Koenigsberg Zoo
The Königsberg zoo was founded in Königsberg i. Pr. Opened. As the Kaliningrad Zoo , it is one of the oldest zoos in today's Russia. More than 2,200 animals live in the current zoo. There are many animal sculptures on the site. Some buildings and facilities as well as a light fountain from the German history of the city have also been preserved.
history
As early as the 1880s, efforts were made to open a zoological garden in Königsberg, but this idea could not be realized due to a lack of funds. In 1895 the Northeast German Trade Exhibition took place on the Hufenpark near the city. On the initiative of the head of the trade exhibition Hermann Claaß and the head of the zoological institute of the University Professor Max Braun , an association for the creation of a zoo was founded on August 28th. The public supported the idea, with the donations collected, the association was able to buy some of the buildings of the trade exhibition after it ended. The buildings were rebuilt for the new purpose, new facilities were created. Most of the animals were purchased from the Hagenbeck pet shop in Hamburg . On May 21, 1896, the Königsberg zoo was officially opened. 893 animals of 262 species could be viewed. There have been some big animals: lions , tigers , a leopard , a puma , a bear , an elephant , a dromedary and a kangaroo .
In order to acquire the funds required for keeping the animals (the zoo was not financed by the state), visitors were offered numerous amusement events: exotic exhibitions, regular music concerts, and a wind orchestra played every day. There was also a restaurant, a wine bar, a pastry shop and ten tennis courts. In 1898 the zoo offered an unusual attraction: for 3 gold marks one could ascend in a hot air balloon up to a height of 300 meters. For comparison: in 1910 a day ticket to the zoo cost 50 pfennigs for adults and 20 pfennigs for children. With the money acquired, new animals could be bought. In 1910 the zoo had 2,161 animals, this record number could not be surpassed for almost 100 years.
Difficult times for the zoo began with the First World War : all available rooms were used by the military. A large part of the staff had to do military service, the zoo was closed for public visits. Because of the shortage of food, the number of animals had to be drastically reduced: native birds and small animals were released, and some large animals were shot.
In 1918 the zoo was reopened. In the twenties the animal population only recovered slowly due to the economic downturn. In 1920 there were 380 animals, in 1924 - 700 animals in 200 species. In 1920 the first East German mass was held in the zoo and inaugurated by President Friedrich Ebert .
In the thirties the zoo had to be rebuilt because of the lack of space. The entrance building in Bauhaus style has been preserved from this period to this day . The zoo was owned by the city since 1938. The expansion of the zoo could not be completed due to the Second World War . The Tiergarten Association dissolved.
The last manager of the Königsberg Zoo, Hans-Georg Thienemann , son of the eminent ornithologist Johannes Thienemann , was able to continue his work at the Duisburg Zoo after the war with a large number of employees .
When the city was taken by the Red Army in April 1945, many buildings and facilities were damaged and destroyed. Only four animals survived World War II: a fallow deer , a European badger , a domestic donkey and a hippopotamus . The hippopotamus, which was called “Rosa” before the war and “Hans” after the war, got seven shrapnel during fighting and fell into a ditch at the edge of the park. It was in miserable condition, having had nothing to drink or eat for almost two weeks. After two months of medical treatment, "Hans" was healthy again and was the first large animal in the new zoo. A hippopotamus is the symbol of the Kaliningrad Zoo.
From 1946, after Koenigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad , the zoo bears its current name.
open air museum
On the initiative of the state curator, the local history museum, the first German open-air museum, was built in the zoo in 1912 . It comprised a windmill, an oven, a village church and farmhouses of all types of construction found in East Prussia. Since the open pit gorge was too narrow for the necessary expansion, the museum had to be relocated to the Hexenberg north of Hohenstein in 1938 . It is still there as an open-air museum of folk architecture .
The zoo today
On May 27, 1947, the Kaliningrad Zoo was opened to the public for the first time since the war. 50 animal species could be visited, the animal population could be expanded quickly with the help of other zoos in the Soviet Union. Sailors from the Soviet Baltic Fleet also brought many exotic animals with them and donated them to the zoo. In 1973, the institution of sponsorship was introduced: with the help of various organizations and companies in the city, over 130 facilities and buildings were newly constructed and renovated, dams and bridges were built over the Parkbach, paths, electricity, water and sewer lines were laid . A children's playground with colorful wooden buildings dates from 1982. Around this time, groups of animal sculptures were placed on the entrance building.
The 16.5 hectare zoo is also an arboretum with exotic trees and shrubs. At the park entrance is a ginkgo , a living fossil . Bear and lion outdoor enclosures, eagle aviaries and sea animal houses with outdoor pools are a few preserved pre-war buildings. The light fountain, which did not work for many decades, was restored and put back into operation for the 100th anniversary of the zoo in 1996. With a water jet up to 18 m high, it is one of the largest fountains in Kaliningrad. The society house built in 1911 in modern baroque style has also been preserved . The building projected by Otto Walter Kuckuck with two floors, palm hall and terraces was rebuilt after the Second World War and serves as an elephant house.
Not far from the main avenue is a bronze figure in honor of the first zoo manager Hermann Claaß. The sculpture was created by Walter Rosenberg and shows a boy feeding a panther and two of his cubs. This sculpture was unveiled on June 14, 1913 and was considered lost for a long time after the Second World War. It was only found in 1990, restored and placed on its base. There are also other stone and bronze animal sculptures in the zoo. As it was 100 years ago, the zoo is a popular recreational area.
The Kaliningrad Zoo is a member of the Euro-Asian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums and participates in many international projects for the conservation and breeding of threatened animal species. The zoo has succeeded in getting offspring from the following animals: snow leopard , zebra , lowland tapir , griffon vulture . In 2016 there were more than 2200 animals of 315 species in the zoo. 56 of them are on the Red List of Threatened Species .
In order to further modernize the zoo, a complete renovation is being considered. Since the preserved historical enclosures and buildings no longer meet the requirements of contemporary animal husbandry, it should be decided whether they will be demolished or otherwise used. At the same time, display boards telling stories from the Königsberg zoo should remind of the German heritage.
literature
- Daniel Staschus: De Oapegoarde [The Monkey Garden] - a happy hike through the Königsberg zoo with woodcuts and Low German verses . Koenigsberg 1927.
- Richard J. Müller: Guide through the Königsberg zoo . Koenigsberg 1936.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt : Königsberg from A to Z. A city dictionary . 1972
- ↑ Svetlana Sokolova [Director of the Kaliningrad Zoo]: The animal kingdom turns 120 years . Königsberg Bürgerbrief 87 (2016), pp. 84–85.
Coordinates: 54 ° 43 ′ 19.7 ″ N , 20 ° 29 ′ 16.7 ″ E