Wroclaw Zoological Garden

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Wroclaw Zoological Garden
Full name Ogród Zoologiczny we Wrocławiu
surface 33 hectares
opening July 10, 1865
Animal species 1132 species
Individuals approx.10,500 animals
organization
management Radosław Ratajszczak
Wrocław, Główne wejście do ZOO - fotopolska.eu (277456) .jpg

The City Zoological Garden in Wroclaw is the zoo of the city of Wroclaw . With an area of ​​around 33 hectares, it is one of the largest zoos in Poland . On display are over 10,500 animals representing 1,132 species (it is the third largest in the world in terms of the number of animal species).

history

1865-1945

The Wroclaw Zoo was opened on July 10, 1865, the first zoo director was the doctor Franz Schlegel from Altenburg . It was the eighth German zoo founded. At the opening, a bear pen , a wolf den and houses for wild boars , deer , pheasants , buffalo , camels , owls , eagles and small predators were completed. At the opening, the animal population comprised 189 mostly native animals.

Foal statue in Wroclaw Zoo. Inge Jaeger-Uhthoff , 1939, Berlin
Share over 1000 RM of AG Breslauer Zoologischer Garten from July 1938

Ten years after it opened, the Great Predator House was opened. But it was not until Schlegel's successor as director, Hermann Stechmann , that new animal houses were built between 1886 and 1890, which made the zoo internationally known.

For the 25th anniversary of the zoo, one of the world's first zoo guides appeared in 1890 with a map and 48 photo views of the zoo and its animals. After Friedrich Grabowsky took over the management in 1901, the animal population temporarily comprised 1,800 animals in 650 species.

Due to the destruction and the economic crisis after the First World War , the zoo was closed in 1921 and served as a concert garden in the following years. It was only reopened in May 1927, but then again showed 1,850 animals in 480 species.

An aquarium house planned for the early 1930s could not be realized due to the poor financial situation of the zoo.

In 1935, the zoo's first outdoor facility was opened with a facility for penguins . The zoo thus followed the development that began with the opening of Hagenbeck's zoo in Hamburg-Stellingen , to present animals in a landscape environment with as little bars as possible. From 1937 onwards the expansion of an extension area was started, in this context a seal enclosure, an outdoor enclosure for bears and an outdoor enclosure for baboons were created.

When the Second World War broke out, there were again 650 species in the zoo's animal population. The first aerial bombs fell on the zoo on October 7, 1944, and a few weeks later the zoo was in ruins. On May 9, 1945 , the Soviet military authorities handed over the administration of the city of Wroclaw to Poland.

1948 until today

On July 16, 1948, the University of Breslau reopened the zoo with a population of around 150 animals. After 1956 the area was expanded. In 1998 the zoo celebrated its 50th anniversary in Poland.

The current zoo director is Radosław Ratajszczak.

One attraction of the zoo is the Afrikarium-Oceanarium with the thematic areas: Red Sea, Hippos and Great Lakes, Shark Basin, Skeleton Coast Namibia and Congo Hall. Another attraction is the Odrarium (fauna of the Oder catchment area).

Zoo directors

  • Franz Schlegel (1822–1882)
    from August 1, 1864 to March 7, 1882
  • Hermann Stechmann (1840–1900)
    from May 15, 1882 to September 3, 1900
  • Friedrich Grabowsky (1857–1929)
    from March 18, 1901 to January 26, 1929
  • Hans Honigmann (1891–1943)
    from March 1929 to May 1, 1934
  • Martin Schlott (1891–1950)
    from November 1, 1934 to March 15, 1946
  • Karol Łukaszewicz
  • Antoni Gucwiński
    from summer 1965 to December 31, 2006
  • Radosław Ratajszczak

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c Werner Kourist: 400 Years of the Zoo , p. 154. / cf. literature
  2. ↑ http://www.competitionline.de/site/20012003133010/20012003133010.php?wettbewerb_id=10374

literature

  • Horst GW Gleiss: Among seals, wildebeest and tiger snakes. Chronicle of the Breslau Zoological Garden 1865–1965 , Natura et Patria Verlag, Wedel 1967.
  • Werner Kourist: 400 years of the zoo. In the mirror of the Werner Kourist Collection , Bonn 1976, pp. 154–157.
  • Annelore Rieke-Müller, Lothar Dittrich : The lion roars next door. The establishment of zoological gardens in the German-speaking area 1833–1869 , Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 1998, pp. 185–187.

Web links

Commons : Wrocław Zoo  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 6 ′ 17 ″  N , 17 ° 4 ′ 15 ″  E