Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Hagenbecks animal collecting expedition

Remember folks, this is a high line operation. You can click on 99% of the photo's and they will enlarge.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This looks like maybe it was Hagenbeck's expedition to get the Przewalski wild horses out of Mongolia in 1901. For that he was commissioned by the Duke of Bedford. It was a very expensive and arduous undertaking.

Wade G. Burck said...

Richard,
What would you have given to go along on one of these expedition?
Wade

Anonymous said...

This is actually not a picture of an expedition but of a Kalmyk (Western Mongolian) group exhibited in Hagenbeck's Völkerschau. These shows were very popular arounf the turn of the last century.

Wade G. Burck said...

Marco,
Thank you for the explanation. As well as the Pygmy peoples, the Laplanders, etc. that Hagenbecks "exhibited". I have often wondered if this "practice" somehow made the final solution more palatable and easier to accept for Hitlers Nazi Germany?
Wade

Anonymous said...

Wade,
these shows were popular throughout Europe, including France and England. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show" extremely popular at that time and very similar by "exhibiting" Native Americans? We have to remember that this all happened in a time when people didn't have the internet or TV and traveling meant taking the train to the next larger city. They only heard from other countries through adventure novels and a show like Hagenbeck, Sarrasani or Busch gave them the opportunity to see other culutures. Besides Africa and India another popular theme in European circuses were Cowboys and Indians. Looking at the many "American Circuses", "Las Vegas Circus" etc. it seems this trend is still going on ;-)

Wade G. Burck said...

Marco,
That is true, and we can't for get that the horrid wave of Nazism extended all over. I don't think Buffalo Bill's Wild West is the same thing. The Indian's were performers and very much an integral part of the show. In the case of Hagenbeck, they were "displayed" with animals native to there country. I can see the educational aspect of that practice, but have to wonder if it did not create a stereotype of superiority in some mindsets.
I don't think the use of Las Vegas, American, returning from a tour Ringling Bros, is as much about fascination with the wild west, as the phony perception that the show/person is bigger and better then what they are. It's show biz and 50% of the product is perception.
Wade