The Moscow Circus will be performing in Dachau from Thursday to Sunday, July 1st to 4th.
It's the very first guest appearance after months of lockdown.
The ban on appearing during the pandemic almost cost the company its existence.
Dachau -
The Moscow Circus is one of the five largest circuses in Germany. Like so many companies, he almost went bankrupt because of the corona measures. “We start in Dachau with zero cents in our pockets,” says press spokeswoman Tanja Frank. The stop last November hit the circus hard. At that time, artists and clowns were preparing for the lucrative Christmas performances, which were then canceled due to the rigid bans. The circus was able to stay at its traditional location in Augsburg and the artists had a hall to train, but the income was completely lost. The result: "We had to sell four of our seven tractors, plus animals and tents in order to survive," says Tanja Frank. With the last money in the till, the Moscow Circus financed the performance in Dachau,where they met the private owner of the site in Dachau-Ost.
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Colorful troupe: Julia Hajdu wants to inspire the audience with her parrot show - macaws, cockatoos and an amazon parrot.
© Norbert H Farewell
The more than 70 employees look forward to being able to present their new program to the Dachau people from July 1st.
The artists come from all over the world and were "trained in the very strict Russian artist school," said spokeswoman Frank.
The spectators in the large main tent can expect aerial acrobatics, a breathtaking trampoline act with seven actors, lightning-fast antipode acrobatics by two women, the Russian clowns “Red and Blue”, a colorful parrot show and much more.
One of the biggest attractions of the circus is a carnivore training with five tigers.
This is explosive in so far as the Federal Council only rejected a bill last Friday that wanted to ban the keeping of wild animals in circuses.
The template comes from Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner (CDU).
It lists giraffes, elephants, rhinos, hippos, primates and big bears, but not big cats, reptiles or seals.
In addition, the ban should not apply to wild animals that are already kept in circuses.
All in all, the Klöckner's paper was not broad enough.
Animal welfare organizations like Vier Pfoten called it a "toothless tiger".
"We were doubtful whether we should take the tigers with us"
Tanja Frank from the Moscow Circus is aware of the dispute over circus animals.
“We were doubtful whether we should take the tigers with us,” says the spokeswoman, “but we have a large outdoor enclosure, which always attracts a lot of onlookers.
The children in particular are happy when they can see tigers up close ”.
The Dachau district office in turn promised to keep an eye on the animals.
“We will get an idea of the animals on site to see whether everything in the circus is within the framework of the law.
How the transport works, for example how they are cared for and accommodated or how many appearances they have, ”says authority spokeswoman Sina Török.
Appearances and cards
The Moscow Circus plays from Thursday to Sunday on the square near Kaufland, Alter Römerstrasse 35. Performances are daily at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. On Sunday only at 11 a.m. Tickets are available on the Internet at eventim.de, telephone numbers 0 18 06/57 00 00 or 01 63/8 11 44 40, daily from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the circus and at the box office.