Naucke had originally started an apprenticeship as a baker, but at the age of 14 he joined a troupe of artists with whom he traveled through Europe and the USA.

Since his body weight increased steadily - at a height of only 1.70 m at the age of 38 years, he finally weighed 235 kilograms and had a waist circumference of 190 cm - he later gave up wrestling completely and, as a so-called colossal man, concentrated entirely on strength acrobatics, artistic performances and parodies.

In 1880, Naucke founded his own agency and appeared in numerous German and international cities such as Berlin, London, Paris, Madrid and Helsinki.

As an extremely popular power man at the time, Emil Naucke performed in circuses and variety shows around the world.

[1] On January 25, 1900, immediately after performing at a charity event at the Sagebiel establishment, Emil Naucke died of a heart attack.