Not long after the Crusades ended, trade played an important part in Europe not just for the exchange of goods, but it also acted as a stimulus for Europe’s cultural development. The trade of exotic animals was especially crucial in the cultural development, because of the critical role that exotic and wild animals played with the people as well as with the artist of this time period. Artists began to use animals in pieces such as books and paintings which sparked a curiosity for many others.
Before there were zoos, many aristocrats and private individuals owned menageries. Menageries are places where animals (generally a variety) were kept for the pleasure of the owners and their guests. There were some instances where menageries were open to a more public audience, There was also the case of the traveling menagerie. In the cases of traveling menageries, the owners would take one or a few of their best animals and go throughout different towns, showing off their “beasts.” A good amount of menageries were kept as learning tools to enhance people’s knowledge about nature and other far away countries.
“Manders Menagerie” by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums licensed under CC BY 4.0
Berlin was one of three places (Paris and Vienna being the other two) that showed some of the most important transitions into the modern zoo. By the end of the 18th century, located in the Havel River the island of Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) was a pleasure ground for the Prussian court. By the 19th century Pfaueninsel underwent a renovation and now featured birds of prey and monkey cages. The animal collection at the Pfaueninsel was growing under the ruling of Frederick William III however, after his death, Frederick William IV came into power. With a lack of interest in exotic animals Frederick William IV began to give away many of the deer and other common animals that were held in the menageries around Germany. After deciding to allow the creation of the Berlin Zoo, Frederick William IV donated a majority of the animals that were located at the Pfaueninsel.
The Berlin Zoo was first designed by Peter Joesph Lenné while Heinrich Strack was the architect and creator of the buildings. Unlike some other zoo’s that were getting started around this time, the Berlin Zoo was available to the public from the very first day it opened August 1, 1844. Even though it had fewer than 100 species, it was quite popular and continued to have good attendance as the years passed. In the first 25 years, although the attendance at the zoo remained good, it lacked the finances to remain open due to a lack of shares being sold. Luckily, the zoo received many gifts from Frederick William IV that made it possible to remain open during this period. With more wealth being created in Germany, the years of financial struggling finally came to an end and the Berlin Zoo took off. As time went on the passion for knowledge and education grew along with the zoo.
“Zoo Berlin, about 1870.” by Anonymous photo is Public Domain
In 1869 the zoo underwent a lot of changes, some included a change in the species of animals it housed, the number of animals and even more drastic were the changes made to the ideas behind the exhibition of the animals. Before then, the zoo was set up in an almost random way, the zoos director at the time, Heinrich Bodinus, redesigned it to create what he called a “living museum.” The systematic approach he used to grow and sustain his zoo was followed by his successors up until 1914 when the zoo had reached its peak with a collection of 1,474 species/subspecies of birds and mammals.
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“Bobby” by OTFW, Berlin is licensed under CC BY 3.0
With such a wide variety of animals, the Berlin Zoo housed many rare animals. The zoo was even responsible for saving the Milu deer (Père David’s deer) from extinction, it is believed that any decedents of these deer are related to the ones that were housed at the Berlin Zoo. The zoo was also well-known for housing Bobby, the famous gorilla. Bobby became celebrated when he was the first gorilla in the world to reach adulthood in captivity. The Berlin Zoo made an effort to be known not only for its exotic animals, but for its exotic buildings as well. With such a large variety of animals, many houses were needed to shelter them and during this time period it became a custom for zoos to design their animals houses in elaborate ways. Temples, pagodas, and mosques were a few types of designs for the animals houses that the Berlin Zoo became known for. (Strehlow)