For 150 refugee children from the entire district this Friday was a special day: An unknown sponsor invited them to visit the Krone farm in Weßling.
For two hours there was a lot of fun on the large site near the Lindau autobahn.
Weßling
- In the middle of the first pandemic summer, in June 2020, the sanctuary of the Circus Krone in Weßling opened its doors. The reason was also the running costs. The guided tours offered at least brought some money into the till. Fortunately, there are still secret fans like the sponsor from Starnberg, who invited 150 refugee children to a tour of the Krone farm this Friday. “This is a donor who wants to remain anonymous. He is very socially minded and also donates in other ways, ”says Frank Keller, animal welfare officer at the circus.
So on Friday morning he had 150 visitors to control, most of them children between the ages of one and 15. No problem for Keller, he showed an angelic patience. Claudia Bruns also needed them for the organization. Because Keller had first conveyed the good news to Weßling's Mayor Michael Sturm, who in turn approached Claudia Bruns, who is not only involved with SC Weßling, but also at the Weßling integration point. She informed the groups of helpers, and finally several buses traveled from Gauting, Starnberg, Feldafing, Percha, Berg, Herrsching and Weßling.
It took a while for everyone to gather. But then the crowd of children, who were also accompanied by some parents and employees of the helpers, followed Frank Keller to the circus grounds. Right at the beginning there were four camels and two zebras, which also casually trotted up. Then it went on to the elephant wagon, with which the gray giants were once transported. In the museum next door, carriages could be admired, some more than 100 years old.
In the horse stable, the former stars of the arena peeked curiously out of their boxes. The names of their predecessors hang on the wall, including proud Arabian stallions, palominos and Frisians. The little donkey Bim stood a little on the edge. At 38 years of age, he is the oldest resident of the senior citizens' residence. “Donkeys usually only live to be 20 to 30 years old,” explained Keller. That shows how well Bim is doing on the Krone farm. He was immediately loved and photographed by the children.
The crowd of children stood in awe in front of the animal enclosure. A lioness stroked the bars, lazy tigers lay in their cages. Before they went to the carnivore show, however, the children visited the ponies. The little stallions are already old, but they flash with very large eyes into the world. “You can work better with stallions,” explained Keller. But you can't let them go to the paddock together “because they're arguing”.
Then it got exciting. The children gathered excitedly around a small carnivore arena. In it, trainer Alexander Lacey gathered lions and tigers around him and explained how he communicates with and trains them. Later, two of the imposing animals sat patiently in the center while a third wildcat leapt over their heads. And two lions made good males. Of course there were treats for it. "Don't worry, it's just a lion," Lacey remarked dryly when one of the big cats roared.
The kids loved it. They come from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iraq or Syria. For them there is “only school and the tin box in which they live” in Germany, said Andrea Heisel, chairwoman of the Gilchinger Helferkreis. An action like this was "amazing," she said happily. Claudia von Maltitz from the Gautinger Helferkreis thought so too. She reported on several sponsors who gently support the helpers in the background. “But they don't all like to have a big crown put on.” The campaign of this magnitude at the Circus Krone is an “absolute highlight”.
Finally, the children were allowed to shred down a long slide on rubber tires and romp around on a trampoline. Then calm returned, but only until the next day. Because for about eight weeks the Krone-Farm has been able to offer its guided tours on weekends and public holidays, which it started with in summer 2020.
Frank Keller is very satisfied with the response. A maximum of 250 guests are allowed on the premises, “but we don't want that at all. That then becomes impersonal ”. Under no circumstances do you want to "smuggle people through". Around 150, 170 visitors are ideal. How it will continue in autumn is open. In the previous year, the circus had set up a large Advent market with all the trimmings. "When we finished, we had to cancel because of the pandemic," said Keller. "Let's see how it goes this year."
It won't work without extra income: every 14 days a supplier comes in who delivers 3,000 kilograms of meat for 20,000 euros. But only the predators are fed up with it. There are no subsidies from the state. For the little guests, however, it was a carefree excursion. Tidy they got back on the buses at noon. This vacation day was definitely a successful one.