Bobby (gorilla)

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The preparation that Dorothea von der Osten captured in the picture in 1936
Sculpture by Bobby in the Berlin Zoological Garden

Bobby (* approx. 1926 ; † August 1, 1935 ) was a male gorilla who was the first gorilla to move into the Berlin Zoological Garden on March 30, 1928 - at the age of about two years - and who still adorns the zoo's logo today.

Life

The animal writer Paul Eipper had taken over the gorilla child - at that time still weighing 16 kilograms - from an animal middleman in Marseille and transported it by train to Berlin. Under the care of nurse August Liebetreu, Bobby developed into a handsome, full-grown gorilla with a body weight of 262 kilograms. Bobby quickly became the darling of Berlin zoo visitors. He died of appendicitis on August 1, 1935 .

Honors

Stylized representation of Bobby in the logo of the Berlin Zoological Garden

After his death, sculptor Fritz Behn commissioned a granite statue that can still be seen in the Berlin zoo today. The dermoplastic Bobby is at the Museum of Natural History of the Humboldt University of Berlin . It was made by the Berlin taxidermists Karl Kaestner and Gerhard Schröder in 1935 with the help of the preservation technique of partial waxing they developed.

Bobby inspired the composer Walter Jurmann to write his chanson - Evergreen Mein Gorilla hat 'ne Villa im Zoo , sung by Hans Albers in 1933 and reinterpreted many times since then, including by Max Raabe .

literature

  • Paul Eipper: Animals look at you , 1928, Dietrich Reimer, Ernst Vohnsen Verlag Berlin
  • Paul Eipper: The animal lover travels , 1934, German Book Community Berlin
  • Walter Koch: Report on the result of the autopsy of the gorilla Bobby in the Berlin Zoological Garden. A contribution to comparative constitutional pathology . Gustav Fischer, Jena 1937
  • Harro Strehlow: Gorilla Bobby on the cover . In: Berlin monthly magazine ( Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein ) . Issue 3, 2000, ISSN  0944-5560 , p. 30-36 ( luise-berlin.de ).

Web links

Commons : Bobby  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information sign in the Berlin Zoo
  2. ↑ The favorite animals of Berliners . In: Berliner Morgenpost , November 18, 2008
  3. ↑ King Kong, the vegetarian . At: Deutschlandfunk , October 31, 2009
  4. ↑ The gorilla Bobby. ( Memento from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ The museum is a mystical place . In: Berliner Morgenpost , June 10, 2008