Tiergarten Nürnberg

Infobox zoo
zoo_name=Tiergarten Nürnberg
logo=
logo_width=
logo_caption=

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image_width=250px
image_caption=Zoo entrance
date_opened=11 May 1912
date_closed=
location=Nuremberg, Germany
area=convert|0.67|km2|acre
coordinates=coor dms|49°|26′|51″|N|11°|8′|41″|E|type:landmark_scale:2500
num_animals=
num_species=300
members=
exhibits=
website=http://www.tiergarten.nuernberg.de www.tiergarten.nuernberg.de

The Tiergarten Nürnberg is a zoo located in the Nürnberger Reichswald, southeast of Nuremberg, Germany. With an area of convert|0.67|km2|acre, approximately 300 animal species are kept by the zoo.

History

In the Middle Ages

The tradition of zoos in Nuremberg goes back to the Middle Ages. However the only indications of a zoo maintained by the local nobility, the Burgraves, take the form of certain place names, such as the Zoo Gate and the adjoining Zoo Square. This preserve stretched as far as the so called Johannisfelder (today: St. Johannis) and the Rohlederersgarten (today the site of the Klinikum Nord). One can only speculate about the use made of the park.

20th century

The Tiergarten Nürnberg was founded on 11 May, 1912 [ [http://www.csu-lichtenhof.de/html2/dutzendt.htm Der alte Tiergarten] ] on the site of the Bavarian State Exhibition at the Luitpoldhain. After the Nazis seized power, the Tiergarten had to give way for the Reichsparteitagsgelände at the Dutzendteich and was closed in February 1939. In May 1939, the new Tiergarten could be opened in the Reichswald at the Schmausenbuck. It was almost completely destroyed after World war II and rebuilt at the end of the 1950's.

Today

With convert|0.67|km2|acre, it is one of the largest European zoos. Typical are large, natural enclosures, which are embedded in a landscape of forests and stone pits. More than one million visitors are counted every year. Many new enclosures, e.g. for gorillas, snow leopards and polar bears were build in the last years.

Flocke, a captive born polar bear who was born at the zoo in December 2007, became a popular tourist attraction and an international celebrity after a controversial decision to remove her from her mother and raise her by hand. Flocke has since been "adopted" by United Nations Environment Program chief Achim Steiner.cite news | title = UN environment chief becomes German polar bear cub's patron | publisher ="International Herald Tribune" | date =2008-05-28 | url =http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/28/europe/EU-GEN-Germany-Polar-Bear.php | accessdate =2008-06-11 ]

Literature

* Dr. Peter Mühling, "Der Alte Nürnberger Tiergarten 1912-1939: Eine Chronik", Tiergarten der Stadt Nürnberg, Nürnberg 1987, ISBN 3-926760-00-1
* "Wegweiser durch den Tiergarten Nürnberg", 29. neubearbeitete Auflage, Tiergarten der Stadt Nürnberg, Nürnberg 2007, ISSN 1436-4352
* Lorenzo von Fersen, "Delfinariumsführer Tiergarten Nürnberg", 3. Aufl., Tiergarten der Stadt Nürnberg, Nürnberg 2003, ISBN 3-926760-04-4
* "Der Tiergarten Nürnberg - Ein Virtueller Rundgang", imbiss-media, Nürnberg 2002, ISBN 3-00-010598-0
* Michael Diefenbacher, Rudolf Endres (Hsg.): "Stadtlexikon Nürnberg". 2. verb. Auflage. Nürnberg: Verlag W. Tümmels, 2000, 1247 S., ISBN 3-921590-69-8

References

External links

* [http://www.tiergarten.nuernberg.de/v02/de/mod/bilder/B_Tiergarten_Plan_B_20060508091417.jpgMap of the Tiergarten Nürnberg]
* [http://www.delphinlagune.de Projekt Delphinlagune]
* [http://www.eisbaerflocke.nuernberg.de/ Polar bear baby „Flocke“]