Altenburg Island Zoo
| Altenburg Island Zoo | ||
|---|---|---|
| particularities | Zoo on an island | |
| place | Teichpromenade 31 04600 Altenburg |
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| surface | 0.6 ha | |
| opening | 1954 | |
| Animal species | 101 species | |
| Individuals | 543 animals (including aquarium) | |
| Visitor numbers | 80,500 (2012) | |
| organization | ||
| management | Ingrid Kipping | |
| Sponsorship | City of Altenburg | |
 Entrance area of the island zoo |
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| http://www.inselzoo.de | ||
|
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Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 43.7 " N , 12 ° 25 ′ 58.4" E
The Altenburg Island Zoo is Germany's only zoo that is located on an island .
The island is located in the middle of the large pond on the southern edge of Altenburg's old town. The zoo is accessible via a fixed bridge.
At the beginning of 2008 the zoo was voted “Thuringia's most beautiful zoo” by viewers of the MDR - overall as the fourth most beautiful zoo in Central Germany after Görlitz , Leipzig and Weißenfels.
history
Creation of the island and previous use
The island on which the zoo is located today was artificially created in the large pond in 1720/1721. She served u. a. Duke Friedrich II and his court to relax. In 1727 a fixed connection to the island was established with a wooden bridge. A pavilion followed in 1730. After a phase of decay after Frederick's death, the island was greatly enlarged and redesigned from 1761. New trees and bushes were planted, a new pavilion was built and a swan house was built. The island area is said to have been around 0.4 ha. At the same time, the entire pond area was redesigned (see section Environment: Large pond ). The three ferries, which had been in operation since 1783 after the wooden bridge had become unusable due to rotting, were not replaced by today's solidly built bridge until 1925.
In 1809 the first public eatery was built. In 1874 the island was leased and a restaurant opened by a former seaman. The island became a popular entertainment and recreation facility in Altenburg. The catering business experienced a heyday from 1903 to 1918 under the tenant Carl Müller (1868–1935), popularly known as Insel-Müller . Already at this time there were boat rentals, film screenings of exotic locations and the first zoo animal husbandry of monkeys and parrots to increase the attractiveness . As one of the first entrepreneurs in Germany, Carl Müller showed film footage from the German colonies that he traveled to himself.
On December 31, 1907, the city of Altenburg acquired the island together with the Kleiner Teich and the Hellwiese .
Subsequent tenants were less successful. The closure of the restaurant due to dilapidation was ordered on October 1, 1938. In 1939 the buildings were demolished. A new building was not realized due to the outbreak of the Second World War. During the war, paramilitary training for the Hitler Youth took place on the island .
Zoo History
The silting from 1947/1948 enlarged the island again. A lease as a poultry farm location failed and the idea of using it as a school garden from 1951 was not implemented. In 1952, water birds were finally housed on the island.
The responsible garden authority in Altenburg began redesigning the island in the summer of 1953 under the direction of Wolfgang Räger - also with the help of the citizens. The zoo opened on June 27, 1954 with no celebrations. 8,000 visitors were already counted in the first year.
In 1960 the vivarium was opened. In 1954, many animals from the old Altenburger Vivarium on Hospitalplatz (founded in 1951) had already been moved to the island zoo because of the expansion of the neighboring school .
In the summer of 1970 the island was flooded after a heavy rain. The great pond overflowed. Many animals were evacuated.
Since the 1990s, renovation work has taken place to improve the keeping conditions and increase the attractiveness of the zoo. For example, the much too small bear enclosure was replaced by the pheasantry and new farm buildings were built.
Particular attention is paid to family friendliness. The petting enclosure, opened in 2001, and the meerkat outdoor enclosure, like many other facilities, are designed to be child-friendly. In 2003 a playground was built.
In 2008 the new construction of the rhesus monkey enclosure was completed. The new construction for the coatis on the area of the former monkey enclosure took place in the same year. Likewise, the path of the senses was set up to get to know nature through play.
Visitor numbers
The zoo, which is open all year round, has been a popular excursion destination since it was founded - embedded in the park by the pond and the adjacent city forest.
In the opening year 1954, 8,000 visitors were already counted.
| year | 1954 | 2000 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visitors | 8,000 | 43,000 | 60,500 | 67,000 | 63,000 | 66,000 | 86,600 | 81,700 | 68,100 | 80,500 | 80,500 | 83 500 | 90,000 | 93,000 | 91,000 |
species
The zoo shows eleven species of mammals , 34 species of birds , 27 species of fish , nine species of reptiles , seven species of amphibians and thirteen species of invertebrates .
Some species are mentioned here as examples: donkeys , pygmy goats , Cameroon sheep , rhesus monkeys , foxes , meerkats , porcupines , rabbits and guinea pigs ; Eagle owls , little owls , ravens , ducks , geese , macaws , parakeets , peacocks , pheasants .
Fish, insects and reptiles are shown in more than 30 aquariums and terrariums in the vivarium .
ecology
The zoo works together with the Naturförderungsgesellschaft Ökologische Station Borna -Birkenhain eV . As part of a breeding program for little owls, these should either be released into the wild or further bred to preserve the species.
Throughout the zoo, information about the species on display is conveyed via display boards and playful elements.
Environment: large pond
The large pond is a 10 hectare impoundment of the blue flood stream . The damming took place in 1190. Today's separation from the adjoining small pond by a dam took place in 1594.
The pond served as Altenburg's water supply. It was and is now being farmed again. The pond was also included in the defense of the southern city wall.
After the island was filled up in 1720 and its decay, the island and the entire area were lavishly designed from 1761 to 1771: the chestnut promenade surrounding the pond was laid out, the island was greatly enlarged and redesigned. The pond was largely waterless from 1761 to 1764. At the northeastern end of the pond, a ship house was built for the ducal court in 1767. The use of the ships and the island was then allowed to other high-ranking people from 1774. In 1783 three ferries to the island were put into operation, which did not cease to operate until 1925 with the construction of today's bridge.
The city forest, which was created artificially from 1907 (formerly Herzog-Ernst -Wald ), borders the pond .
Others
- The zoo is financed by the city of Altenburg as well as a proportion of extensive donations.
- Animal sponsorships have been offered since 2001. Since 2005 the number has leveled off at over 50 new sponsorships. In 2009 there were 64 new sponsorships - a total of 377.
- On the island there is a jetty for rowing and pedal boats, with which the large pond and the island can be explored from the water.
- Parallel to the Park and Pond Festival, the Inselzoofest takes place every year in August.
See also
Web links
- http://www.inselzoo.de Page about the island zoo
- http://www.oekostation-borna-birkenhain.de/ Ecological station Borna-Birkenhain
Sources and individual references
- Research on site
- local press Osterländer Volkszeitung (including information from city archives)
- Festschrift for the 50th anniversary of M. Moritz (including information from the city archive)
- ↑ a b c d [1] on stadt-altenburg.de
- ↑ a b c Christian Bettels: More than 80,000 visitors and more animal sponsors than ever before. (No longer available online.) Inselzoo.de, January 24, 2013, archived from the original on December 17, 2014 ; Retrieved March 6, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Message "Altenburgs Zoo is Thuringia's most beautiful" on abge-info.de
- ↑ Wolfgang Fuhrmann: The "island": Colonial entertainment in Altenburg, in: Ulrich van der Heyden and Joachim Zeller (eds.): Colonialism in this country - A search for traces in Germany. Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2007, ISBN 978-3-86680-269-8 , pp. 337–342.
- ↑ Visitor numbers 2000, 2004 and 2005 on abge-net.de ( Memento of the original from March 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Visitor numbers 2006 to 2008 on abge-net.de ( memento of the original from March 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ OVZ 15./16. January 2011 page 15
- ↑ Ellen Paul: Super year for the island zoo. In: OVZ . January 25, 2014.
- ↑ Number of species on http://www.inselzoo.de (2008)
