On March 22, 1978, the world watched in horror as Karl Wallenda passed away. The 73-year-old man swayed on a 10-story steel cable for 30 seconds before falling. The legendary figure with 11 Guinness World Records fell.
The fall of the legendary Karl Wallenda
At that time, Karl was trying to walk across the tightrope suspended between the two towers of a hotel. As a professional tightrope walker, failure is not allowed. Failure means the end of life.
More than 10 years before his death, many of his family members and performing partners died during performances, but this did not scare him. After his death, his descendants unswervingly inherited his adventurous career, and there was a tendency to excel in others. This is an unbeatable family that is not afraid of death for its ideals!
Karl Wallenda and his teammates performing
In 1905, Karl was born into a circus family in Germany. He has been training in stunts and performing since he was six years old. He was trained in tightrope walking, aerial rope walking and balancing, rarely using safety nets. When he was about 17 years old, he began to officially take starring roles. For him, nothing seemed insurmountable.
Carl and his team were famous in Europe for their four-man pyramids and bicycle rides on high wires, and they were known as the Great Wallendas.
The Four-Man Pyramid
In 1928, they moved to the United States to perform as freelancers. Their arrival immediately caught the attention of American circus owner John Ringling, who immediately invited Carl to perform. Their debut performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City that same year was a sensation and received a standing ovation.
In 1947 they developed the incomparable The Flying Wallendas, whose astonishing performances quickly made them an international sensation. A three-tiered, seven-person pyramid in which the bottom team walks a tightrope and the tallest member balances in the air, usually on a chair, it is one of the most dangerous shows he devised. In fact, Carl had this idea as early as 1938, but it was not until 1946 that sufficient and suitable personnel were gathered.
Flying Wallenda
The 1978 TV series "The Great Wallendas" starring Karl tells the story of a three-story, seven-person pyramid performer who got back on his feet after the fatal accidents of several family members. In fact, it was a real-life experience of his family. onto the screen. Unexpectedly, Wallenda died in a high-rope accident just 38 days after it first aired.
After his marriage, Carl gave birth to many children, all of whom, as well as other important figures in the team and their offspring, joined the team in performances. The performance of
Carl's team is indeed breathtaking, but they are really performing with their lives.
Ordinary people feel weak when looking at photos, right?
In 1962, an accident occurred at their famous Pyramid of Seven, and bad luck ensued.
On January 30, 1962, Carl's adopted son Mario Wallenda fell with Carl while trying to perform the 7-man pyramid, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
Next, Carl's nephew, son-in-law, and Carl's sister-in-law died accidentally during the performance.
Despite all the tragedy that befell his family while performing, Carl persevered and continued to perform alone or in a small number of collaborations.
Karl Wallenda
Karl made a lot of history, he holds 11 Guinness World Records.
On July 18, 1970, 65-year-old Carl performed a via ferrata walk, also known as the Skywalk, in Tallulah Gorge, a canyon formed by the Tallulah River in Georgia. Approximately 30,000 people watched Wallenda's performance, in which he stood on his head twice while crossing a quarter-mile wide gap.
Tallulah Canyon
In 1974, at the age of 69, he set the world airwalk distance record of 1,800 feet (550 m) at Kings Island, which stood until July 4, 2008, when it was passed by his great-grandsonNick Watts Nik Wallenda broke in the same place.
In 1978, Carl traveled to San Juan, the capital of Puerto Ricoand he was still challenging himself after a career that spanned more than 50 years. On March 22, he was trying to stroll through the 10-story Skytrain suspended between the two towers of the Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan.
On the same day, a local filming team came to the performance site. They were originally going to film this feat and broadcast it live on TV. Unexpectedly, it turned into a live broadcast of death.
The fall of a legendary figure
The cause of Carl's unfortunate death was ultimately considered to be strong winds and improperly fixed lines.
Before the performance, Karl knew the importance of this performance. The audience was full of well-known American figures. This success would not only establish his position in the entertainment industry, but also bring unprecedented support and benefits to the entertainment team. . Wallenda has been thinking carefully since the day before, going over every move and every detail.
But the reality is often like this. The more you care about it and the more you worry about gains and losses, the easier it is to make mistakes. On such an important occasion, Lunda performed abnormally and unfortunately fell and died.
Fancy, bicycle tightrope walking
His wife said afterwards that Carl always kept telling himself before going on stage that this performance was too important and could only succeed, not fail. In his previous decades of acting career, he only thought about the performance process of walking on the tightrope, without considering the results of the performance.
In psychology, this kind of psychological phenomenon of not concentrating on the thing itself, but thinking over and over again about the possible consequences of doing it, and thus worrying about gains and losses, is called " Wallenda mentality ".
The legacy of the family business
Carr's niece Sandy Wallenda said: "I think that's where he wants to be and he's going to keep going for the rest of his life and he can't stop."
In New York, with Wallenda Kenneth Feld, the producer of Ringling Bros., Barnum and Bailey's Circus, who has worked with Lunda Theater Company for many years, also expressed similar thoughts.
"If someone were to choose a path they had to take, I would say it would be Carl's way," Felder said. "Carl was a genius and a performer. He had a way of captivating an audience and he has been a great inspiration to young performers over the years."
Carl has passed away, but his descendants have bravely inherited the legacy despite the threat of death. His legacy is truly touching!
Carl's great-grandson Nick Wallenda crossed Niagara Falls
Carl and his two daughters Jenny and Carla established the Wallenda dynasty.
Jenny's children Tino, Delilah and Tammy formed their own acting team.
In 1986, Carl's grandson Enrico Wallenda successfully completed the zip line that claimed his grandfather's life. On June 4, 2011, Karl's great-grandson Nik Wallenda also completed this section of the high-altitude cable route with his mother Delilah. The two started walking from both ends and met in the middle.
Nick and his mother successfully crossed Carl's Path of Death
On July 4, 2008, Carl's great-grandson Nick completed the 2,000-foot Skywalk (610 m) on Kings Island, breaking his 1974 world record.
The Wallenda family show continues today with Karl's great-grandchildren: Nik, Alida, Andrea, Aurelia, Alessandro "Alex", Lijana and Lyric.
Among them, Nik is already the best. He was born in 1979 and currently has 6 Guinness records.
Nick successfully crossed Niagara Falls
On June 15, 2012, he became the first person in history to successfully cross Niagara Falls by walking on a tightrope.
On June 23, 2013, he became the first person in history to walk on a tightrope across the Colorado Grand Canyon without a safety rope. The diameter of the steel cable performed that day was only 2 inches (50.8 mm). He completed the 426-meter-long steel cable in less than 23 minutes at an altitude of about 457 meters above the Colorado River.
Successfully Crossed the Grand Canyon of the Colorado
On November 2, 2014, he successfully walked a tightrope blindfolded among Chicago skyscrapers at an inclination of 19 degrees.
Karl Wallenda is Nick's most admired role model and hero in his life. He feels that it is an honor to be born into this well-known acting family, and Nick is determined to continue the family's legendary performances. Huge kudos, I did this for him as much as I do for my family, and Nick said he wasn't afraid during the entire performance.
Editor's comments: After learning about this family's deeds, I was deeply shocked by their spirit. Most of us are pursuing a long life. Death is the ending that most people expect. However, there are some People, they use their actions to profoundly explain what "life lies in depth, not length."
