Falko Traber (born in

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, October 13, 1959) is a German

high wire Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...

artist. He is a direct descendant of one of the oldest artistic families in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the legendary

Zugspitze The Zugspitze ( , ; ), at above Normalhöhennull, sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains and the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, and the Austria–Germany border ...

tightrope Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...

artists. The name was given to the Traber family show after their spectacular performance in 1952, after their 2964-meter-high performance on the

, the highest mountain in Germany. Born during a tour in France, Falko Traber traveled with his family to more than forty countries. Falko Traber is the last of his brothers to still perform the high wire; his brother Charlie died in 2007 at the age of fifty-four. Traber made the profession of high-wire artist his calling, and set a large number of

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

. An exhibit devoted to Traber and his career has been on display in the National Museum in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

for several years.

World records

*1978: Spent ten days and ten nights (264 hours) continuously on a high wire in Düsseldorf *1982: Spent eleven days and nights in Alstertal Shopping Center *1996: Crossed the town of

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

on a 640-meter-long and up to 60-meter-high wire rope *1997: Set another length world record in

Weil am Rhein Weil am Rhein (, ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the tripoint of Switzerland, France, and Germany. It is the most southwesterly tow ...

, crossing 700 meters of rope on the rear wheel of his specially made

Suzuki is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a va ...

motorcycle at an altitude of 80 meters *1999: Re-enacted the feat of his ancestors as a culmination of his previous work, crossing the

with a bicycle on a 12 mm wire rope 600 meters high. He also stood on his head on the bicycle's steering fork. *2002: Spent thirteen days and nights (312 hours) without interruption on a high wire, at an altitude of about ten meters, under the open sky in a wildlife enclosure in which there were several fully-grown, hungry white tigers *2006: Walked on the longest freely hanging ropeway in the world – the 3S-Umlaufbahn in Kitzbuehel at a height of 412 meters

News

On July 16, 2007, Traber appeared in the "Globo", the largest Brazilian daily newspaper, which featured his run on the

cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** ...

Sugarloaf Mountain Sugarloaf Mountain (, ) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on a peninsula at the mouth of Guanabara Bay. Rising above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf suga ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

TV

* Kabel1, life adventure, July 2007 report * Aeschbacher Swiss television SF, January 2007, Falko Traber had a guest appearance in an Aeschbacher talk show broadcast * ORF Vienna by Prima Vera, December 2006 * Pro7 SAM, December 2006, report of the Christmas man on the high wire * , October 2006, "walk on the wire rope of the Kitzbüheler 3S-Bahn" * RTL-Explosiv, 02.11.06 "Falko Traber in 412m height on the rope" * SAT1-Nachrichten, 02.11.06, "Falko Traber on the ropeway in 412 m in Kitzbühl" * SWR Night Cafe, 15/09/06, ''fate parents house'' * Discovery Channel Worldwide, 2003, "The best artists of the World"

References

External links

Falko Traber Show websiteFalko Traber website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Traber, Falko 1959 births Living people Tightrope walkers German stunt performers People from Besançon