Richard Eckert was a German juggler born in Chemnitz in 1878. His father, Freidrich Hermann Eckert, was a singer. Richard, the youngest of four children, began his performing career around 1900 and performed for ten years under his real name. He married Susanne Gubisch in 1904 and the couple had two sons. In 1910, he took the stage name of E. C. Kert. Richard performed all though out Germany, England, Holland, Austria, and Switzerland.
E.C. Kert performed some quite extraordinary tricks, as you can see in the following photographs.
One of his most famous tricks involved tossing up the pieces of a tall lamp which he caught balanced on his head. He then juggled five plates while maintaining this balance.
Most of what we know about Richard Eckert comes from juggling historian Hermann Sagemüller. He found that Kert’s act started with Richard coming on stage playing a barrel organ and walking with his wife, Susanne. He would then put down the organ and begin juggling. In addition to the tricks shown in the previous photos, be also juggled cue sticks behind his back and performed with top hats.
Unfortunately, Richard Eckert’s career was cut short by blindness. By 1917, he was completely blind. If not for this calamity, he might be better known to the juggling community and the performing world in general.
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).