Brussels Zoological Garden
The first plans for a zoo in Brussels date back to 1847, on the site of today's Parc Léopold. In 1851 the Société royale de Zoologie, d'Horticulture et d'Agrément was finally founded, which built a zoological garden with various attractions (exotic animals, greenhouses, English garden, ice rink). The founders included the King of Belgium, the Duke of Brabant, the Count of Flanders and the Mayor of Brussels.
The first zoo director was Baron John von Müller, a former travel companion of Alfred Brehm . The renowned botanist Jean Jules Linden was responsible for the plants. Difficulties arose from the first few years and were made worse by the deaths of 140 of the 567 animals in 1853. The economic situation of the company has always been unsatisfactory. In 1860, admission prices had to be reduced due to the falling number of visitors. In 1861 the city of Brussels took over the zoo on its own (the zoo shares were exchanged for city bonds). The financial situation remained bad. In 1877 the zoo was declared bankrupt. An attempt at reconstruction (Société Royale de Zoologie) failed and the zoo was finally closed in 1880. All animals that could not be sold were slaughtered.
On the occasion of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence in 1830, the grounds of the zoo were named Parc Léopold in honor of Leopold II and were converted into a public park.
literature
- Armin Schmitz, Arne Metzger: Zoological gardens as corporations. Historical development and financing , Verlag der Antik Effekten GmbH, 2000, ISBN 978-3-9806-4012-1
Individual evidence
- ↑ Company history at www.historische-wertpapiere.de
- ^ Hans Braun: Historische Aktien Europa, Volume 1, Verlag Hermann Schmidt, Mainz, ISBN 3-87439-396-8 , pp. 30f
- ↑ Company history at http://journals.openedition.org/ (French).