Karlsruhe zoological garden

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Karlsruhe zoological garden
motto Discover new worlds!
place North entrance:
at Festplatz 9,
South entrance:
at Bahnhofplatz 4
surface Zoo: 9 hectares,
(city garden: 22 hectares)
Oberwald Zoo: 16 hectares
opening Zoo: September 9, 1865
Oberwald Zoo : 1965
Animal species approx. 240 animal species
Individuals approx. 3000 animals
Visitor numbers 1,392,231 (2012)
organization
management Zoo: Matthias Reinschmidt ; Horticultural Office: Helmut Kern
Sponsorship City of Karlsruhe
Funding organizations Zoofreunde Karlsruhe e. V.
Member of WAZA , EAZA , VdZ
Polar bear.jpg

Polar bear in the Karlsruhe Zoo

Karlsruhe zoological garden

The Karlsruhe Zoological Garden is a city garden with a zoo in the south-west of Karlsruhe . The outskirts of the Tierpark Oberwald south-east of the city belong to it. Around 3000 animals of more than 240 species live on an area of ​​around 22 hectares (nine hectares of which are zoo) plus the Oberwald zoo with an area of ​​16 hectares. The Stadtgarten is located north of the main train station and south of the Karlsruhe Congress Center between the Karlsruhe districts of Südstadt and Südweststadt. The zoo was opened in 1865, making it one of the oldest in Germany. The city garden and zoo form a common, fenced-in area and cannot be visited separately. The site is looked after by two municipal authorities, the horticultural department and the zoo. The zoo is a listed building in its entirety.

history

As early as 1861, the first efforts were made to found a zoo in the Baden residential city of Karlsruhe. The initiators were the members of the newly founded association for poultry breeding . The proposal to set up a poultry park and to supplement it with additional show enclosures for mammals was taken up and pursued from 1864 onwards. The Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden complied with a request for funding and had the southern part of the Sallenwäldchen available together with the Ludwigsee for an annual rent of three guilders for the construction of a zoo. The necessary capital for the establishment should be raised by bonds . The owners of these bonds were the Thiergarten Society , which was to operate the newly founded Thiergarten together with the poultry breeding association . The erection of the first plants only took a few months. In addition to funds, the Grand Duke also made some animals from his collection available. The planned financing ceiling of 50,000 guilders could not be raised before the opening. Only shares for a total of 25,000 guilders had been issued. The funding gap hampered the expansion of the zoo.

The private founders could no longer bear the costs, so that on November 30, 1868, a newly founded zoo took over the park and applied for financial support from the city. This support was provided in the form of loans and annual grants, and the expansion of the zoo has now proceeded a little more quickly. In 1869, 50,000 people visited the zoo, the animal population of which could be continuously expanded thanks to the Grand Duke's donations and donations from the population.

In 1877 the entire inventory and the animal facilities became the property of the city. At the same time, the site was expanded and the first larger gardens were created. Under the direction of the gardening director Friedrich Ries , the park developed into a well-known and popular excursion destination. In 1899 the first rose garden was created with around 3,600 rose plants in 800 varieties.

In 1887 it was decided to build an artificial hill with a built-in high reservoir to supply the city with water for the city garden area. The project was completed in June 1893 and was in use until November 1967. At 154 meters, the resulting Lauterberg is the highest point in Karlsruhe's core city.

The opening of the Hagenbeck zoo in Stellingen near Hamburg in 1907, with its mostly gridless animal enclosures, also influenced the design of other zoos, which now wanted to present all panoramic landscapes or at least outdoor facilities. In 1913, the first sea lions moved into an outdoor enclosure, which is the oldest still in existence in Karlsruhe Zoo today.

Access portal at Bahnhofplatz

In 1914 - connected with the construction and commissioning of the Karlsruhe main station - the garden area of ​​the zoo, the so-called city ​​garden , was considerably expanded, including a new rose garden. In place of the old one, the construction of the Japanese garden began in 1918.

In the period that followed, the animal stand was expanded to include exotic animals: in 1923 the zoo received a king tiger and in 1924 the three-year-old elephant Molly . The elephant remained in the Karlsruhe Zoo until her death in 1941.

Before the start of World War II , the animal population had grown considerably and considerations arose to relocate the zoo from the city center to the outskirts. It never came to that. During the war, the facilities were badly damaged and the surviving animals were given to other zoos. The area of ​​the city garden was used for growing vegetables to supply the hungry population.

In 1947, two years after the end of the war, the rebuilding of the zoo began with the construction of new animal enclosures. In 1949 the zoo including the city garden was reopened. The animal population was continuously expanded and by the early 1960s the zoo had surpassed the pre-war level.

The following years were dedicated to the intensive preparation of the 1967 Federal Horticultural Show in Karlsruhe. In 1965, the Oberwald zoo was created in the nearby city forest to create space for garden areas by relocating animals.

The gardens were completely redesigned for the Federal Garden Show, but the animal facilities were also expanded. A new facility for polar bears was inaugurated just in time for the opening of the garden show, which was attended by over six million guests. With eleven polar bears, the zoo was home to the largest polar bear group in Europe. In 1968 the new monkey house was opened.

In April 1973, four brown bears broke out of their probably not properly locked enclosure. Although everyone was stunned with anesthetic rifles, due to an underdosage, the largest bear bit an employee in the leg when it was loaded into a box and was then shot by a police officer. In 1975 the parrot house - the South American house demolished in 2018 for the expansion of the elephant facility - was completed. In the 1980s, refurbishment measures to safeguard the existing building as well as a few small construction projects were completed. In June 1984 the zoo restaurant burned down. Presumably it was negligent or willful arson. The property damage amounted to one million German marks.

In July 1984, three hippos died from circulatory collapse because a playing elephant had opened the hot water supply to the neighboring hippopotamus tank through a slide valve. In September 1984, a cub seal was sucked into a drainpipe and died. On an October night in 1985, three flamingos were killed by unknown persons. In August 1987, four wolves broke out of their enclosure. One of them died from an overdose of the anesthetic used for the trapping.

In the 1990s, the African savannah , a new chimpanzee enclosure and new outdoor enclosure at the predator house were completed and the outdoor enclosure for elephants redesigned.

During the renovation of their enclosure, all four polar bears (one male and three females) were loaned to the Nuremberg Zoo . After a stranger broke the door of the enclosure there in March 2000, they tore out and threatened zoo visitors. Because an anesthetic failed and an escape from the zoo grounds was feared, all four animals were shot. The new polar bear enclosure was opened in October 2000.

On the night of November 13, 2010, a fire broke out in which 26 animals were killed. The fire destroyed the petting zoo and killed all the animals in it before it spread to the elephant house and inflicted severe burns on some of the animals housed there. A new, larger petting zoo at the north entrance was inaugurated in the summer of 2011.

For the 150th anniversary in 2015, the zoo received, among other things, a new petting enclosure, the Himalayan mountains and, in the anniversary year itself, the coati enclosure and the exotic house in the former Tullabad.

In May 2019, the extended outdoor area of ​​the elephant enclosure was opened, which is also used by the hippos at night. The conversion to a retirement home for elephants is now complete.

Animal facilities

The flamingo enclosure at the Karlsruhe Zoo in winter
Lion enclosure, in the background the zoo administration building, 2010

The Stadtgarten Karlsruhe presents its enclosures as animal worlds , which are supposed to represent different zoogeographical regions of the world, for example the African, Australian and South American fauna.

The flamingos facility is located directly at the main entrance (south counter) . One facility that the zoo attaches great importance to is the facility for polar bears , which opened in 2000 : the replica of the arctic and tundra habitats is divided into three sections to separate polar bear mothers with children from the adult animals. The iceberg replicas are particularly striking. The animals can also be observed swimming underwater through viewing windows. During the construction of the enclosure, the four polar bears were lost; they had been relocated to Nuremberg for the duration of the measure and were able to escape there after an act of sabotage and were shot. The new and future-oriented enclosure first had to be equipped with two elderly females on loan from Rotterdam. The current line-up Vitus , Nika and Larissa came to Karlsruhe from Rostock, Vienna and Stuttgart.

As a continuation of the water habitat concept, the new seals and penguins were ready for use in August 2009 after a construction period of one and a half years . Seals and Californian sea lions can now find space for their activities on almost 900 m² on land and in water. For the modernization of the enclosures, which is reflected in the enlargement of the pools and outdoor areas, but above all increases the opportunities for observation for the public, 4.4 million euros were raised.

The enclosures for Bennett kangaroos and emus in the animal world of Australia are also designated as animal enclosures .

Animals from the African savannah such as zebras , antelopes , ostriches and meerkats are housed at the giraffe house. The African savannah area also shows Watussi cattle . The Karlsruhe Zoo keeps reticulated giraffes as a type of giraffe . The zoo also shows trample in its own enclosure north of the savannah area .

The Bergwelt Himalaya complex has been set up on the south-eastern slope of the Lauterberg . Here the visitor has been able to see snow leopards since 2011 and red pandas since 2013 . Already located on the southern slope of the Lauterberg, the redesigned facility for Persian goiter gazelles will then be presented . Bird aviaries for owls are located above on the southern slope of the Lauterberg. The adjoining 450 m² outdoor facility for coatis , one of the largest of its kind in Germany, has been open to visitors since April 2015 . The new lynx enclosure is being built to the northwest. On the north-western edge of the Lauterberg there are various small enclosures that offer space for dwarf otters and zebra mongooses .

Ponds with ducks and other water birds from all over the world, monkey islands for ring-tailed lemurs and spider monkeys from South America are also available.

In the monkey house next to chimpanzees as the only held - ape - other species of monkeys from Africa shown. The predator house is home to Chinese leopards , fenneks and salt cats , Carpathian lynx and a lioness .

In the north-east of the city garden, after two and a half years of renovation of a former indoor swimming pool, the Tullabad, the Exotenhaus was built in summer 2015 . The exotic house is the second largest house of its kind in a German zoo after Gondwanaland in Leipzig Zoo. With around 2000 animals in almost 100 animal species, the exotic house offers a wide variety of different animals. The largest living community is formed by the animals that live freely in the great hall - birds, bats and two- toed sloths . Various animals were also kept together in the three large aviaries, which were integrated into the landscape, in the terrariums, aquariums and paludariums . The Seychelles giant tortoise or the spectacled nose with their large bat cave also have their own enclosures . In the exotic house also has zoo education for the first time its own meeting rooms. Areas for kindergartens, classrooms for schools are set up, there is a seminar room for lecture series, workshops and holiday courses. A parrot aviary can be found south of the exotic house.

Another enclosure for flamingos and enclosures for Asian elephants and hippos can be found in the zoo's pachyderm house .

City garden

The city garden during the Federal Horticultural Show in 1967 . Below the Black Forest Hall (left) and the Nancy Hall
The pedestrian bridge in 1967

The gardens include a rose garden with around 15,000 roses in over 200 varieties and the Japanese garden . The part of the garden, originally laid out in 1918, was one of the first Asian gardens in Germany. On the occasion of the Federal Horticultural Show in 1967, the city garden was given its current design. A special attraction are the gondolettas on the ponds of the city garden and a water organ .

The City Garden hosts the Festival of Lights every two years (most recently in 2018) , during which thousands of tea lights , lanterns and light bulbs designed into figures illuminate the park.

Pedestrian bridge over the zoo

The Karl-Birkmann-Brücke spans the zoo and the city garden with the Tiergartenweg . The bridge is named after Karl Birkmann , the head of the zoological garden between 1963 and 1979. It connects the districts of Südstadt and Südweststadt .

Oberwald animal park

The zoo belonging to the Karlsruhe Zoo is freely accessible in the Oberwald recreational forest to the southeast of the main train station . Weather-resistant wild animals from temperate and cold zones live on 16 hectares in outdoor enclosures of several thousand square meters each with natural forest floor. This includes large groups of ungulates such as crop gazelles , bison , Przewalski's horses and Mesopotamian fallow deer .

Support association

The zoo's friends' association, Zoofreunde Karlsruhe e. V. support the zoo through various activities. The money is used to buy animals and renovate or build new facilities. The association was founded in 1979 and is the publisher of the zoom magazine kaTTa . The association organizes zoo tours, lectures and excursions for its members.

literature

  • Clemens Kieser: Karlsruhe's “Central Park”. The city garden as a public park and zoo. In: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Württemberg. 35th year 2006, issue 3, pp. 154–157 ( denkmalpflege-bw.de PDF).
  • Uta Schmitt: The city garden in Karlsruhe. A historical foray , Karlsruhe 2007. ISBN 3-88190-448-4 .
  • 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. 195–197.
  • Christine Beil: The zoo in Karlsruhe. A historical foray. Info-Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-88190-873-3 .

Web links

Commons : Zoologischer Stadtgarten Karlsruhe  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: Zoo Karlsruhe  - in the news

Individual evidence

  1. Almost 1.4 million guests visited the zoo in 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2013 .
  2. See History of the Karlsruhe Zoological Garden (official website) , accessed on April 16, 2015.
  3. Justification of the monument status according to § 2 DSchG
  4. Rieke-Müller / Dittrich, p. 195> cf. literature
  5. Rieke-Müller / Dittrich, pp. 195–196> cf. literature
  6. Rieke-Müller / Dittrich, p. 196> cf. literature
  7. historical review 1865–1894 Zoologischer Stadtgarten Karlsruhe (official website) , accessed on April 16, 2015.
  8. Page no longer available , search in web archives: Stadtgarten . Website on the subject of water as a master builder in Karlsruhe on the Open Monument Day 2004.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.karlsruhe.de
  9. a b historical review: 1947 to 1967 Zoologischer Stadtgarten Karlsruhe (official website) , accessed on April 16, 2015.
  10. historical review: 1967 to 1985 Zoologischer Stadtgarten Karlsruhe (official website) , accessed on April 16, 2015.
  11. a b c Sunday . November 14, 2010, p. 3.
  12. January 15, 2018: Renovation of the elephant enclosure has begun at Karlsruhe Zoo
  13. Felix Neubüser: Elephants saved from the flames. Fires in zoos. In: Südkurier . dated November 15, 2010
  14. ^ Fire in the Karlsruhe Zoo - was it arson? , accessed April 5, 2013
  15. Technical defect caused Zoobrand. In: Südkurier from November 20, 2010
  16. Recovery of the four elephants is making good progress (official website)
  17. New construction of the petting zoo (official website)
  18. a b Exotenhaus (official website)
  19. The new system for elephants and hippos is almost ready
  20. Animal Adventure Worlds. Website of the zoological city garden.
  21. Water as a habitat. Website of the Zoological City Garden, accessed on April 16, 2015.
  22. Rosengarten (official website) , accessed on April 16, 2015.
  23. ^ Japangarten (official website) , accessed April 16, 2015.
  24. ^ Gondoletta (official website) , accessed April 16, 2015.
  25. ^ Karlsruhe: cultural monument city garden. Retrieved August 30, 2015 .
  26. Festival of Lights (official website) , accessed on April 16, 2015.
  27. Tierpark Oberwald (official website) , accessed on April 16, 2015.

Coordinates: 48 ° 59 ′ 52 ″  N , 8 ° 24 ′ 6 ″  E