Herr Friedrick Thiessen

Friedrick Herr Thiessen is a character in The Night Circus (Novel). He is a maker of clocks and a writer of letters. After seeing his work installed, Thiessen falls in love with The Night Circus and revels in his being an outsider. He begins to write circus reports for local papers and unintentionally becomes the leader of a circus fan club called “The Rêveurs.”

History

Very little is known about Herr Thiessen prior to his involvement with the circus, apart from his date of birth (September 9th, 1846), and the fact that he is an accomplished clockmaker.

In 1885, Herr Thiessen meets Ethan Barris, who commissions a clock for the circus (although Herr Thiessen is not told what will happen to the clock or where it will be used). Herr Thiessen proceeds to create a remarkable "dreamlike" black-and-white clock which, amongst other things, has the ability to change colour (this clock turns out to be the clock in the circus' courtyard). Herr Thiessen never hears from Ethan again, but he sometimes wonders what happened to the clock.

Four years later, during a holiday in France, Herr Thiessen hears of the Night Circus from a winemaker, who mentions that the clock in the courtyard is reminiscent of Herr Thiessen's own work.