Al. G. Barnes—Sells Floto and John Robinson. The Human Fly Anna Merkel. Erie Litho, ca. 1938. Color offset lithograph depicts the performer in a feat of upside-down ceiling walking.Linen backed recently in near fine condition,71 x 52 cm approx . We can consider Anna Merkel a historical circus performer — she was real, she performed “ceiling-walking” as “The Human Fly” around 1938, and she was advertised accordingly. But beyond that, her later life and fate are unknown (or at least undocumented in accessible public sources). In short: we don’t have credible evidence of what happened to Anna Merkel after her 1938 performances.