Katharina Knie (1929)

At the center of the story is the title heroine, daughter of the aging tightrope walker Karl Knie. The small circus he runs, always under the looming threat of bankruptcy, is home to the Knies and several other performers. Katharina is the little troupe’s main attraction as it travels from village to village. One day, when there is once again no money left for animal feed, Katharina steals some from the estate of landowner Martin Rothacker. Despite the unfortunate circumstances of their first meeting, the young people quickly take a liking to each other. After a fierce argument between old Knie and his daughter Katharina, the young woman decides to leave circus life behind and stay at Rothacker’s estate. He offers her a place to live for a year and agricultural training. The two eventually become engaged. Father Knie agrees only because he believes that Katharina is simply a circus child who will eventually find she can do nothing but return. When the circus, after a long period on the road, performs again near the Rothacker estate, Karl Knie’s prediction seems to come true, for Katharina hurries to the show. But she has no intention of returning to the traveling folk; she only wants to tell them how happy she is with her Martin. Before Katharina can tell her father that she will be staying away for good, he dies. Now Katharina feels bound by duty to her family and its tradition. Heavy-hearted, she breaks off her engagement to Martin Rothacker and returns to the circus world to take charge of the small troupe, just as her father had always wanted.