Tuffi
Tuffy ( born 1946 in India, † 1989 in Paris) was a female elephant of the circus Althoff, who jumped into the Wupper on July 21, 1950 at the age of four years from the Wuppertal suspension railway traveling.
History
Tuffy 's parents belonged to the menagerie of an Indian prince. Tuffy 's father was a bull elephant that was used to hunt, while Tuffy mother served the sons of the prince as a mount.
The German Circus Franz Althoff bought Tuffy 1949. Was the only elephant of the circus ' Tuffy showed no fear of strangers and cities, so that they began Franz Althoff as a promotional attraction for his circus. Among other things, she participated in tram rides in different cities, drank from a holy water fountain in Altotting, beer crates transported to a scaffolding in Solingen, made a harbor cruise in Duisburg was the city manager of Oberhausen.
Tuffy Wupper case
1950 toured the Circus Althoff in Wuppertal. Only after some trouble with the authorities Althoff could advertise a ride in the cable car for his Wuppertal guest. However, Tuffy ran due to nervousness shortly after departure wild trumpeting through the railcar. As the then twelve -year-old Harry Althoff on the television program " Our Best - The most popular parts of the Germans" ( ZDF) told in September 2006, Tuffy broke through in the second experiment, a window and jumped out of the vehicle about ten meters down into the Wupper, which at this point is not 50 inches deep. Tuffy suffered only a few scratches on the back part and remained otherwise unharmed. You got lucky with the type of landing, said the son Althoff. His father, Ringmaster Franz Althoff wanted to actually jump afterwards, but was held back by his son, after he had already noticed that Tuffy " had done " appears to be a lenient landing. The Althoff had to drive to the next stop and then could only lead the elephant out of the water to the nearby circus space.
In the wagon panic had broken out, and there were some casualties. Althoff and the responsible head of the traffic department of the Wuppertal Stadtwerke, who had approved the trip, were convicted in a trial for " negligent endangerment and negligent assault transport " to a fine of 450 D - Mark. The monorail is unsuitable as a vehicle for elephants, so the finding of the Court. The crash site between the stations Alter Markt and Adlerbrücke in Wuppertal is marked to this day on the wall by a painted elephant.
Curiosity without photo
Although the car was filled with journalists and the elephant transport should also be a media event, had photographed from panic no one decisive moment. The famous postcard with the falling elephants is a photomontage.
Follow
1968 broke up the circus Althoff. Tuffy joined with a group of animals at the Cirque Alexis Gruss, where she remained until her death in 1989. The former dairy plants Cologne -Wuppertal sold their dairy products Tuffy under the name of the elephant from the cable car. Meanwhile, the Tuffy - dairy, Campina are sold.
Tuffy also plays a role for the tourism marketing of Wuppertal. Thus, a range of souvenirs with Tuffy motif is available, for example in the Wuppertal tourist information. The American blues singer Cory P. McDaniel has set to music the events in the song Elephant event in Wuppertal. Furthermore, Tuffy is used by the Wuppertal Stadtwerke as a mascot for the hover -Express.