By David Cain
In 2013, I wrote an eJuggle article titled 10 Female Juggling Stars of the Past. One of the jugglers discussed was Anita Bartling, one of the earliest female juggling stars. At the time I wrote that piece, I only had a few photos of her. I now have much greater resources, both online and in my archives, than I did ten years ago. Therefore, I decided to see if I could find more photos of Anita. I was successful in doing so, and want to share what I found here. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are many thousands of new words.
Anita Bartling (born Sophia Anna Bartling in 1887) was a German juggling star by the year 1910. She could do 7 ball bouncing as well as 7 balls in air. She was the first female juggler known to perform either of these feats. She also performed with 3 pool cues, hats, clubs, and torches. She is the earliest known juggler to pirouette while juggling, pirouetting under two clubs in a three club juggle. During her career, she was considered the second best female juggler in the world, behind Selma Braatz. Anita died in 1966 in Berlin.
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Unfortunately, we know relatively little about Anita Bartling. Perhaps more information will come to light in the near future.
David Cain
David Cain is a professional juggler, juggling historian, and the owner of the world's only juggling museum, the Museum of Juggling History. He is a Guinness world record holder and 16 time IJA gold medalist. In addition to his juggling pursuits, David is a successful composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and singer as well as the author of twenty-six books. He and his children live in Middletown, OH (USA).