Bamberg dynasty of magicians.

Since the end of the eighteenth century, this family with the surname Bamberg, delivered six generations of magicians. All members were well-known in their time. Some of them gained international fame. The members of the first five generations were born in the Netherlands.

(This page is still in development).

The tabs in the menu above will bring you to:

• • • The complete genealogical lineage if this Bamberg family.
    • Addition of new findings, if any.

 

MOTIVATION.

As a by-product of genealogical research on my own family, artists were found who were connected to the Sturkop family in some way. For example, in 2003 a triptych about Nathan Judels appeared in Misjpoge, the quarterly magazine of the Dutch Circle for Jewish Genealogy. He was by far the most famous Dutch comedian of the nineteenth century. Nathan Judels was the great-grandfather of Dr. Stephan Sturkop. This great-grandfather and great-grandson spent a lot of time together. In his childhood, Nathan Judels was part of the so-called Élèves of David Leendert Bamberg, who travelled all over the country with this children’s company to perform theatre performances, comedy acts and magic tricks, mainly at fairs. This Bamberg family was described in three articles in the same magazine, preceded by an introduction by Harmen Snel, archivist of the Amsterdam City Archive. Two of David Leendert Bamberg’s sons, contemporaries of Judels, were associated with his Theater of Young Pupils: Tobias David Bamberg would become his father’s successor and his brother Eduard became very well-known throughout the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgium as a comic actor and singer-declaimer. These Bamberg brothers and Nathan Judels remained friends throughout their lives.

This Bamberg family includes six generations of famous magicians. They all became nationally well-known in the Netherlands, sometimes even beyond our borders and the representatives of the two youngest generations became internationally famous. As the research progressed, your author became increasingly interested in this fascinating dynasty.

 

PUBLICATION.

The result of the study is ready in the format of a PDF that contains almost 1800 pages. At the time of this writing, it is investigated how this PDF can be made available. A printed version may also be considered.

While writing this PDF/book – and collecting more information about the Bamberg dynasty of magicians than ever before in one single publication – it became obvious that a kind of Reference Book would be the most appropriate format. Especially collectors and historians of knowledge about magicians are supposed to be served. Therefore, this PDF/book can be seen as an essay, a kind of “encyclopedic” collection of the information found. It is mainly intended to record what is known about these artists to date. In addition, it offers an as complete a genealogical overview of this Bamberg family as possible.

The study and the authoring took almost five years, which sometime led to sighing “It’s a happy hell!” or “History is a nightmare from which I’m trying to awaken.” (Dedalus in James Joyce’s Ulysses. These quotes are a courtesy from Robert Douglas Bamberg.)

For each of the artists, a separate chapter has been prepared. The focus is on the most important members of each dynasty (as far as they are not mentioned differently, they were magicians):

• • • Eliazer David Bamberg, the founder of the dynasty;
    • His son David Leendert Bamberg, the first court magician;
    • David’s son Tobias David Bamberg, the second court magician;
    • Tobias’ son David Tobias Bamberg, the third court magician;
    • David’s son Tobias Leendert Bamberg, internationally renowned as “Okito” and
    • Tobias’ son David Tobias Bamberg, famous in Latin America and on the Iberic island as “Fu-Manchu”.

The other chapters are dedicated to:

• • • Abraham Leendert Bamberg;
    • Eliazer David Bamberg, known as Eduard Bamberg, well-known Dutch comedian;
    • Abraham David Bamberg;
    • Magnus David Bamberg, stage hairdresser, wigmaker and make-up artist;
    • Barend David Bamberg;
    • Henri Eduard Bamberg, prompter;
    • Salomon Bamberg, known as Charles Bamberg, stage hairdresser, wigmaker and make-up artist;
    • Samuel Bamberg, magician and entrepreneur in the Dutch East Indies;
    • Rebecca Bamberg, soubrette;
    • Kaatje Bamberg, Operetta artist;
    • Simon Bamberg, pianist (not his main profession);
    • Nachman Nardus (Neddy) Bamberg, comic;
    • Emanuel (Emile) Bamberg;
    • Jacques Bamberg aka Jack Davenport, Opera singer ;
    • Eduard (Edward) Bamberg ;
    • Eduard Henri Bamberg, impresario;
    • Dorothy Bamberg, also known as Dixie or Dorothy Poole, revue star and film actress;
    • Marianna Judith Louise Bamberg, pianist (not her main profession) and
    • Julius Bamberg, magician (not his main profession).

Many of their descendants appear in this publication.

The chapters are also available in Dutch, although after the translation into English, chapters of some prominent magicians were extended with new findings. This makes such Dutch texts rather obsolete.

 

TARGET READERS.

This PDF/book is primarily intended for those who are interested in the history of the world of magic and especially in the Bamberg dynasty. This work seems less suitable for a wider audience, but it is being examined whether a more concise version can preserve the memory of this interesting family of illusionists and other artists for the casual reader. Such a book would first be published in Dutch and possibly translated into English.

 

AN ARTISTIC WORLD.

Many well-known stage names from those times pass by. Where they had direct ties with our main characters, they are discussed in more depth. As could be expected, marriages between Bamberg family members and artists from other lineages occurred. Many names of colleagues of the Bambergs still are well-known to historians of this art, but some of such names may also not be unknown to the wider audience. Such as Houdini, Howard Thurston and in the Netherlands Buziau, Louis Bouwmeester and Enny Mols-de Leeuwe. The temptation was always great to also delve into the artistic lives of these people. But the size of this PDF/book – already large – would become unmanageable. Moreover, for each of these characters a new tangle of related artists would become visible.

There were also other artists who are connected to the Sturkop family, such as the opera singer Mietje Walewijk aka Marie Gomez and the diva of the American silent film Jetta Goudal, a Dutch woman who went to the USA and who rivalled top actresses such as Gloria Swanson and Pola Negri. (The articles about Mietje Walewijk (a triptych) and Jetta Goudal appeared in Misjpoge and can be downloaded.

 

This is not a PDF/book about magic, but about magicians. Your author is not a magician.

 

ALL KINDS OF ARTISTIC PERFORMANCES.

Although the focus is on the profession of magician, the artistic members of the Bamberg family could all speak well and entertainingly and many had a beautiful singing voice. It is difficult to name just one profession for most Bambergs: magician, mechanicus (in Dutch), illusionist, ventriloquist, mind reader, actor, comedian, mimic, plastic artist, vaudeville artist, conversationalist, declamator (reciting artist) and/or operetta player, etc. During a performance, several of their skills could be demonstrated. There were secondary professions. For example, some relatives were fashion seamstresses or stage hairdressers and in some marriages one recognizes connections that must have originated around the stage.

 

LOGISTICS.

Many magicians kept a large stock of props. Transport – in the nineteenth century often by barge or cart – must have been an intensive adventure. Even in the twentieth century, people still travelled with loads of luggage, which in many countries was a major undertaking. The logistical efforts were enormous. Sometimes they kept support staff or hired them locally, for example to build tents at fairs. Often, they stayed in one city for days or weeks or went on tour and travelled from one city to another.

 

COMPLETENESS.

Although an attempt was made to consult as many sources as possible, new documentation is constantly becoming available. Moreover, there are countless places in the world where relevant data and illustrations are preserved, such as in museums, private collections, etc. And in many countries, archives cannot (yet) be consulted. Storage places are often not yet generally known. Finally, not everyone was able or willing to provide (complete) contributions; descendants within the Bamberg family sometimes shared information enthusiastically, but others did not contribute or only partially.

 

FINDING THE TRUTH.

During the research for this PDF/book, many incorrect texts were found. Partly because the magicians themselves told stories that may have been legends in the family or these were useful to promote their performances and persona. Frequently, reporters copied such testimonies in their articles and future reporters simply copied such stories from their predecessors. There are many examples and these are covered in the pertaining chapters.

Having said this, it cannot be excluded that your author sometimes made similar mistakes or has drawn wrong conclusions. Proof of that will be welcome.

 

…AND THEN THIS…

Most Bambergs were entrepreneurs first and foremost and almost all of them were outright marketeers avant la lettre. They announced their performances in newspapers, had advertisements placed and they distributed and pasted posters. Their messages were sometimes full of promotional texts. There are countless reviews and other articles about the performances, often with beautiful illustrations. Their costs were high and admission rates could not always be too expensive. Furthermore, they regularly entered into collaborations with other artists, to bring some variation to the performances.

The Bamberg family was Jewish, although in later years there was often less practice of the religion and mixed marriages arose. However, the Second World War mercilessly ravaged the Bamberg family because of their origins. Jews often went through life with several names, as in the case of Eliazer (the Yiddish name), who was born as Leizer but had civil names such as Leendert or Eduard. Some of the persons before 1811 were not known by a family name, especially not in Jewish circles. Those people were known by their patronymic. Later generations often maintained that patronymic in front of their surname, for example as seen in David Leendert Bamberg.

 

THE END OF THE DYNASTY.

As mentioned, there were six consecutive generations of Bamberg with magicians. After the death of David Tobias Bamberg, also known as “Papa” Bamberg, the era of the dynasty came to an end in the Netherlands. Abroad, they lasted for two more generations, but with “Papa’s” grandson and namesake David Tobias Bamberg, as an artist known as “Fu-Manchu”, this series of special magicians had become history. Yet, their traces can still be found everywhere.

 

THE LANGUAGE.

Originally, the chapters were written in Dutch. Those texts were translated into English (American spelling), often by means of Google Translate and – when useful – by the good old dictionary. Word’s editing function and its “read aloud” function have been very helpful.

 

REFERENCE TO THE SOURCES.

The sources that have been used for this book are manyfold. Not always could the source be identified but in most cases it could. A list of sources is presented in the Appendix C of the PDF/book.

 

QUO VADIS.

As mentioned, one can expect the publication of many more sources. Perhaps supplements to this PDF/book will appear in due course. On this website, an attempt will be made to report such new findings. Genealogy will also be kept up-to-date, wherever possible.

A huge amount of information is presented, in the format of articles, books, photos and other illustrations, testimonials and other documentation. There are thousands of such sources. Some descendants of this Bamberg family promised to supply more information,  illustrations, and/or personal stories, in order to enhance the chapters with a livelier touch. We hope we still may expect such contributions.

For those interested, further information can be obtained from the author (see menu “Contact”).

 

SPECIAL REMARK.

 On June 24, 2024, a TV Special was broadcast about Okito. I appear several times in this documentary, explaining (parts of) Okito’s life. It can be reviewed on www.anderetijden.nl. Please navigate to that date.