A trailer belonging to the children’s circus “Vegas” caught fire in Eisenstadt at the weekend. The tent was also damaged. For the Spindler circus family of seven from Berlin, this means that they may now be without an income. A local inspection.
Catherine Spindler (17) stands in shock in Eisenstadt in front of her burnt-out 13 square meter small caravan, in which she also lives when it’s freezing and snowing outside. All your belongings are charred. Her clothes and suits, her documents, her cell phone and some money she had saved – nothing but dust and ash. “I can’t believe I’m homeless now. Last night I slept on the sofa in my mother’s caravan, but I couldn’t sleep,” sobs the circus artist from Berlin, wiping a tear from her face. Under the plasters stuck to her forehead, cheeks and temples, wounds she got from flying sparks are healing. Rehearse tightrope and acrobatic numbers. Performances were planned for the weekends. But a few hours before the first appearance on Saturday, according to the fire investigators, there was suddenly a “cable fire through no fault of your own” behind the formwork of Catherine’s caravan. “We were all busy with preparatory work when my son Nikolaus (27) noticed the smoke. The smoke in the car was so strong that we immediately grabbed four fire extinguishers. When jets of flames spread to the tent and three other wagons, we called the emergency services and rushed to the meadow with our ponies, goats and dogs to get to safety,” says mother Viola (52). the Eisenstadt, Kleinhöflein and St. Georgen fire brigades were promptly on hand. Without them, the damage would be even greater. Either way, it means financial ruin: “Our private property does not have fully comprehensive insurance. So we have to pay for the majority of the damage ourselves.” A tough lot, because mother Viola also has baby Grace (1) to take care of. Their father is currently touring through Germany with another circus to earn money. The Spindlers had no income during the lockdowns, when performances were banned. They are still paying back the state corona aid they received at the time. Since the rise in prices, they have been living from hand to mouth. They have no reserves.Fighting on “The fuel for the cars, the food, the fodder for the animals – the prices are exploding. That’s why we had to adjust our prices. But we can’t ask too much of the families, who are already suffering from inflation, otherwise the Mana will remain empty!” sighs Mother Viola. A structural engineer is now clarifying whether the tent is intact enough for holiday camps and performances to take place and for the Spindlers to be able to earn money: “We really hope so!” The family cannot afford to tear down the tents and give up circus life: “We’ll do it Circus for five generations. We don’t know anything else. We also love making people happy and seeing them laugh. In these difficult times we all desperately need it.” Anyone who would like to support the family can contact the circus: 0660/23 52 655, [email protected]
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