Circus Busch-Roland (c1884 - 2018)
Dates
- Existence: c1884 - 2018
Biography
Circus Busch-Roland was established in 1884 in Denmark by German showman Paul Busch. In 1891 the circus relocated to Germany, first to Hamburg and four years later to a specially erected grand building in the centre of Berlin. By the 1920s the circus had passed onto Paul’s daughter Paula Busch.
In 1937, urban development involving political rivalries forced the demolition of the Busch circus building and plans to rebuild it after World War Two failed in spite of Paula’s efforts. The post war years were hard but Paula continued rebuilding the family business as a travelling circus. Circus Busch finally re-established itself in the early 1950s and started to travel around Germany and other neighbouring European countries. However, the 1960s brought about a decline in audiences and the business started to experience financial difficulties. This prompted the merge of Circus Busch and Circus Roland into Circus Busch-Roland. In 1990, after the fall of the German Democratic Republic, Bush-Roland bought the Busch name off the Eastern German Circus Bus and continued operating until 2010 when they stopped travelling.
After 2010 Circus Busch-Roland could only be seen at their annual Christmas Circus show in Dresden, which they delivered until 2018.
Found in 8 Collections and/or Records:
Busch Berlin and Roland Bremen Circus Poster, c1960 - 1969
Aachen. Featuring black and white photographs of clowns and red and yellow type.
Circus Busch Berlin and Circus Roland Bremen Programme, 1974 - 1975
Hassani-troupe acrobats, Flying Oscars trapeze and others. Contains photos, 24p.p.
Circus Busch-Roland Poster, c1980 - 1989
80th year. Colour illustration of animals and acts and photo of big top.
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
Cyril Critchlow Collection
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.
Programmes, c1800 - 2019
A collection of mainly British and international circus programmes and some variety and music hall programmes containing circus acts.