The oldest known zoo in Germany is the Berlin Zoological Garden. This 35 hectare Zoological garden is home to over 17,000 animals and about 1600 species. It is regarded as the species-richest zoo in the whole world.
The major highlights of the zoo include the aquarium and the cat house. The zookeepers will allow you to pet some of their animals. The entire upkeep and maintenance of the animal housing and habitat is simply amazing. Get there to experience the wild first-hand.
How to reach?
The Zoo is quite easy to reach as it has its very own railway station, i.e. the Berlin Zoological Garden railway station. Also, the other mode of transportation includes the U-Bahn, S-Bahn and other busses that link with the zoo. Moreover, car parking is available on Nürnberger Strasse which is at a distance of roughly 2 minutes from the Elephant Gate of the zoo.
History
Berlin Zoological Garden started its operations on the 1st of August 1844 and was the first zoo of its kind in Berlin, Germany. Later additions in the form of an aquarium were made in 1813. Frederick William IV, the King of Prussia donated the first set of animals to the zoo.
Moreover, the zoo was completely obliterated during the Second World War and out of the then 3,715 animals only 91 managed to survive the bombings. As the war ended fortification of the zoo began with the construction of the Zoo flak tower and a massive flak tower which was the last spaces of resistance which Germany had against the Red Army. The flak was equipped with bunkers and anti-aircraft weaponries.
Post the destruction of the zoo and while the reconstruction process was underway, the aquarium was redesigned as per the modern principles of aquarium design. The new and improved construction meant to enable the visitors to witness the aquatic life in their typical habitat. The aquarium succeeded in breeding many of the rare species and in maintaining the health of all the aquatic life present there. The modern improved methods thus proved to be an immense success.
During the late 1930’s, specifically in 1938, Berlin Zoological Garden forced all its Jewish board members to quit and sell their stocks at massive amounts of losses so that they could reinstate the overflowing Aryan tendencies of the country. Moreover, today, the zoo though many historians are trying to trace back those initial Jewish members and prepare a report in this regard.
The zoo has received appreciation from various reputed organisations for its initiations and programs through which it recreates the natural habitats of the captive animals.
Furthermore, the zoo has undertaken various captive breeding projects for the rare deer’s and the pigs. Berlin Zoological Garden also supports conservatories in other counties like the one in Madagascar and partners with various species protection foundations across the globe.
On the 5th of December 2006 the Berlin Zoo got its most prised possession, the polar bear Knut. Knut was born in captivity and also orphaned by his mother. The zookeepers ever since had done a commendable job in raising the polar bear. He was at one point the part of an international controversy and become a major attraction in the zoo. Sadly, Knut collapsed and died while in captivity on 19th March 2011. Also, the only giant panda in any German zoo, Bao Bao who was loaned by China to the zoo for the purpose of breeding was also located here. Despite a lot of efforts nothing much was achieved and Bao Bao died in 2012 on the 22nd of August.
Architecture and structure
The basic design of the buildings ran in consonance with the original habitat of the animals. That is they were designed to resemble the countries habitat from where animals were sourced. Hardenberg Place is the Lion Gate and located towards the western entrance and was rebuilt in 1987. It was in-fact presented to the zoo on the city’s 750th anniversary. The zoo also has an Elephant Gate which was built in 1899 and then rebuilt in 1984. You can also spot many sculptures of animals such as that of a polar bear in the form of a fountain and the orangutan sculpture. Most of these sculptures have been erected in the memories of animals that have passed on with their beautiful memories of their stay with the zoo. The most prominent among these is the statue of Knautschke which has been placed right before the Hippo House. Also, that of the gorilla Bobby in granite has been placed in the monkey enclosure along with the monument of Knut as a dreamer have been placed.
Why visit?
Berlin Zoological Garden is among the most visited zoos in Europe. The number of visitors each year manages to cross the gargantuan figure of 3 million. The zoo has its very own railway station (Berlin Zoological Garden railway station) which is also popularly called as Zoo and it is also quite a prominent station.
You can find about four varieties of great apes, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos. Among the carnivorous lot the display consists of big cats and many rare smaller predators. Ring-tailed mongoose and narrow-stripped mongoose from Madagascar can also be found here. The zoo also has a basement which houses a wide variety of nocturnal animal population. There are aviaries and other forms offered by the bird house through which bird watching is possible. Here, you can spot species of hornbills, parrots, herons among others. It is among the very few zoos in the world which act as habitats for tuatara and Luzon tarictic hornbills.
The Berlin Zoo offers unique and experience rich show of animal kingdom in all its glorious forms. You can not only watch these animals expressing their ferocity but also witness them enjoy and live in their very own habitats. Watching them up close is rather fascinating, and just by watching them you can get to learn a great deal of things.
The zoo offers the following programs and unique ways to experience the animals in their lived habitats.
- Feeding and shows: Watching the animals being fed and shows performed by them are quite the attraction which draws many of the visitor’s attentions. Witnessing the animals and birds enjoy their favourite activity is an opportunity that should not be missed and where else can you get to see it up close but here at the Berlin Zoo.
- Animal highlights: The Berlin Zoo also acts like an observatory where visitors and the curious minded come and watch the myriad variety of birds and animals get comfortable or run around or just sit and sleep in their environment.
- Guided sessions and tours: It is almost hard to imagine the amount there is to just discover and understand. The zoo offers shows that are categorised thematically. Through these tours you can get the much needed insights moreover, the tour guides are at all times welcome to any number of questions. You can get up-close to the animals with the assistance of the zookeepers and they can provide any amount of details and share all the possible information they have collected through their experiences. From time to time the zoo organises photo walks for the interested professionals and amateurs. This can be a wonderful expertise to observe and capture some very intriguing moments at the zoo.
- Zoo Classes at the Berlin Zoo: These sessions are conducted keeping in mind the class levels of children. This is entirely oriented towards experience based and hands-on learning. Children are able to collect wide range of information based on technical, biological, social and emotional experiences. Knowledge collected by these means is everlasting and mark impressions on a child’s mind.
- Celebrate at the Zoo: The zoo allows you to partner with them and conduct events such as a birthday parties, weddings, office parties, or any other form of family celebration. What else could one possibly need while celebrating – there is indeed the best atmosphere and then there is also the fantastic company of the wild in all its glory.
Moreover, as per the latest figures there are a total of nearly 17,000 animals at the zoo including: penguins, polar bear, elephants, meerkat, hippo, giraffe, gorilla, California sea lion, Rhino, lions, okapi, orangutan, red kangaroo, capybara, zebras and many more.
Among other things, events, programs and walks – there is also the Zoo Restaurant. You can get the most sumptuous of meals with ample seating capacities with both indoors and outdoors options. The restaurant here can also provide you with catering services so that while celebrating you won’t have to worry about food at least.
What else is around?
- Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
- Kurfurstendamm (Kurfurstendam)
- Museum of Photography
- Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe)
- Jugendwettbewerbe der Berliner Festspiele
- Berlin Sculpture (Broken Chain)
- Victory Column (Siegessaule)
- Theater des Westens
- Berlin Philharmonic, et cetera.