Overview

• Gina Althoff formally handed over her grandfather’s family album as a permanent loan to Wuppertal’s Schwebebahn-Museum Schwebodrom on July 21, marking the 75th anniversary of Tuffi’s leap.
• The album contains rare photographs of Tuffi boarding the Schwebebahn, traveling inside the carriage, and resting on the Wupper riverbank after her fall.
• Since no image exists of the actual jump, these newly archived photos help fill longstanding gaps in the visual record of the 1950 publicity stunt.
• Court records from 1950 show that Tuffi’s panic induced property damage estimated at 106 D-Mark and led to fines for both the city-works director and circus director Franz Althoff.
• The family donation has spurred fresh scholarly review of Tuffi’s media myth, shifting attitudes toward animal welfare, and her enduring role in Wuppertal’s cultural identity.