Circus Knie
Overview
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, based in Rapperswil
Rapperswil
Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, Busskirch, Curtiberg, Kempraten-Lenggis, Wagen, and Wurmsbach.-Today:On...
.
The circus was founded in 1803 by the Knie family and has existed in its present form since 1919 when it changed from an open arena to a covered tent. The circus has been long famous for its animals and now operates a zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
(Knie's Kinderzoo
Knie's Kinderzoo
Knie's Kinderzoo is a zoo located in Rapperswil in Switzerland.-History:The zoo was opened in 1962 and, as of 2009, it has 303 specimens of 51 species. It is located at Oberseestrasse nearby Seedamm respectively Rapperswil railway station and Hochschule Rapperswil on upper Lake Zürich...
) and a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in Rapperswil. In 1999 Franco Knie was named Best Animal Tamer at the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo
International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo
The International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo, known as Festival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo in French, is an annual festival held since 1974 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The festival includes the awarding of the Clown d'Or award as well as awards for other circus skills...
.
Today the circus is an enterprise with about 200 employees, operated by Frédy and Franco Knie in partnership with insurance company Swiss Life
Swiss Life
The Swiss Life Group is the largest life insurance company of Switzerland. The firm is headquartered is in Zurich. The Swiss Life Group has 7,500 employees and had assets under management of approximately CHF 133 billion in 2010.-Foundation and growth:...
.
Tightrope acrobat
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
David Dimitri
David Dimitri
David Dimitri is an internationally acclaimed tightrope acrobat who has been praised for his unique style.Combining an education at the State Academy for Circus Arts in Budapest with intensive dance studies at New York’s renowned Juilliard School, David Dimitri has created virtuoso wire dances...
has been associated with the circus.