. Although initially it was allowed to operate as a private company, it was nationalised in 1951 and incorporated into the VEB Zentral-Zirkus, the State circus company of the German Democratic Republic in 1960. In spite of this the name Circus Busch retained its popularity and continued existing until the fall of the German Democratic Republic in 1990, when it was bought out by the Western German Circus Busch-Roland.
Parallel to this, in 1953, Carl Stelzenmüller, an alleged illegitimate son of Jakob Busch created the Carl Busch circus, which was bought by circus director Alfred Scholl in the early 1980s and later by Alfons Willeam (1941-2009), from the Wille circus family, who manage it today.
Found in 9 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 Bush and Bush Roland Programmes, 1952 - 1979
Circus Bush, Circus Roland and Circus Bush Roland programmes, containing colour illustrations and photographs on the front covers, inside black and white and colour photographs of perfomers and acts with text, introduction, programme and commercial advertising.
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
Photographs and Postcards, c1800 - 1999
Black and white and colour photographs, negatives and photographic albums mainly containing images of British circus, circus performers, animals and circus personalities but also some menageries such as Bostock and Wombwell and other associated entertainments and non-British circuses taken by David Jamieson, Lindsay Temple, Den Curtis, Capt. Middleton, Jack Niblett and other photographers.
Photographs of Hans Brick Animal Trainer and Circus Performers, c1900 - 1999
Black and white photographs and postcards of people, animals and performers, including a portrait photograph of Hans Brick and photographs of Circus Busch with text in German and English and a small negative.
Programmes, c1800 - 2019
A collection of mainly British and international circus programmes and some variety and music hall programmes containing circus acts.
Programmes, 1970 - 1981
Programmes for various British and international circuses including Billy Russell's, Blackpool Tower, Fossett's, Chipperfield's and the Toni Boltini's Circus.
Trade and Advertising Material, c1900 - 1999
A range of items of promotion and advertising from a range of circus companies and performers, including artistes' photographs with act descriptions used for seeking employment in circuses and pamphlets advertising independent performances and circus companies' literature and souvenirs for public distribution and promotion including Gerry Cottle's Circus, Belle Vue, Blackpool Tower, Bertram Mills Circus, Gandey's, Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey, Knie and many more.
Various Circuses' Promotional Newspapers, c1950 - 1989
Various circuses' promotional newspapers including Circus Barlay, Gleich, Amar, Pinder, Cirque Rancy, Busch, Barum, Olympia, Chipperfield and Boswell and Wilkie, containing images and text including an article on the Chinese National Circus.