Circus Belli in Germany

Circus Belli

Type	circus

Owner	-: Gisele Strassburger -: Gisele Strassburger -: Harry Belli -1930: Rudolf Belli
Closed down	1957
Country	Germany
Website	Website

Directors	: Amanda Schmidt (assistant director) : Babette Aeros (assistant director)

Key People

Veterinarians

Elephant department

Head keepers of elephants	-: Arthur Belli (elephant trainer) -1955: Rudi Belli (elephant trainer)

Elephant keepers
Record history
History of updates	2022-04-05

Latest document update	2022-04-05 19:05:57
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Description

Circus Belli, Germany . Circus Belli closed down in 1957.

Comments / pictures

German circus Belli visited Denmark first time in 1888. From 1894 to 1899 Carl Belli visited Denmark with a carnival with seems to have been more like a circus than an amusement park. In 1904 circus Belli Bros. visited Denmark. They also used the name circus Frants Alouis. Belli Bros. might have visited Denmark even before 1904. One of the brothers Giovanni Belli married Danish Meta Jensen in 1908 and circus Belli stayed in Denmark. In 1919 the partnership amongst the Belli brothers was dissolved. Giovanni and his wife Meta stayed in Denmark and formed Circus Giovanni Belli. From 1924 the name was changed to Circus Belli. Giovanni died in 1929 and Mete Belli became sole proprietor. She went into partnership with German Willy Borchardt and from 1930 circus Belli (sometimes using the name Belli-Borchardt) was among the leading circuses in Denmark. The partnership was dissolved in 1933 and Meta Belli became once again sole owner of circus Belli, since 1934 assisted by Fredy Wachman who was considered as Meta\'s husband although they was never formally married. In the late 30\'s circus Belli had grown to be the largest Danish circus. In season 1939 the major attraction was American cowboy-movie star Tom Mix. Meta Belli died in 1953 and her circus was sold to investors without any connection to the Belli family. Those investors sold circus Belli to Eli Benneweis (owner of circus Benneweis) in 1955. Circus Belli\'s last season was in 1957.

Rudolf Belli and his wife Amanda Schmidt, who had 14 children from which some died young, while Bella, Hulda, Babette, Ilka, Selma, Arthur Belli, Harry Belli, Ilonka, Elvira and Edith survived to Adult age.

The original Circus Belli closed in 1956 in Lebanon because of an earthquake and a lot of the circus material was confiscated to be used for accommodation. They managed to get the elephants back to Hamburg and then they were sold to another circus.

Harry Edwin Stefan Belli (1914-1975) was one of 6 or 7 children all working in the circus of their parents in Germany, circus Belli.

Circus Belli in Germany Germany

Harry Belli married Elly Strassburger in 1957. In 1961, '62 and '63 the Circus Strassburger did not go on tour, but in those years Harry Belli went on tour in Holland as Circus Belli. The tiger on the horse-act was very spectacular, there where two little dogs in it as well. Harry was with this act also in Argentina, and when his circus stopped he went with this act to several other countries.
Charly Ross, Mexico

Some of the Belli family migrated to Australia 1982. Rudi Belli (nephew of Harry Belli) had his own show for 5 years in Australia. He has 4 daughters. One of his daughters Rose Gasser-Belli is married to Dani Gasser and they own Circus Liliput in Switzerland. Rosita married David Meatchem, South African circus man. Pearl married Mark Williams a stage performer. I married Caroline and we run Circus Sunrise in Australia. Some of the Bellis still live in Germany.
Gary & Caroline Brophy, Circus Sunrise, Australia

References for records about Circus Belli

Recommended Citation

Koehl, Dan (2024). Circus Belli, Elephant Encyclopedia. Available online at https://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=450. (archived at the Wayback machine)

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About this documentThis document was updated: 2022-04-05 19:05:57 with valid HTML5