Hagenbeck Zoo

Hagenbeck Zoo was founded in 1848 when a man named Carl Hagenbeck Jr. didn't know what to do with two seals in a tub.Then he put up a sign saying that people could experience all the marvels of the animal world in action for a small sum of money. Later he acquired more animals, enough to sell out of them to his fellow zoo directors all over Europe. Still later he got the idea that one could dispense with the fences around the animals just by digging trenches in strategic places. This was the beginning of modern zoo management and smart Mr. Hagenbeck duly got the idea patented in 1896. In 1907 the zoo opened in its present location in a suburb named Stellingen, and all zoo interested people in the world went there to see how to organize a modern zoo. Almost the whole thing had to be reconstructed and repopulated after the second world war, but it still is a manifestation of the foresight of the most influential man in zoo history, and it is still family owned.