Lorch Family: Pre-WWII
The Lorch family was a highly respected Jewish circus family that owned a circus in Germany intermittently from the nineteenth century until 1930. The circus maintained winter quarters in Eschollbrücken (today part of Pfungstadt, in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg) in southern Hessen, where Hirsch Lorch and his family had settled in 1870.
Founded by Hirsch Lorch (1817-1901) in the second half of the nineteenth century, Circus Lorch was continued by his sons, Adolf (1845-1918) and Louis (1847-1924). Before the turn of the twentieth century, the brothers worked in partnership, and their Circus Gebrüder Lorch traveled principally in southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
Louis and his wife Johanna had ten children: Julius (1875-1942) and Rosa (1876-1959), Jeanette (1879-1954), Arthur (1881-1942), Helene (b.1883), Eugen (1885-1943), Adolph (1887-1940), Felix (1888-1891), Hedwig (1890-1966), and Rudolf (1893-1944). Several of them participated in the Risley act.
The family acts presented in the show included horsemanship and a remarkable Risley act performed by Louis's children. At the beginning of the twentieth century Adolf continued to manage the circus. Under his sole management, Circus Lorch lasted until the beginning of WWI. At that time Louis and his many children went on their own with their Risley act, which would acquire a towering reputation on the international circus and variety scene. With up to eleven performers (family members and partners or apprentices), and at times, horses, Louis’s Lorch Family act was one of the world’s biggest—and indeed one of the best—Risley acts.
In 1909, the Lorch Family troupe sailed to the New World, where their Risley act was featured with the Ringling Bros. Circus; it remained there until 1912, working in American vaudeville during the winter months. A true star attraction and very much sought after, the Lorch Risley act toured for nearly three decades with considerable success in Europe, the United States and South America.
Even after he stopped being an active participant in the act, Louis continued to travel with his family until his death in 1924 (in Buenos Aires, while the Lorch family participated in Circus Sarrasani’s first South American tour). His eldest son, Julius (1875-1942), succeeded him as head of the troupe. The most outstanding feats in the act were a series of three consecutive double somersaults that Julius’s son Egon (1900-1954) turned on his father’s feet, and an extremely rare triple somersault.
In 1927, the brothers Julius, Arthur and Rudolph Lorch acquired the circus of Wilhelm Althoff, which served as foundation for a new Circus Lorch. During the winter months the brothers continued to take engagements in circus and variety shows in Europe with their Risley act, which they featured in their own circus during its touring season in southern Germany. The new Circus Lorch was a medium-size circus, but it presented nonetheless high-quality programs.
Alas, the rise of the National Socialist Party (the Nazi party) in Germany, combined with its rabid anti-Semitism and a dreadful economic situation—rendered even tougher for Jewish enterprises which were systematically boycotted—made it impossible for the Lorches to continue to run their circus: They were forced into bankruptcy in 1930. (They shared this dreadful fate with other famous Jewish circus families such as the Blumenfelds and the Strassburgers.) To make matters worse, by 1933, when the Nazi Party took power in Germany, the Lorches found themselves unwelcome in their hometown of Eschollbrücken.
Hover over each photo to learn more about it.
Founded by Hirsch Lorch (1817-1901) in the second half of the nineteenth century, Circus Lorch was continued by his sons, Adolf (1845-1918) and Louis (1847-1924). Before the turn of the twentieth century, the brothers worked in partnership, and their Circus Gebrüder Lorch traveled principally in southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
Louis and his wife Johanna had ten children: Julius (1875-1942) and Rosa (1876-1959), Jeanette (1879-1954), Arthur (1881-1942), Helene (b.1883), Eugen (1885-1943), Adolph (1887-1940), Felix (1888-1891), Hedwig (1890-1966), and Rudolf (1893-1944). Several of them participated in the Risley act.
The family acts presented in the show included horsemanship and a remarkable Risley act performed by Louis's children. At the beginning of the twentieth century Adolf continued to manage the circus. Under his sole management, Circus Lorch lasted until the beginning of WWI. At that time Louis and his many children went on their own with their Risley act, which would acquire a towering reputation on the international circus and variety scene. With up to eleven performers (family members and partners or apprentices), and at times, horses, Louis’s Lorch Family act was one of the world’s biggest—and indeed one of the best—Risley acts.
In 1909, the Lorch Family troupe sailed to the New World, where their Risley act was featured with the Ringling Bros. Circus; it remained there until 1912, working in American vaudeville during the winter months. A true star attraction and very much sought after, the Lorch Risley act toured for nearly three decades with considerable success in Europe, the United States and South America.
Even after he stopped being an active participant in the act, Louis continued to travel with his family until his death in 1924 (in Buenos Aires, while the Lorch family participated in Circus Sarrasani’s first South American tour). His eldest son, Julius (1875-1942), succeeded him as head of the troupe. The most outstanding feats in the act were a series of three consecutive double somersaults that Julius’s son Egon (1900-1954) turned on his father’s feet, and an extremely rare triple somersault.
In 1927, the brothers Julius, Arthur and Rudolph Lorch acquired the circus of Wilhelm Althoff, which served as foundation for a new Circus Lorch. During the winter months the brothers continued to take engagements in circus and variety shows in Europe with their Risley act, which they featured in their own circus during its touring season in southern Germany. The new Circus Lorch was a medium-size circus, but it presented nonetheless high-quality programs.
Alas, the rise of the National Socialist Party (the Nazi party) in Germany, combined with its rabid anti-Semitism and a dreadful economic situation—rendered even tougher for Jewish enterprises which were systematically boycotted—made it impossible for the Lorches to continue to run their circus: They were forced into bankruptcy in 1930. (They shared this dreadful fate with other famous Jewish circus families such as the Blumenfelds and the Strassburgers.) To make matters worse, by 1933, when the Nazi Party took power in Germany, the Lorches found themselves unwelcome in their hometown of Eschollbrücken.
Hover over each photo to learn more about it.
Biography:
*Jando, Dominique. “The Lorch Family.” Circopedia. www.circopedia.org/The_Lorch_Family
*Otte, Marline. Jewish Identities in German Popular Entertainment, 1890-1933. (Boston: Cambridge, 2006)
*Ingebord, Prior. Der Clown und die Zirkusreiterin. (Munich: Germany, 1997)
*Jando, Dominique. “The Lorch Family.” Circopedia. www.circopedia.org/The_Lorch_Family
*Otte, Marline. Jewish Identities in German Popular Entertainment, 1890-1933. (Boston: Cambridge, 2006)
*Ingebord, Prior. Der Clown und die Zirkusreiterin. (Munich: Germany, 1997)
