The following story is dedicated to the memory of Colleen Cahill -1994-2014

"Remembrance is the only paradise out of which we can not be driven away".- Bruce Lee

BEAUTY AND STRENGTH-

By Peter  Vuono

     In 1977 I witnessed in Nashua NH the very first national weightlifting tournament for women. We were all in awe of these gifted women who were displaying a gift which is usually associated with men. I wondered what I would have done if I had a gift that  could potentially  make me an outcast.. Would I hide it? This is a story of a woman who decided not to.
     Katherina Brumbach was born in 1884  in a circus wagon to performers Philippe and Johanna Brumbach. Katherina(or Katie as she would later be called) was the second oldest of the Brumbach's 15 children! All the children were requisitioned and trained in the family business of circus performance. At first, Katie was trained in acrobatics but as she entered her teen years she started to morph into something else. Katie's dad, Philippe was 6'6'' and 260 pounds. Katie took after him and gained a height of 5'11" and a solid weight of 210. With her size came strength which was not  seen by any woman on the planet .
     Katie was so strong that Philippe offered a cash prize to any man who could out wrestle her. Circus acrobat Max Heymann who was a mere 5'6" and 160 pounds was flat broke and gave it a try. Needless to say,Katie won handily but in doing so, she lost her heart to Max. They were soon married and went off together in their own strength act appearing all over Europe. The greatest bodybuilder in the world at that time was the Bavarian Eugen Sandow. A hundred years later, every winner of the Mr. Olympia contest was given the"Sandow Trophy". To honor Sandow, Katie changed her name to Sandwina and thus a strength legend was born.
     Katie could break chains and horse shoes with her bare hands. She could withstand the pull of two horses and backlift two horses off a bridge which was held up by trestles. She could also juggle small cannonballs! During her act she would lift her husband Max above her head with one hand. Even when her older boy Teddy(who would become a pro boxer) reached a weight of 200, his mom, Katie could easily lift him overhead with one hand!  Perhaps her best known feat was a record which stood for 77 years. Katie shouldered 264 pounds and jerked it overhead!  This feat which was done in 1910 would not be broken until 1987 by New Jersey chiropractor, Dr. Karyn Marshall.
     Katie was the epitome of the working mom and worked her strength act right up to the day she gave birth!! After a brief stint in America where they played the major vaudeville outlets such as the famed Orpheum, Katie and Max returned to Europe. It was here that they serendipitously met John Ringling who hired them on the spot. They returned to America for good and performed for Ringling Brothers and other small circuses.
     Upon retirement, Katie and Max opened a restaurant in Queens where Katie would gracefully do feats of strength while serving her customers. She sadly passed away from cancer in 1952 but left behind one of the greatest of legends.
     Most strength historians look at Katie Sandwina's strength when they think about her and that is all well and good. However her real strength came from within. She had a unique gift which could have caused her to be a pariah.She could have hidden  it but rather, she boldly displayed it. In doing so, she became a legend but more importantly, Katie Sandwina was an inspiration and a beacon  of hope to those of us who only want to be ourselves in a world that wants us to be everything but!  Her life was truly a great example of brawn and bravery.