Carl Norbeck and His Matches in Norway (1895-1906)

Carl Norbeck, the biggest Norwegian pro wrestling star, and his matches in Norway in 1895-1906.

Back in his day Carl Norbeck was the biggest pro wrestling star in his home country of Norway and I don't believe anyone has managed to surpass him since. This article here is by no means the complete tale of his career, but it covers most of his biggest matches in Norway.

All of the matches discussed below were wrestled in the Greco-Roman style. The attendance numbers and quotes are from the Norwegian press. Take them for what they're worth. If you see more than one number or quote mentioned that means they're from different newspapers.

Charles Norbeck at the beginning of his wrestling career, Carl Norbeck in his prime, Karl Norbeck the circus impresario

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Carl Norbeck was born in Norway in 1867. Eventually he emigrated to the United States in the late 1880s. As best as I can tell, he began his wrestling career around 1892 under the name Charles Norbeck.

Around September 1895 Norbeck returned home to Norway and straight away established himself as the country's premier wrestling star, although to be fair Norway didn't have much of a wrestling scene back then. Initially in Norway they were billing him as the American champion. He was now known by his real name Carl Norbeck (the spelling of the name would later change to Karl Norbeck). His first appearances were in the capital Oslo. He first signed on to appear at Kristiania Tivoli Circus where, reportedly, he was to receive 18% of the gross income every night. Then in October he moved on to Circus Corty & Althoff, where his big rival was Magnus Bech-Olsen. Bech-Olsen, who had recently started to really make a name for himself, was Denmark's top wrestling star and would become a major attraction there the following year.

9 October 1895
Oslo, Norway
Circus Corty & Althoff
Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Carl Norbeck
= The match was billed as the undefeated American champion (Norbeck) vs. the undefeated World champion (Bech-Olsen). Norbeck had put up 500 Norwegian krones that he would defeat Bech-Olsen and so he lost the money. It should also be pointed out that Bech-Olsen was about 30 kg/66 pounds heavier than Norbeck.

14 October 1895
Oslo, Norway
Circus Corty & Althoff
Carl Norbeck drew Magnus Bech-Olsen (15 minutes)
= Norbeck was claiming that Bech-Olsen's prior victory was a fluke. Bech-Olsen agreed to give him a rematch and said he would give Norbeck his 500 krones back if Norbeck could beat him within 15 minutes. There was no winner within the time limit so the match was declared a draw. Bech-Olsen kept the money.

16 October 1895
Oslo, Norway
Circus Corty & Althoff
No Time Limit Match: Carl Norbeck vs. Magnus Bech-Olsen - Result?
= This time the match was to continue until there was a winner. I couldn't find the result.

Norbeck continued wrestling in Norway at various smaller venues, wrestling the likes of Heinrich Stark, Carl Sundbye, and others. Then in 1897, much like Bech-Olsen was doing in the Danish capital Copenhagen, Norbeck began having big matches at a large open-air cycling track in the Bygdøy peninsula in the Norwegian capital Oslo.

13 June 1897
Oslo, Norway
Bygdøy cycling track
For 500 krones: Carl Norbeck def. Johannes Kaasa
= This match was put on along with a cycling competition organized by Kristiania Velocipedklub. Due to rain some of the cycling races were cancelled so the wrestling match ended up being the headline attraction.

4 July 1897
Oslo, Norway
Bygdøy cycling track
"4,000 fans, despite the rainy weather"
Carl Norbeck def. Carl Hansen
= The match took place right in the middle of the Championship of Norway cycling competition organized by Kristiania Velocipedklub. Hansen was a pupil of Norbeck's.

1 August 1897
Oslo, Norway
Bygdøy cycling track
"large crowd"
Carl Norbeck def. Georg Rasso (2:1 falls)
= Georg Rasso was a well-known alias of Gottfried Schulz, but according to the Norwegian press the Georg Rasso here was Heinrich Niemann. The tickets for this match ranged from 0.50 to 2 krones, but for the later open-air matches in Oslo the tickets ranged from 0.50 to 1.50 krones.

For the rest of the year Norbeck travelled around Norway. I have him wrestling in Trondheim, Halden, Hamar, Fredrikstad, Stavanger, Bergen, etc. This seems to be the time when he truly built his reputation as a national star in Norway. He traveled with the popular Circus Beketow, but also did standalone matches. During this time he wrestled Heinrich Stark a bunch, and also worked with a Ludvig Frøen. Norbeck also had an open challenge out to any and all comers: he was offering 100 krones to anyone who could last 15 minutes with him and 500 krones to whoever could defeat him in 15 minutes.

In January 1898 Norbeck made a short trip to Denmark, but we will talk about that later. After he returned he continued touring Norway. 1898 ended up being probably his best year.

16 May 1898
Oslo, Norway
Bygdøy cycling track
3-4,000 fans / "a lot of people" / "not as many spectators as expected due to the rainy weather"
Carl Norbeck def. Antonio Pierri
= "The Terrible Greek" Pierri won the first fall in about 20 minutes, Norbeck won the second fall in about 3 minutes, and then it was announced Pierri couldn't continue for a third fall because of an injured knee. Norbeck was declared the winner.

3 July 1898
Oslo, Norway
Bygdøy cycling track
"thousands in attendance, despite the rain"
Carl Norbeck def. Heinrich Winzer
= Winzer was billed as someone who had defeated popular stars like Tom Cannon and Antonio Pierri.

10 July 1898
Oslo, Norway
Bygdøy cycling track
"large crowd"
For 500 krones: Carl Norbeck def. Georg Rasso (2:1)
= Heinrich Niemann was once again the wrestler behind the George Rasso alias here and in fact he was advertised by both names in the Norwegian press.

7 August 1898
Oslo, Norway
Bygdøy cycling track
Carl Norbeck def. Axel Krook (2:0)
= Most of the reports point out that the Swede Krook had lasted three falls with Bech-Olsen in a prior match, but Norbeck had managed to defeat Krook only in two falls. In a post-match speech Norbeck announced he would soon face Camillus Ewertsen.

On 16 August 1898 Tom Cannon issued a challenge to Norbeck, but nothing came of it.

Norbeck's next open-air match in Oslo ended up being his biggest one, probably because it had a lot of backstory to it. Ever since his initial encounters with Bech-Olsen back in 1895 every once in a while Norbeck would hurl a challenge toward the Dane, claiming Bech-Olsen was ducking him. The challenges really picked up in the later part of 1897 and in January 1898 Norbeck travelled to Copenhagen, hoping to get a match with the popular Bech-Olsen. Bech-Olsen refused to face Norbeck, but Bech-Olsen's leading student accepted the challenge instead. Camillus Ewertsen was a Danish amateur, who had turned pro under the guidance of Bech-Olsen. He agreed to wrestle Norbeck on 27 January, but the match ended up being a private one, with only a handful of people in attendance, and was for a purse of 150 krones for the winner and 50 for the loser. Ewertsen won in two straight falls, and won them super quick too (each one lasted about a minute). Afterward Bech-Olsen stated he does not regard Norbeck as a serious contender and this ended the idea of Norbeck vs. Bech-Olsen in Denmark, but the match continued to be teased in Norway for several more years. Norbeck trying to avenge his embarrassing loss to Ewertsen, Bech-Olsen's student, was a big deal in Norway and drew a big crowd.

21 August 1898
Oslo, Norway
Bygdøy cycling track
10,000 / 10,000 / 10,000 / 10,000 / 10,000 / 10,000 / 10-12,000 fans
Carl Norbeck def. Camillus Ewertsen (12 minutes)
= A number of Norwegian celebrities were in attendance.

Norbeck continued wrestling in Norway after this, but mainly in circus and theater hall bouts. For some reason, as best as I can tell, he never had any other big open-air matches in Oslo.

From late 1901 through early 1902 Norbeck had a short tour of the United States. His most notable opponents during the tour were the Turk Nechad and “Butcher Boy” John Piening, who Norbeck faced in a bout in New York that was billed as being for the American Greco-Roman Championship in some reports and for the World Greco-Roman Championship in other reports. Other than that, Norbeck wrestled exclusively in Norway.

7 September 1902
Trondheim, Norway
3,000 fans
Handicap Match: Mirano failed to defeat Carl Norbeck (20 minutes).
= The stipulation was that Mirano had to beat Norbeck in 20 minutes or forfeit 300 krones. Norbeck won the money.

In 1904 Norbeck rented and then in 1905 he purchased a traveling Swedish circus and renamed it Circus Norbeck. From there on out he focused his efforts on running Circus Norbeck, which became one of Norway's leading circuses. He ran the circus until 1929.

After years of continuous challenges, mostly by Norbeck toward Bech-Olsen, the big Norway vs. Denmark super match finally happened. The two had wrestled back in 1895, but then they were just starting to make a name for themselves in their respectively countries. Sadly though, when they finally wrestled again in 1905 both wrestlers were past their peak in terms of popularity so the match wasn't as big of a deal as it could have been had it happened a few years earlier.

16 July 1905
Bergen, Norway
race track
2,500 / 2-3,000 / 5,000 / 6,000 fans
Carl Norbeck drew Magnus Bech-Olsen
= The first fall lasted 30 minutes and was declared a draw. The second fall was about 10 minutes and the referee declared it a draw too due to a double pin (both wrestlers' shoulders being on the mat).

23 July 1905
Stavanger, Norway
Viking's cycling track
"thousands in attendance"
Carl Norbeck def. Magnus Bech-Olsen (13 minutes)
= Bech-Olsen protested the decision, claiming he had pinned Norbeck earlier in the match.

11 April 1906
Oslo, Norway
Circus Norbeck
Carl Norbeck def. Magnus Bech-Olsen (2:1)

Norbeck continued wrestling for a few more years, but being a circus director was now his main occupation. He would go on to be quite successful in that role. He was very well-known as a wrestler in Norway for a number of years, but is probably better remembered as a circus impresario. Also, another thing he's known for is his 1904 book called “How do I get strong?” (“Hvordan skal jeg blive stærk?”, in Norwegian), which is considered the first Norwegian book on wrestling and boxing. Norbeck passed away in 1939.