BERLIN ZOO
Germany's Original Great Zoo in West Berlin
Alas,
all children grow and so it was with the world’s
one time most famous polar bear called Cute Knut. He made the
Berlin Zoo the top spot for ahwile, but all cubs grow up. Supplanted
in the cute animal wars by
a cub at the Nuremburg Zoo, old Knut has moved on
for other hunting grounds with the statuary polar bears left to play,
but the Berlin Zoo is still one of the German capital city's coolest
places to go with plenty of lions, tigers and giraffes.
The Berlin
Zoo has certainly seen its way through good times and bad times. First
opened in 1844
when the private royal animal menagerie collection
of Kaiser Frederick Wilhelm IV was moved from Peacock Island (Pfaueninsel)
in the Havel River to some royal land then a distance outside historic
Berlin. The animal collection grew under the stewardship of Dr. Ludwig
Heck as a variety of animal houses where built in fascinating architectural
styles to reflect the origins of the resident. The Moorish Antelope
and Giraffe House, Indian style Elephant House, Egyptian Ostrich House
where a unique world
city to themselves. In 1913 the Berlin Aquarium was opened with not
only fresh and salt water fish, but reptiles and amphibians.
The
bombs that fell on Berlin in WWII did not spare the zoo or its animals.
Not only were many of
the structures
destroyed but the animals went from
over 3,500 to just 91 survivors. During the cold war that saw the city
divided into the “island” of West Berlin surrounded by the
communist east, the Zoo came to be the center of the surrounded city.
Even after reunification, the Zoo with its distinctive oriental Elephant
Gate on Budapester Strasse, rebuilt from the bombed original along with
several of the unique buildings was the central landmark of West Berlin.
The main train station was the Bahnhof Zoolischer Garten or Am Zoo (rail
station at the zoo), still a common rail destination virtually just across
the street. The city's monument to WWII destruction
the old cathedral at the Blaukirch can be seen beyond the gates (see West
Berlin Memorial Church).
The Berlin
Zoo’s animal
collection offers the world's broadest variety of species on display
in combination
with the Berlin Tierpark
animal park in the Friedrichsfelde district. The oldest zoo in Germany,
the Berlin Zoo continues to add new exhibits in a mix of unique old world
and modern design with the 1905 Russian style bison house juxtaposed
with the glass domed Hippopotamus House with above and below the water
viewing. The zoo provides with activity programs for families and children
in multiple languages and a list of feeding times for best viewing.
The Berlin
Zoo is easily reached by train or subway, just get off at the Zoolischer
Garten station from
the S-Bahn
S5, S7, S75 and S9 or Kurfürstendamm
on the U9 and U 15. The entrance is through the lion gate beyond the
train station, the iconic Chinese style Elephant gate is an exit.
There is an express bus from the airport which goes to the Zoolischer
Station as
well.
There are
pay
parking
lots in
the
neighborhood,
but a very busy part of the city. Two large parking garages are on Nürnberger
Strasse and Budapester Strasse. © Bargain
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